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Show H6 HICIIAIW llUl:OI :". "Well," continuctl the debtor, "so lo11g as I was his on·r· seer, things went on smoothly; hut the colonel don't like ~o ~f'C men setting up for thcmscln~s, mul tried to kcrp me from 1_t, but he couldn't; am\ since l',·c left him, he doesn't look 011CC 111 tl1c year over to my side of the couutry. He don't like me now, I know. l)id yon !war him s:1y noth ing nbont me 1" I could tlctcct the krrn Linck eye of the spc::~kcr, ns l1c fin· ishcd, wntchin,.,. tl1c countenance of C:1rrington as l1c waited for the reply. I feared that the perfect fraulmess of 'Vi11iam might have betrayed l1im into :t.}Kirtial revelation of Colonel Grafton's information; but he evaded the inquiry with some address. "Yes; he gnYc us full directions how to fiml your place, ancl warned us that we migl1t not fmd you at home. lie said you travelled a great deal about the country, and didn't plant much. You deal in merchandise, perhaps?" The fellow looked somewhat disappointed ns he replied in the negative. Bnt dismissing everything like expression from his face, in the next instant he asl.:ed if we had met with nny trav· ellers on the road. I replied qnickly by stating with the ut· most brevity, the fact that we had met tlll·ce, whose n}lpcnrance I briefly described without giYing any particulars, and studious· 1y suppressed the previous knowledge wl1ich we had of the gamblers at Tuscaloosa; but I had scarcely finished when "\Yillinm, with his wonted thoughtlessness, took up the talc where I had left it incomplete and omitted 11othing. The man looked grave, and when he was ended, contented bimself with remarking thnt he knew no person like those described, nnd inquired if we 1w.d not met with others. But, with my wonted suspiciousness of habit, I fancied that there w:u1 a somcthillg in hi~ countenaucc that told a different story, aud whether there were reason for this fancy or not, I was inly llcrsuaded tlwt our debtor nnd tho two gamblers were birds of n feather. It will be seen in the sequel that I was not mistaken. There was an awkward pause in the conversation, for Carrington, like a man not accustomed to business, seemed loth to ask about his money. He wns re· lieved by the debtor. "'·Vell, Mr. Carrington," he said, "you come, I s'pose, about that little paper of mine. You want your money, and, to say truth, you ought to have had it some time ago. I would have MAT WEllBF:R. 147 sent it to you, bnt I couldn't get any safe hand going down into your parts." Carrington interrupted him. "Tiwt's no matter, l\[r. \\robber, I didn't want the money, to say truth, till just now; but, if you cau let me lw,·e it now, it will be as goo(l to me ns if yon had sent it to me six months ngo. I'm thinking to buy a little lnnd in 'Missis8i}llli, if I can get it moderate, and can get a long credit for the best part of it, but it will be necessary to put down something, you know, to clinch the bargain, and I tltought I might as well look to yon for that." "'l'o be sure - certain-it's only reasonable; but if you think to go into Mississippi to get 1am1 now on a long credit, and hardly nny cash, Mr. Carrington, you'll find yourself mightily mistaken. You must put down the real grit, if you want to do anything in the land.market." "Oh, yes, I expect to put down some- " 'l'hc acute glance of my eye arrested the speech of my thoughtless companion. In two minutes more he would prob· ably have declared the very amount he had in possession, mul all the lJurposes he had in view. I do not know, however, but that the abrupt pause and silence which followecl my intcrposi· tion, rcYcalccl quite as much to the cunning debtor ns the words of my companion would have done. The bungling succession of half-formed and incoherent scutenccs which .,IVillinm uttered to hide the truth, nnd conceal that which, by this time, wns sufficiently told, perhaps contributed to impress him with an idea of much greater wenlth in om possession than was even the case. But, whatever may have been his thoughts, his counteuance was too inflexibly indifferent to convey to us their char· nctcr. lie was stolid and seemingly unobservant to the last degree, scarcely giving the slightest heed to tho answers which his own remarks and inquiries demanded. At length , abrupt· ly returning to the business in hand, he spoke thus:- " 'Yell, now, 1\lr. Carrington, I 'll have to give you a little dis· appointment. I can't pay you to.day, much as I would like to do it; for, you see, my money is owing to me, and is scattered all about the ncigl1borhood. If you coulcl take a bed with me to-night, and. be satisfied to put off travelling for a day, I could |
