| OCR Text |
Show \ 'J . the Life of a Slave Girl. Inc1 cnts 111 . 1 I hacl said it. Fin~lly, he llad sau1 and to w lOlU . . ' ' , t ha vc aH.l? a ·k d " n o you kno·w ·wna you ( .. ~ . . ,, . ,, ~ .,. . trcattncnt Jro\ c 1nc to 1L " r CS t;l l' ; uHu ) Ul ( . . 1 Ll ,1t I haYc a r1gh t t do a~ I hke " Vo you (HOW lt (. . ? '' . tl • I can kill you, lf 1 plea~c . ·w1th yon,- Htli (. · 1 ] d t · cl to kill 1110 anu l \VlS l you 1:1 ; "Yon have nc ' . . , 1 : o·ht to Jo as you ltkc ·w1th ll1C. but yon uwe no llo . . · 1" 1 ~ c"\·clai1ncd in a thnndcnng vo1ce. " S1lcnce . 1c _.). ( ' . : ·l vou foro·ct yonrt> lf too ttr ! Are "Bv hcaYcns, gn , J o . w .1 ? lf YOU arc I will soon bnng you to your yon nHtu . J ' 11 ,, . . J) Ton think any other 1na:tcr won < ucar sen. c. . o ) . · ? 'f what I have borne frOln you tln . nlorntng . ~' any lnastcr;S would ha vc kill eel yon on the . spot. II ow won 1c1 yo.n ·1·t1 '·-c to he sent to •i ail for • your. 1n ·ol cncc. ?" " I know I ha \·c been clisrc pccLi nl, ·1r, ' I l'Cl)llCd; "but you droYc n1c to it; I couldn't help it. J.\..s for the jail, there woulll be more peace for 1110 thoro than there is here." " yon deserve to go there," said he, " and. to be .. under such trcatincut, that you ·would. forget the lncan-in cr of the word peace. It would do you gooll. It w~uld take .-otnc of your high notions out of you. But I a1n not rca<ly to send you thoro yet, uotwilh-standing your ingratitude for all n1y kindnc s and for-bearance. Yon ha\C been the plague of n1y life. I haYc wanted to nutkc you happy, and I hu,vc teen rc· paid with the lJa.·c.-t jngratitudc; !Jut though yon haYc proYcd your ·elf incapable of appreciating n1y kind· nos., 1 \vill be lenient towar<ls you, Linda. I will give you one n1orc chance to rc<lc01u your chu,ractcr. If you behave your ·elf and do as I rcq uirc, I will forgive you and treat you as I always have done ; but if you ... The Lover. di obey 1110, I ·will puni ·h you as I would. the 111canc t slave on 1ny plantation. Never let 1110 hear that fellow',' n~unc n1o.utioncd _again. If I cv r ]-no"\v of your pcakiu o· to hun, 1 \Vlll COW hide you both ; and j f I catch hin1 lurl ing about 1ny lH'Cini.· s, I will shoot hi1n as soon as I w·ould a dog. Do you hear \vha.t I s~y ? I'll teach you a lesson al>out n1arriagc and free 1uggcrs! Now go, and let this be the last tiu1c I have occa ·ion to speak to you on this sul>jccL.'' Reader, c1i<l you over hate ? I hope not. I never did lJut once; ancl I trust I ncy·cr ·hall again. f-; 01110_ body ha · callcu it " the at1nosphcrc of hell · '' ancl I believe it is so. ' For a fortnight the doctor di<l not .·peak to n1c. IIe thought to 1nortify 1nc; to 1nakc rue £ \cl that I hau di~graccd n1y~clf by receiving th h onoralJlc aclclrcs.:es of a rc pcctal>lc eolorcu n1an, in pref'crcncc to the ba. e pr?po als of a \rhitc n1an. But though hi: lip: <li ·druncd to acldre · 1110, hi.· eye~ \vcrc very loq uacions. No anitnal ever \vaLchcu its prey 1norc narrowly than he watched. n1c. IIc knc'lv that 1 coulu \Vritc thouo·h ] • ' b 1c ha<l failed to 1uakc 1nc rcacl hi · letters ; and he \\Tas now troubled lest I should exchange letters \vith a_nothcr n1an. After a \V bile he bcca1nc weu,ry of 1lcncc ; and I was sorry for it. One 1norning, as he pa 'SOU through the hall, to leave the bon c he contrived to thrust a note into n1y hand. I thou~bt I had IJ?Ltcr read it, and spare n1ysclf tho vexation of hariug hn11 read it Lo 1110. It cxprcs ·eel regret for the blow he had. gi vcn n1c, and rc1ni ndcd n1c that I 1ny ·elf \vas \~holly to Lla1nc for it. lie hoped 1 had bccon1c conVlllced of the injury I was doing 1ny::;clf Ly incurring |
