to time, if you stand preachin' there? Free
nigger or not, I'll cowhide you."

Off flew Cornelius, and I returned to my seat,
puzzled, but pleased with my new friends. A
few more spirit-stirring tales of the prairie and
the forest, and then a game of cards was
proposed, and a couple of packs seemed to appear,
as if by magic, on the table. But Alphonso
P. C. Jones would not play, nor would he agree
to any game, excepting for merely nominal
stakes, quarter-dollar points, or the like. I
have never felt any taste for gambling, but I
play a steady rubber at home, and I had no
objection to make a fourth in a quiet way, the
stakes being so small, and the other gentlemen
being so disappointed at Mr. Jones's firm
refusal. But scarcely had the second deal taken
place before Captain Pell himself appeared, and
marched with a stern countenance straight up
to our table, on which he placed his clenched
hand.

"Very sorry, gentlemen," said he, "but, as
commander of this vessel, I am obligationed to
say, shut up!"

Mr. Jones remonstrated in a mild but
dignified manner. " Surely, captain, we are as
harmlessly employed as the chess-players yonder,
or as those enthusiasts who make such a tarnation
clatter with the dominoes. I was not aware
that your rules———"

"Then, sir, you had oughter!  'Tis printed
up yonder in black and white, plain to read as a
chyild's hornbook. Cyards air pro-hibited aboard
any of our owner's bits o' hollow timber. So,
I say, gentlemen, shut up, or go ashore!"

There was no more card-playing, but I could
not help sympathising with my new acquaintances
in their suppressed indignation at this
arbitrary interference with our recreations.

We were running fast down stream, and the
brown levees, or artificial embankments, of the
Mississippi shore were visible on the left bank,
while above them nodded the green crests of
tall trees, not yet laid low by the woodman's
axe.

"If you will do us the favour," said Alphonso
P. C. Jones, after a little whispering conversation
with his three friends, " to become our guest
for a few days, it will please us much, and
honour us excessively. We disembark at Grand
Gulf, where the boat will stop some three hours
hence, and where my residence is located. We
can offer you but bachelor accommodation, sir,
combined with duck-shooting, but if you air not
too proud———"

What could I do but accept so frank and well-
meant an invitation? it was settled that I should
for a short time become the guest of my fellow-
travellers. And now the metallic summons to
dinner was heard, and then succeeded the usual
crushing, elbowing, and pushing for places. I
was swept away by the crowd, and found myself
seated at the table at a considerable distance from
my new friends. On my left was a rosy clerical
gentleman, an episcopal bishop, I believe; and
on my right sat a rather prepossessing lady of
literary tastes, Mrs. Governor Gunn. Mrs.
Governor Gunn had a husband somewhere about
the ship: a small grey-haired gentleman with
excessively sore eyes, and who had been governor
of some outlying state—Wisconsin, Florida, or
Missouri—but had retired on account of bad
health. The consort of this puny dignitary was
certainly the principal personage on board, the
queen of fashion and arbitress of taste, and she
had been pleased to converse with me in a
gracious and regal manner during the early part
of the voyage. Now, however, the springs of
Mrs. Governor Gunn's affability were frozen.
She answered my remarks with icy monosyllables,
frowned at me, rustled her ribbons at me, and
gave me the cold shoulder. I was at a loss to
know how I had given offence, but when I
attributed this hostile behaviour to feminine
caprice, and turned to the bishop, the bishop
was just as bad. He became redder of visage
and huskier of speech, lost his bland smile, and
was no longer interested in my comments on the
voluntary principle, or desirous of information
respecting the British hierarchy. It was very
odd. What had I done? I was obliged to
confine my attention to the wild-turkey and
venison-steaks, and presently the plentiful meal
came to an end.

We all rose. Mrs. Governor Gunn, at the
head of a bevy of flounced silks, swept off in
dignified procession to the ladies' cabin, and
nothing remained but to smoke and chat, to
lounge and " liquor." The bishop edged away
from me as soon as he could, and I was left
among a knot of planters, overseers, and the
like. But these yellow-faced gentlemen did not
seem to eye me in a very amicable manner.
There was a scowl on every face and a sneer on
every lip. I felt angry and uncomfortable, but I
could scarcely demand an explanation. I glanced
around for my new friends. I did not see them,
so I went on deck. The hurricane-deck of a
Mississippi boat usually presents a lively scene of
animation and stir. So it did on this occasion,
but it curiously happened that whenever I joined
a gossiping group, that group broke up and
dispersed. I might have been one of the plague-
stricken in a time of pestilence, so shunned was
I, for no apparent reason. I felt puzzled and
irate. I was avoided as if I had suddenly
become a leper. What was the reason? Never
mind! My connexion with the Benjamin
Franklin was about to terminate. The boat
was approaching Grand Gulf; I saw the
shingled roofs and the church belfries peeping
over the tawny levee, and it was time for me to
settle with the steward and to see about my
baggage. I found black Cornelius as grim and
sullen as a bear. He received payment and
gratuity with a dry " Tank you, sir!" and did
not permit his white teeth to shine upon me any
more. I thought, too, there was a reproachful
and somewhat resentful expression in his rolling
eyes. But I had neither time nor patience to
ask for an explanation. I was obliged to bustle
up on deck, followed by a coloured man with my
bag and portmanteau. There I found Alphonso
P. C. Jones and his companions, with their