not—ahem—tax my friend here so heavily
on a debt of—of—well, yes—of that
amount, which has been so unexpectedly—
ahem. I really—I—am not a usurer, sir,
though I am a merchant."

Mr. Ackland said all this with the
difficult hesitation of an exceedingly shy man,
which he was, and blushing up to the roots
of his hair. As soon as he had struggled
through the effort of saying it, and thereby
worked himself into a state of feeling so
defensive as to be almost offensive, he
extricated his arm from the embrace of his
host, and, with an awkward bow, hastened
to join the ladies in the arbour.

"Odd man, that," said Judge Griffin.

"Shy and proud," said Cartwright, " but
as fine a fellow as ever lived."

John Ackland wrote from Glenoak to his
Cousin Tom, expressing much pleasure in
his visit there. The change of scene and
air had agreed with him, notwithstanding
the great heat of the season, and he already
felt in better health and spirits than when
he left Boston. He related the result of
the interview which had taken place
between himself and his host on the day of
his arrival at Glenoak. He had the cash
now with him in notes. But the amount
was so large that he should of course
exchange them at the Richmond Bank for a
credit on their correspondents at Charleston.
It was a strange notion of Cartwright's
to insist on paying the money in
notes.

"He seems to have been under the
impression that I should not have been equally
well satisfied with his signature. Which
made me feel very awkward, my dear
Tom."

He had felt still more awkward in
consenting to take the last year's interest on
that loan at the rate originally stipulated.
Tom knew that he would not have raised
it so high if he had ever had any hope of
recovering the entire capital at the expiration
of the term. However, there was no help
for it. Cartwright would have it. Cartwright
had behaved exceedingly well. Very
much like a gentleman. He had really
conceived a great regard for his present host. In
despite of some obvious faults of character,
and he feared also of conduct, there was
so much good in the man. C. was a
most pleasant companion, and had shown
the greatest delicacy in this matter. The
man's affection for his daughter, too, was
quite touching; and the child herself was
charming. John Ackland then described
his impressions of a slave plantation at
some length His abhorrence of the whole
system was even more intense than before.
Not because he had noticed any great
cruelty in the treatment of the slaves on
this plantation, but because the system was
one which rendered even kindness itself an
instrument of degradation; and these
unfortunate blacks appeared to him to be in a
mental and moral condition which, without
justifying it, gave a hideous plausibility to
the cool assertion of their owners that
coloured humanity is not humanity at all.
He avoided all discussion on this subject,
however, for, as Tom knew, there was
nothing he hated so much as controversy.
At first he had felt " a little awkward " at
being the only Northerner amongst so
many slave proprietors. But now he felt
quite at his ease with them all. Especially
with Cartwright. 'Twas a pity that man
had been born South. He had been brought
up there to idleness and arrogance, but his
natural disposition fitted him for better
things. Glenoak was a very pleasant place.
So pleasant, that he was reluctant to leave
it. And, in fact, there was no real necessity
for going to Charleston so soon. The
weather was horribly hot. He had not yet
been up to the exertion even of going to
Richmond to deposit the notes he had
received from Cartwright. He thought he
should probably remain some days longer
—perhaps a fortnight longer—at Glenoak.

On the evening of the day he wrote this
letter, however, an incident occurred which
changed Mr. Ackland's disposition to
prolong his stay at Glenoak.

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