ll I call you
out. If I find you one foot nearer to us, I'll flay you alive."

The servants ran off as fast at they could. When they were gone, my
mistress said,

"So you were about to escape, were you? You would avoid the chances of
matrimony, and now you have other chances which you little dreamt of."

"I thought it was the wisest thing that I could do," replied I. "Since
I must be plain, I am sacredly betrothed to another person, and I
could not even for you break my faith. I meant to have told you so
to-morrow morning, but I was afraid it would annoy you, and therefore
I wished to go away without giving you any answer."

"Well, Sir, I offered to be your wife, which would have made you my
lord and master. You refuse it, and now I make you my slave. I give
you your option; you shall either consent to be my husband, or you
shall remain as you are, and toil hard; but any time that you think
better of it, and are willing to embrace my offer, you will be free,
and I will be as a wife in subjection."

"So you say," replied I; "but suppose I was to make you angry after I
married you, you would do to me as you have done now. I may, perhaps,
one day get free from this chain, but, once married to you, I am a
slave for ever."

"You may think otherwise before long," replied she; "in the mean time,
you may walk out and cool yourself."

She then returned to her room, and I rose, having determined to walk
out and cool myself, as she proposed; but when I was on my legs, I
found that to the other end of the chain, which was very heavy, and
about two yards long, was, riveted an iron ball of about thirty pounds
weight, so that I could not walk without carrying this heavy weight in
my hands, for it could not be dragged. I lifted up the iron ball, and
went out of the house. I was no longer afraid of her. I was in too
great a rage to fear any thing. As I calmed, I considered my case, and
found it to be hopeless; as I thought of Amy, and the many months of
hope deferred, I wept bitterly; and I had no consolation, for the
reader may recollect that I lost my Bible when I was sent on shore,
naked almost, by the rascally captain of the Transcendant.

I had now been twenty months away from Liverpool, and I felt as if my
chance of seeing her that I loved was indeed hopeless. I might remain
chained in such a solitude for years, or I might expire under her
barbarous treatment, for I fully knew what I had to expect. However, I
was resolve