t in my carriage; you are welcome to it."

"I will take it a part of the way, at least, to feel the privilege of
your society, Chancellor."

The old man gave a slow, sidewise shake of his head.

"Too late, too late," he said, "to flatter me. I was fond of it once. I
have been a flatterer, too."

The Chancellor's black boy was put on the Judge's horse, and the two
men, in a plain, country-made, light, square vehicle, turned the
court-house corner for the north. As they passed the door they heard the
sheriff knock off two slaves to a purchaser, crying:

"Your property, sir, till they are twenty-five years of age."

"Ha, ha!" laughed, in a great horse laugh, a nearly chinless villager;
"say till ole Patty Cannon can git 'em!"

The purchaser gave a cunning, self-convicted smile at the passing
chancellor, whose look of resignation only deepened and grew more
humble. The Judge had some vague recollection which moved him to change
the subject.

"We see each other but little, Chancellor, though we divide the same
little heritage of land. I suppose your people are all proud of
Delaware."

"Yes," said the old man; "being such a little adventurer, a mere
foundling in the band of states, our people have the pride of their
independence. The laws are administered, some more farms are opened in
the forest every year, blossoms come, and old men die and are buried on
their farms, and their bones respected a few years. Our history is so
pastoral that we must show some temper when it is assailed, or we might
let out our ignorance of it."

They rode in silence some hours through an older settled and more open
country, with some large mill-ponds and a better class of farm
improvements, and the sense of some large water near at hand was
mystically felt.

The Judge followed the old man's eyes at one place, seeing that they
were raised with an expression of tranquil satisfaction, like aged
piety, and a beautiful landscape of soft green marsh lay under their
gaze from a slight elevation they had reached, showing cattle and sheep
roving in it, tall groves where cows and horses found midday shade, and
winding creeks, carrying sails of hidden boats, as if in a magical
cruise upon the velvet verdure. Haystacks and farm settlements stood out
in the long levels, and sailing birds speckled the air. In the far
distance lay something like more marsh, yet also like the clouds.

"It is the Delaware Bay," the Chancellor said.

They soon en