y succeeded in buying them of the creditors. But his conduct
toward the younger was so base, that she absconded. The question I
wish to ask of you is, whether, if he should find her in the Free
States, he could claim her as his slave, and have his claim allowed by
law."

"Not if he sent them to Nassau," replied Mr. Percival. "British soil
has the enviable distinction of making free whosoever touches it."

"But he afterward brought them back to an island between Georgia and
South Carolina," said Mrs. Delano. "The eldest proved a most loving
and faithful wife, and to this day has no suspicion of his designs
with regard to her sister."

"If he married her before he went to Nassau, the ceremony is not
binding," rejoined Mr. Percival; "for no marriage with a slave is
legal in the Southern States."

"I was ignorant of that law," said Mrs. Delano, "being very little
informed on the subject of slavery. But I suspected trickery of some
sort in the transaction, because he proved himself so unprincipled
with regard to the sister."

"And where is the sister?" inquired Mr. Percival.

"I trust to your honor as a gentleman to keep the secret from every
mortal," answered Mrs. Delano. "You have seen her this evening."

"Is it possible," he exclaimed, "that you mean to say she is your
adopted daughter?"

"I did mean to say that," she replied. "I have placed great confidence
in you; for you can easily imagine it would be extremely disagreeable
to me, as well as to her, to become objects of public notoriety."

"Your confidence is a sacred deposit," answered he. "I have long been
aware that the most romantic stories in the country have grown out of
the institution of slavery; but this seems stranger than fiction. With
all my knowledge of the subject, I find it hard to realize that such
a young lady as that has been in danger of being sold on the
auction-block in this republic. It makes one desirous to conceal that
he is an American."

"My principal reason for wishing to consult you," said Mrs. Delano,
"is, that Mr. Fitzgerald, the purchaser of these girls, is now in the
city, and Flora met him this morning. Luckily, she was closely veiled,
and he did not recognize her. I think it is impossible he can have
obtained any clew to my connivance at her escape, and yet I feel a
little uneasy. I am so ignorant of the laws on this subject, that I
don't know what he has the power to do if he discovers her. Can he
claim her here in Boston