ot always seem to think so. It was he who took a fancy to Zillah, and
insisted that we should bring her with us, so the General gave up his
prejudice against her and consented. James thinks no one can take proper
care of me but Zillah.'

"I was still watching the girl. All the frowns had left her face and she
was almost laughing; something seemed to amuse her very much. I said
nothing of this, but the girl puzzled me greatly, and so did the
conversation of Mrs. Harrington. Somehow I had got the impression that
James Harrington had been opposed to Zillah as an attendant for his
mother; that he had suggested an older person, and regarded this one
with distrust. But surely Mrs. Harrington, his own mother, knew best."

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE SLAVE WE LEFT BEHIND US.

"Zillah was really ill, and for her sake we were detained in that little
hamlet on the coast for three weeks. Even then she was unable to travel,
and General Harrington resolved to move on without her. The barren
little village had no attractions for him, and he certainly was not a
man to sacrifice much time or convenience to a slave against whom he had
prejudices.

"Why had I become so painfully interested in that girl? Why was it that
my heart grew heavy, when James Harrington expostulated with his father
so earnestly against the abandonment of that poor girl, as he called
her, in a strange place and among people whose language was unknown to
her.

"But the General was resolute. The girl could follow them to Seville, he
said, when she became well enough to travel, no harm need come to her
and she could be well spared. Mrs. Harrington had improved so much in
her health that Zillah could have plenty of time to get well without
much inconvenience to her mistress. Miss Crawford's little maid was
always at her disposal.

"James Harrington did not seem satisfied with this reasoning, but he
said nothing more, and the next day we went up to Cadiz, leaving Zillah
behind.

"The girl was greatly distressed, and protested that she was well enough
to travel anywhere with her mistress, that everything would go wrong if
she was left behind, that the people were strange and would not know how
to direct her. She attempted to leave her bed and put on a traveling
dress, but fainted as her foot touched the floor. I was sorry for the
poor creature, and my heart ached at the necessity of leaving her
alone; but like her I was powerless in the hands of my guardian.