eans of
making against Mrs. Harrington, are groundless. I will not have a word
spoken--mark me--against that excellent lady."

"What!" said the woman hoarsely; "what does this mean?"

"It means, Zillah, that I am perfectly convinced not only of Mrs.
Harrington's rectitude, but of her entire attachment to myself. As for
Mr. James Harrington, his conduct has been unexceptionable--nay,
magnanimous. We are a happy and united family, Zillah."

"A happy and united family!" almost shrieked the woman. "And has it all
come to this--am I again spurned, again hurled back to the earth--Hagar
thrust forth to wander forever and ever with her child in the broad
desert--the world. I tell you, General Harrington, this shall not be!"

"Shall not--slave, how dare you?" cried the old man, rising haughtily.

"Slave, slave! Yes, I am your slave, for I love you, my master, love you
with a madness this cold white lady never dreamed of. Do not crush me
beneath this woman's feet--do not. For years and years I have lived on
this one wish, to be your slave again. She, your wife, is faithless,
false, cold as marble; put her away--send her forth, as I have been. The
same God made us both, and should punish us both alike. I have been
tortured long enough; take me home, master, take me home--a servant, a
slave, anything; but send this woman from beneath your roof. She has
had her life, I have a right to mine! Give it to me--give it to me for
my love's sake, for our child's sake!"

The woman fell upon her knees as she spoke; her locked hands were
uplifted, and wrung madly together--her eyes were full of wild,
passionate tears. She looked, indeed, a Hagar coming back from the
desert, where she had left her youth buried.

"Master, master, send her away, send her away!" she pleaded, in a burst
of pathetic entreaty. "What has she been to you, that I was not? She is
the mother of your child--so am I. She was your wife--I was your slave.
She claimed rights, station, wealth, power, and returned nothing. I gave
my soul, my being, every breath of my life, every pulse in my heart, and
claimed only bonds. You fettered her with flowers--me with iron. I loved
these chains, for they bound me to you--they have drawn me to your feet
again. I will not give way to that woman a second time!"

The old man had been growing calm amid this passionate appeal. Strong
feeling always annoyed him, and the woman seemed actuated by a species
of madness, that filled him with