s of her son. This second blow crushed her. For several
days she was delirious, and her life despaired of; but throughout the
whole the noble corn-cracker, neglecting every thing, remained beside
her.

When she returned to herself, and had in a measure recovered her
strength, she learned that the Colonel had left no will; that she was
still a slave; and soon to be sold, with the rest of the Colonel's
_personal property_, according to law.

This is what Andy writes about the affair. I give the letter as he wrote
it, merely correcting the punctuation, and enough of the spelling, to
make it intelligible.

"W'en I hard thet th' Cunel hadent leff no wil, I was hard put what ter
dew; but arter thinkin' on it over a spell, I knowed shede har on it
sumhow; so I 'cluded to tel har miseff. She tuk on d----d hard at
fust, but arter a bit, grew more calm like, and then she sed it war
God's wil, an' she wudent komplane. Ye nows I've got a wife, but wen the
ma'am sed thet, she luk'd so like an angel, thet d----d eff I cud help
puttin' my arms round har, an' hugin' on har, till she a'moste
screeched. Wal, I toled har, Id stan' by har eff evrithing went ter
h--l--an I wil, by ----.

"I made up mi minde to onst, what ter dew. It war darned harde work tur
bee'way from hum jess then, but I war in fur it; soe I put ter
Charleston, ter see th' Cunel's 'oman. Wal, I seed har, an' I toled har
how th' ma'am felte, an' how mutch shede dun at makein' th' Cunel's
money--(she made nigh th' hul on it, 'case he war alers keerles, an' tuk
no 'count uv things; eff tadent ben fur thet, hede made a wil,) an' I
axed har ter see thet the ma'am had free papers ter onst. An' whot der
ye 'spoze she sed? Nuthin, by ---- 'cept she dident no nuthin' 'bout
bisniss, an' leff all uv sech things ter har loryer. Wal, then I went
ter him--he ar one on them slick, ily, seceshun houn's, who'd sell thar
soles fur a kountterfit dollar--an' he toled me, th' 'ministratur hadent
sot yit, an' he cudent dew nuthin til he hed. Ses I: 'ye mean th'
'ooman's got ter gwo ter th' hi'est bider?' 'Yas,' he sed, 'the Cunel's
got dets, an' the've got ter bee pade, an' th' persoonel prop'ty muste
bee sold ter dew it.' Then I sed, 'twud bee sum time fore thet war dun,
an' the 'ooman's 'most ded an' uv no use now; 'what'll ye _hire_ har tur
me fur.' He sed a hun'red for sicks months. I planked down the money
ter onst, an' put off.

"I war bilin' over, but it sumhow cum inter my hed