lace of his
friends,--not those who scourged him, whose caprices had tormented him;
not his young master, not his old master. That delightful poetry which
paints a loving slave clinging fondly to the master that scourges him
had never glowed in his imagination. Whatever of regard he had before
cherished towards his master had been driven from his heart by the
thongs of the slave whip.

He had friends at Redlawn,--the gentle, meek, and patient Lily,--the
wild, rollicking, mirthful Cyd. They were his friends, indeed, and the
thought of leaving them at all was sad; the thought of leaving them in
bondage, to be sold and scourged, was intolerable. While he was thinking
of them he heard a slight rap at the door.

"May I come in?"

It was Lily, and the permission was promptly given. The clock in the
great hall below had struck eleven, and the family had but just retired.
She had been waiting all this time to pay a visit of sympathy to the
sufferer.

"How do you do, Dandy?" asked she, as she sat down in a chair at the
head of the bed.

"I'm better, Lily."

"I'm very glad. I wanted to come and see you very much, but I was afraid
to do so. It was terrible, Dandy! To think that you should be whipped! I
should as soon have thought of being whipped myself."

"It is terrible, Lily."

"What did you do, Dandy? It must have been some awful thing."

The sufferer briefly related the particulars of the event at Green
Point, which had procured him the whipping. Lily expressed her horror at
the meanness of Master Archy, and poured out her sympathy in unmeasured
fulness upon her friend.

"But I shall not be here long, Lily," added Dandy, in a whisper.

"Why, what do you mean?" asked she, amazed at the idea of resistance in
any form.

"Will you keep my secret, Lily?"

"You know that I will, Dandy."

"I mean to run away."

"Run away!" gasped Lily.

"I will not stay here another month if I can help it."

"But where will you go?"

"I know where to go, and how to go; and, live or die, I shall make the
attempt."

"And you will be free?"

"I will, or I will die. I will not be a slave!" said he, in an energetic
whisper.

"How grand it would be! I wish I could be free," sighed Lily. "I don't
know what will become of me one of these days."

"None of us can know."

"If I were a man I should not fear so much. Master was offered two
thousand dollars for me a year ago."

"He will not sell you."

"Whether he does or not,