, when they were seated on the back
piazza, and the sun was pouring its splendid rays upon everything
around, changing the red tints on the lofty hills in the distance into
streaks of purest gold, and nature seeming by her smiles to favor the
object, she said,--

"What, dear Henry, do you intend to do with Clotelle?"

A paleness that overspread his countenance, the tears that trickled
down his cheeks, the deep emotion that was visible in his face, and the
trembling of his voice, showed at once that she had touched a tender
chord. Without a single word, he buried his face in his handkerchief,
and burst into tears.

This made Gertrude still more unhappy, for she feared that he had
misunderstood her; and she immediately expressed her regret that she
had mentioned the subject. Becoming satisfied from this that his wife
sympathized with him in his unhappy situation, Henry told her of the
agony that filled his soul, and Gertrude agreed to intercede for him
with her mother for the removal of the child to a boarding-school in
one of the Free States.

In the afternoon, when Henry returned from his office, his wife met him
with tearful eyes, and informed him that her mother was filled with
rage at the mere mention of the removal of Clotelle from her premises.

In the mean time, the slave-trader, Jennings, had started for the South
with his gang of human cattle, of whom Isabella was one. Most quadroon
women who are taken to the South are either sold to gentlemen for their
own use or disposed of as house-servants or waiting-maids. Fortunately
for Isabella, she was sold, for the latter purpose. Jennings found a
purchaser for her in the person of Mr. James French.

Mrs. French was a severe mistress. All who lived with her, though
well-dressed, were scantily fed and over-worked. Isabella found her new
situation far different from her Virginia cottage-life. She had
frequently heard Vicksburg spoken of as a cruel place for slaves, and
now she was in a position to test the truthfulness of the assertion.

A few weeks after her arrival, Mrs. French began to show to Isabella
that she was anything but a pleasant and agreeable mistress. What
social virtues are possible in a society of which injustice is a
primary characteristic,--in a society which is divided into two
classes, masters and slaves? Every married woman at the South looks
upon her husband as unfaithful, and regards every negro woman as a
rival.

Isabella had been with h