m,' said
monseigneur. Then taking a bag which I carried, and which contained
twenty-five thousand francs in gold, he threw it on the fellow's bed,
and added, 'This will indemnify you for the loss of your two slaves,--to
your violence that destroys I oppose a violence that saves. God will
judge between us.' We then retreated, leaving Mr. Willis stupefied,
motionless, and believing himself under the influence of a dream. A few
minutes later we were again on board the brig, which instantly set
sail."

"It appears to me, my dear Murphy, that his royal highness overpaid this
wretch for the loss of his slaves; for, in fact, David no longer
belonged to him."

"We calculated, as nearly as we could, the expense which his studies had
cost for eight years, and then the price, thrice over, of himself and
Cecily as slaves. Our conduct was contrary to the rights of property, I
know; but if you had seen in what a horrible state we found this
unfortunate and half-dead couple, if you had heard the sacrilegious
defiance almost cast in the face of the Almighty by this man, drunk with
wine and ferocity, you would comprehend how monseigneur desired, as he
said, on this occasion to act as it were in behalf of Providence."

"All this is as assailable and as justifiable as the punishment of the
Schoolmaster, my worthy squire. And had not this adventure any
consequences?"

"It could not. The brig was under Danish colours; the incognito of his
royal highness was closely kept; we were taken for rich Englishmen. To
whom could Willis have addressed his complaints, if he had any to make?
In fact, he had told us himself, and the medical man of monseigneur
declared it in a _proces verbal_, that the two slaves could not have
lived eight days longer in this frightful dungeon. It required the
greatest possible care to snatch David and Cecily from almost certain
death. At last they were restored to life. From this period David has
been attached to the suite of monseigneur as a medical man, and is most
devotedly attached to him."

"David married Cecily, of course, on arriving in Europe?"

"This marriage, which ought to have been followed by results so happy,
took place in the chapel of the palace of monseigneur; but, by a most
extraordinary revulsion of conduct, hardly was she in the full enjoyment
of an unhoped-for position, when, forgetting all that David had suffered
for her and what she had suffered for him, blushing in the new world to
be wedd