the
market, and sell them?" and he might have added, "as I do," for he was well
known to have so acted by two or three of his own tawny offspring.

Mr. Garie, at the suggestion of Winston, wrote to Mr. Walters, to procure
them a small, but neat and comfortable house, in Philadelphia; which, when
procured, he was to commit to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, who were to
have it furnished and made ready to receive him and his family on their
arrival, as Mr. Garie desired to save his wife as much as possible, from
the care and anxiety attendant upon the arrangement of a new residence.

One most important matter, and on which depended the comfort and happiness
of his people, was the selection of a proper overseer. On its becoming
known that he required such a functionary, numbers of individuals who
aspired to that dignified and honourable office applied forthwith; and as
it was also known that the master was to be absent, and that, in
consequence, the party having it under his entire control, could cut and
slash without being interfered with, the value of the situation was greatly
enhanced. It had also another irresistible attraction, the absence of the
master would enable the overseer to engage in the customary picking and
stealing operations, with less chance of detection.

In consequence of all these advantages, there was no want of applicants.
Great bony New England men, traitors to the air they first breathed, came
anxiously forward to secure the prize. Mean, weasen-faced, poor white
Georgians, who were able to show testimonials of their having produced
large crops with a small number of hands, and who could tell to a fraction
how long a slave could be worked on a given quantity of corn, also put in
their claims for consideration. Short, thick-set men, with fierce faces,
who gloried in the fact that they had at various times killed refractory
negroes, also presented themselves to undergo the necessary examination.

Mr. Garie sickened as he contemplated the motley mass of humanity that
presented itself with such eagerness for the attainment of so degrading an
office; and as he listened to their vulgar boastings and brutal language,
he blushed to think that such men were his countrymen.

Never until now had he had occasion for an overseer. He was not ambitious
of being known to produce the largest crop to the acre, and his hands had
never been driven to that shocking extent, so common with his neighbours.
He had been