iggest rascals
in town, and carry on your concerted villany as boldly as if you had
the control of the city in your hands." Manuel was trembling under the
emotions of grief and revenge. His Portuguese blood would have revenged
itself at the poniard's point, but fortunately he had left it in his
chest. He saw that he had a friend at his hand, and with the earnestness
of a child, resigned himself to his charge.

In a few minutes quiet was produced, and the gentleman expressing a
desire to know how the trouble originated, inquired of Manuel how it
was brought about. But no sooner had he commenced his story, than he was
interrupted by Dunn asserting his right, according to the laws of South
Carolina, to make his declaration, which could not be refuted by the
negro's statement, or even testimony at law; and in another moment
jumped up, and taking Manuel by the collar, commanded him to come along
to jail; and turning to the gentleman, dared him to interfere with his
duty.

"I know how you take people to jail, very well. I'll now see that you
perform that duty properly, and not torture prisoners from place to
place before you get there. You inflict a worse punishment in taking
poor, helpless people to jail, than they suffer after they get there!"
said he; and immediately joined Manuel and walked to the jail with him.

CHAPTER XII. THE OLD JAIL.

THERE are three institutions in Charleston-either of which would be
a stain upon the name of civilization-standing as emblems of the
time-established notions of a people, and their cherished love for
the ancestral relics of a gone-by age. Nothing could point with more
unerring aim than these sombre monuments do, to the distance behind the
age that marks the thoughts and actions of the Charlestonians. They are
the poor-house, hospital, and jail; but as the latter only pertains
to our present subject, we prefer to speak of it alone, and leave
the others for another occasion. The workhouse may be said to form an
exception-that being a new building, recently erected upon a European
plan. It is very spacious, with an extravagant exterior, surmounted
by lofty semi-Gothic watch-towers, similar to the old castles upon the
Rhine. So great was the opposition to building this magnificent temple
of a workhouse, and so inconsistent, beyond the progress of the age,
was it viewed by the "manifest ancestry," that it caused the mayor his
defeat at the following hustings. "Young Charleston