d with a whole generation
of dust, looked complacently down from the top of the bookshelves. Dust
was on the table, on the chairs, on the floor, on the ceiling, and on
the musty old volumes ranged along the walls, and dust everywhere told
unmistakably that no profane hand ever disturbed the dusty repose which
reigned in the apartment.

Two or three oaken logs, supported on bright brass andirons--the only
bright things in the room--were blazing cheerfully on the broad
hearthstone; and drawing our chairs near, we sat down before them.

'May I come in?' said master Joe, thrusting his head in at the
half-closed doorway.

'No, my son,' answered his father; 'Mr. Kirke and I are to talk over
business matters.'

'Do let him come, Robert,' said Mrs. Preston; 'he is old enough to learn
something of such affairs.'

The lad entered, and seating himself on a low stool by the side of his
mother, and burying his head in her lap, was soon fast asleep.

'This room, Mr. Kirke,' said the lady, 'is sacred to Robert and the
dust. I beg you will not think I have the care of it.'

'Oh no, madam; it is plain that a _man_ has exclusive dominion here; but
your husband has been away from it for some time.'

'That does not account for the dust; it hasn't been stirred for a
twelve-month;' and after a pause, she added, a thin moisture glistening
in her eyes, 'I have not yet thanked you, sir, for saving Phyllis and
the children from the clutches of that wretched trader.'

'No thanks are requisite, madam. It was a mere matter of business; we
are in the practice of making advances to our consignors.'

'Nevertheless we thank you, sir; Robert and I will ever be grateful for
it.'

'Do not speak of it, madam; I would be glad to serve you to a much
greater extent.'

The lady made no reply, and a rather embarrassing silence followed for
some minutes, when I said:

'Preston, Joe is a remarkable negro; I think I never met one so
intelligent and well informed.'

'He _is_ very intelligent,' he replied; 'he has fine natural abilities.'

'It is a pity Nature gave him so dark a skin, and made him a--slave.'

'Not a _pity_, Mr. Kirke,' rejoined Mrs. Preston; 'Nature, or rather
God, always puts us in our right places. Joseph is more useful where he
is than he would be anywhere else.'

'I understood him that he was raised on the plantation,' I added.

'Yes,' replied my host; 'my grandfather bought his mother, who is a
native African, when she wa