t can not
be otherwise than agreeable to us. France, too, has declared her
neutrality as strongly as England. These declarations were made before
intelligence of our military and naval successes had reached Europe,
which renders them all the more weighty. Peace between America and
Europe may, therefore, be counted upon, unless some very great reverses
should befall our arms.

* * * * *

AMONG THE PINES.

The 'Ole Cabin' to which Jim had alluded as the scene of Sam's
punishment by the Overseer, was a one-story shanty in the vicinity of
the stables. Though fast falling to decay, it had more the appearance of
a decent habitation than the other huts on the plantation. Its thick
plank door was ornamented with a mouldy brass knocker, and its four
windows contained sashes, to which here and there clung a broken pane,
the surviving relic of its better days. It was built of large unhewn
logs, notched at the ends and laid one upon the other, with the bark
still on. The thick, rough coat which yet adhered in patches to the
timber had opened in the sun, and let the rain and the worm burrow in
its sides, till some parts had crumbled entirely away. At one corner the
process of decay had gone on till roof, superstructure, and foundation
had rotted down and left an opening large enough to admit a coach and
four horses. The huge chimneys which had graced the gable-ends of the
building were fallen in, leaving only a mass of sticks and clay to tell
of their existence, and two wide openings to show how great a figure
they had once made in the world. A small space in front of the cabin
would have been a lawn, had the grass been willing to grow upon it; and
a few acres of cleared land in its rear might have passed for a garden,
had it not been entirely overgrown with young pines and stubble. This
primitive structure was once the 'mansion' of that broad plantation,
and, before the production of turpentine came into fashion in that
region, its rude owner drew his support from its few surrounding acres,
more truly independent than the present aristocratic proprietor, who,
raising only one article, and buying all his provisions, was forced to
draw his support from the Yankee or the Englishman.

Only one room, about forty feet square, occupied the interior of the
cabin. It once contained several apartments, vestiges of which still
remained, but the partitions had been torn away to fit it for its
present uses.