PED.--"Oh, he is known to be a notorious rascal for enticing away, and
concealing slaves; he'll get himself into trouble yet, the slaveholders
are on the look out for him."

BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"W.W. is my brother-in-law; the boy of whom thou speakest
is not with him, and to save thee the trouble of abusing him, I can
moreover say, he is no rascal."

PED.--"He may not be there now, but it is because he has sent him off. His
master heard of him, and from the description, he is sure it must have
been his boy. He could tell me pretty nigh where he was; he said he was a
fine healthy boy, twenty-one, a first-rate blacksmith; he would not have
taken a thousand dollars for him."

BROTHER-IN-LAW.--"I know not where the boy is, but I have no doubt he is
worth more to himself than he ever was to his master, high as he fixes
the price on him; and I have no doubt thee will do better to pursue thy
peddling honestly, than to neglect it for the sake of serving
negro-hunters at a venture."

All this happened within a month or two after I left my friend. One fact
which makes this part of the story deeply interesting to my own mind, is,
that some years elapsed before it came to my knowledge.




CHAPTER V.

SEVEN MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE FAMILY OF J.K. A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF