given to this lad every human passion and compassion.

The storm rolled away with the night, and Mammy came through the hall
with a candle.

"Whah is you, Marse Nick? Whah is you, honey? You' suppah's ready."

And so we went into our little dining room, but I would not eat. The
good old negress brushed her eyes with her apron as she pressed a cake
upon me she had made herself, for she had grown fond of me. And
presently we went away silently to bed.

It was a long, long time before Nick's breathing told me that he was
asleep. He held me tightly clutched to him, and I know that he feared I
would leave him. The thought of going broke my heart, but I never once
wavered in my resolve, and I lay staring into the darkness, pondering
what to do. I thought of good Mr. Lowndes and his wife, and I decided to
go to Charlestown. Some of my boyish motives come back to me now: I
should be near Nick; and even at that age,--having lived a life of
self-reliance,--I thought of gaining an education and of rising to a
place of trust. Yes, I would go to Mr. Lowndes, and ask him to let me
work for him and so earn my education.

With a heavy spirit I crept out of bed, slowly disengaging Nick's arm
lest he should wake. He turned over and sighed in his sleep. Carefully
I dressed myself, and after I was dressed I could not refrain from
slipping to the bedside to bend over him once again,--for he was the only
one in my life with whom I had found true companionship. Then I climbed
carefully out of the window, and so down the corner of the house to the
ground.