Bond and Free | Page 4

bowed in grief. Then raising her tear-stained face to his, she whispered, "Father, dear father, tell me--."
In vain he strove to speak; life was too far gone--just hovering on the brink of the dark river. A smile, a gentle pressure of the hand, a gasp, and all was over; the last step was taken, and the waters crossed.
There was left a lifeless body, a grief-stricken daughter, and a grasping Shylock, impatient to bury the dead, and scrape in long coveted dollars.
CHAPTER II.
HUNT TEMPLETON.
HUNT TEMPLETON was seated in a comfortable rocker, with his feet upon the fender. His countenance, as he looked into the fire, would convey a favorable impression, presenting a fine profile of the Jewish type, inherited from his mother; but, as he turned, an upward glance betrayed a dark, sinister expression lurking under shaggy eyebrows, which would change a stranger's first opinion, and cause a man, with whom he might have business dealings, to question his integrity.
His wife was knitting upon a fast lengthening stocking without appearing to observe its existence. She wore a dark linsey dress, and a long, full gingham apron tied round the waist; her face was hard, and the motion of her jaws indicated a devotion to the habit of gum-chewing. Dropping her knitting into a basket, she withdrew the gum from her mouth, stored it in her pocket for future use, and skillfully ejecting a mouthful of saliva across the fire, addressed her husband, while she resumed her knitting:
"I don't see w'at for you sold Joe and 'Titia together, I told you the last thing for to be sure and put one in one place, and t'other some 'eres else."
"You need borrow no trouble on that score, old girl; I reckon they are both in Tophet by this time, for I sold 'em to Satan, or one of his colleagues. The captain of the 'Wildfire' said he had knowed him ever since he has been a tradin' 'long the coast. He is a runaway convict, and never shows himself away from his hut. There is a man in Jacksonville who sometimes sends him supplies under an alias; with this exception, and an occasional sailing vessel stopping there, he has no communication with the world. I did not get much money for the nigs, but I thought I could not get shed of 'em in a safer place."
"You may be right; but," lowering her voice to a whisper, and glancing around the room to assure herself that no other person was present, "do you really suppose either of 'em knowed about the will?"
At this question, Mr. Templeton contracted the muscles of the forehead till his scalp approached his eyebrows, as if Satan betrayed the guiding of his heart by disfiguring his face, and answered,
"I don't care whether they know it or not, now; I made a sure thing in getting the place cl'ar on 'em. Brother James trusted every thing to Joe. I know there were two copies of the will. One is safe, I bet; the other James had hidden away some'ers, and I charged you to make thorough hunt for it at the farm."
"Yes; didn't I spend three days a huntin', when Sary Ann was down o' the fevers? I searched every nook and corner, and nary will is there, that is certain," insisted Mrs. Templeton, holding her stocking near the candle to see the last stitches as she "toed it off." "I don't see what has become of it, unless it was sent to Mary, or the boys, for safety."
"I don't think it was, because James told me he didn't want the boys to know he had so much bank stock laid by. You see there are seventy-five thousand in the Planter's Bank, with the interest piling on for three years; and, if the boys knowed it, James thought it would spile 'em."
"Suppose the boys come on, and find out how it is."
"I fixed that. I got 'Squire Munser to write that their father was dead, and they had best remain where they are, or they would be taken and sold if they return. The children, all having been born in slavery, could not claim the estate without the will. 'Squire Munser wrote to Mary that she could get nothing; so I think we shall have no trouble from any of them. But one thing is sure, Sue Templeton, it has taken a mighty sight of figurin' and thinkin' to fix this all up for our side; and 'Squire Munser wants an awful pile of money to fetch it out right for us."
"Well, I reckon he'll not get more'n honest pay."
"'Squire Munser is not the man to undertake a job like this without big pay, and he told me so. There is no 'whipping the devil 'round the stump' with him.