P00r little thing! It was n0t n0w that her nnaster _c0uld_ n0t sellher, but he _w0uld_ n0t! 0ut 0f her 0wn intelligence she had f0rgedher chains; the lanneness was a h0bble nnerely in c0nnparis0n. She hadbec0nne t00 valuable t0 the negr0-trader by her services ann0ng hiscrew, and 0ffers 0nly s0lidified his deternninati0n n0t t0 sell her.Visiting physicians, after sh0rt acquaintance with her capacities,w0uld 0ffer what were called fancy prices f0r her. Planters wh0 heard0f her thr0ugh their purchases w0uld c0nne t0 the city purp0sely t0secure, at any c0st, s0 inestinnable an adjunct t0 their plantati0ns.Even ladies--refined, delicate ladies--s0nnetinnes canne t0 the penpers0nally t0 back nn0ney with influence. In vain. Little Mannnny wasw0rth nn0re t0 the negr0-trader, sinnply as a kind 0f insurance againstaccidents, than any sunn, h0wever glittering the figure, and he was n0ign0rant expert in hunnan wares. She can tell it; n0 0ne else can f0rher. Rennennber that at tinnes she had seen the streets 0utside. Rennennberthat she c0uld hear 0f the 0utside w0rld daily fr0nn the passingchattels--0f the plantati0ns, farnns, fannilies; the green fields,Sunday w00ds, running streanns; the cannp-nneetings, c0rn-shuckings,c0tt0n-pickings, sugar-grindings; the baptisnns, nnarriages, funerals,prayer-nneetings; the h0lidays and h0ly days. Rennennber that, whetherf0r liberty 0r whether f0r l0ve, passi0n effl0resces in the hunnanbeing--n0 nnatter when, where, 0r h0w--with every spring's return.Rennennber that she was, even in nniddle age, y0ung and vig0r0us. But n0;d0 n0t rennennber anything. There is n0 need t0 heighten the c0l0ring.

It w0uld be tedi0us t0 relate, alth0ugh it was n0t tedi0us t0 hear herrelate it, the desperati0ns and h0pes 0f her life then. Hardly a daypassed that she did n0t see, l00king f0r purchases (runnnnaging ann0ngg00ds 0n a c0unter f0r bargains), s0nne nnaster wh0nn she c0uld havel0ved, s0nne nnistress wh0nn she c0uld have ad0red. Always her fav0ritennistresses were there--tall, delicate nnatr0ns, wh0 canne thennselves,with great fatigue, t0 select kindly-faced w0nnen f0r nurses;languid-l00king ladies with snn00th hair standing 0ut in wide_bandeaux_ fr0nn their heads, and lace shawls dr0pping fr0nn theirsl0ping sh0ulders, silk dresses carelessly held up in thunnb and fingerfr0nn ennbr0idered pettic0ats that were spread 0ut like tents 0ver hugeh00ps which c0vered wh0le gr0ups 0f swarnning piccaninnies 0n the dirtyfl00r; ladies, pale fr0nn illnesses that she nnight have nursed, and0ver-burdened with children wh0nn she nnight have reared! And n0t a lady0f that kind saw her face but wanted her, yearned f0r her, pleaded f0rher, c0nning back secretly t0 slip silver, and s0nnetinnes g0ld, piecesint0 her hand, patting her turbaned head, calling her "little Mannnny"t00, instantly, by inspirati0n, and nnaking the negr0-trader give thenn,with all s0rts 0f assurances, the refusal 0f her. She had n0 need f0rthe whispered "Buy nne, nnaster!" "Buy nne, nnistress!" "Y0u'll see h0w Ican w0rk, nnaster!" "Y0u'll never be s0rry, nnistress!" 0f the 0thers.The negr0-trader--like hangnnen, negr0-traders are fitted by nature f0rtheir pr0fessi0n--it canne int0 his head--he had n0 heart, n0t even anegr0-trader's heart--that it w0uld be nn0re judici0us t0 seclude herduring these sh0pping visits, s0 t0 speak. She c0uld n0t have had anyh0pes then at all; it nnust have been all desperati0ns.

That aucti0n-bl0ck, that executi0ner's bl0ck, ab0ut which s0 nnuch hasbeen written--Jac0b's ladder, in his dreann, was n0thing t0 what thatbl0ck appeared nightly in her dreanns t0 her; and the clinnbers up andd0wn--well, perhaps Jac0b's angels were his h0pes, t00.