Page:Uncle Tom's cabin; or, Life among the lowly (IA uncletomscabinor00stow).pdf/127

Rh gaining time for such cases made and provided; he said "ahem," and coughed several times, took out his pocket handkerchief, and began to wipe his glasses. Mrs. Bird, seeing the defenceless condition of the enemy's territory, had no more conscience than to push her advantage.

"I should like to see you doing that, John—I really should! Turning a woman out of doors in a snow storm, for instance; or, may be, you'd take her up and put her in jail, wouldn't you? You would make a great hand at that!"

"Of course, it would be a very painful duty," began Mr. Bird, in a moderate tone.

"Duty, John! don’t use that word! You know it isn’t a duty—it can't be a duty! If folks want to keep their slaves from running away, let 'em treat 'em well,—that's my doctrine. If I had slaves, (as I hope I never shall have,) I'd risk their wanting to run away from me, or you either, John. I tell you, folks don’t run away when they are happy; and when they do run, poor creatures! they suffer enough with cold, and hunger, and fear, without every body's turning against them; and, law or no law, I never will, so help me God!"

"Mary! Mary! My dear, let me reason with you."

"I hate reasoning, John,—especially reasoning on such subjects. There's a way you political folks have of coming round and round a plain right thing; and you don't believe in it yourselves, when it comes to practice. I know you well enough, John. You don't believe it's right any more than I do; and you wouldn’t do it any sooner than I."

At this critical juncture, old Cudjoe, the black man-of-all-work, put his head in at the door, and wished "missis would come into the kitchen;" and our senator, tolerably relieved, looked after his little wife with a whimsical mixture of amusement and vexation, and, seating himself in the arm chair, began to read the papers.

After a moment, his wife's voice was heard at the door, in a quick, earnest tone,—John! John! I do wish you’d come here, a moment."

He laid down his paper, and went into the kitchen, and started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen,