He called to the boy who was bringing the pail of water when they
entered. He came forward, and taking the poor fellow by the
shoulders, this beast in human form cried out, "Get up now, ye
miserable thief, ye." The poor fellow made a struggle, but as the
black man raised his head-which seemed to hang as a dead
weight-exhaustion had left him without strength, and he fell back
among the bloody shavings like a mutilated mass of lifeless flesh.
"None of your humbugging; yer worth a dozen dead niggers anyhow,"
said he, taking up the pail of water and throwing nearly half of it
over him; then passing the bucket to the black man and ordering him
to get more water and wash him down; then to get some saltpetre and
a sponge to sop his flesh.
"Well," said the colonel, "I have seen a good deal of cruelty to
slaves, but this is the most beastly I have ever beheld. If you
don't send for a doctor at once, I shall report you. That man will
die, to a moral certainty. Now, you may depend upon what I say-if
that man dies, you'll feel the consequences, and I shall watch you
closely."
"Sure I always takes care of me own niggers, an' it's himself that
won't be asked to do a stroke of work for a week, but have the same
to git well in," said the tyrant as the colonel and Captain were
leaving.
"God be merciful to us, and spare us from the savages of mankind.
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