The negro closed the door. "Damn it, man, what do you mean?" I cried. "Confound you, can't you see--" "Sir," he said, standing over me with his arms folded, "do you know what you are saying?" "Yes, I do, and I want to tell you right now, and once for all, that I appreciate your kindness, but will not submit to your insolence. Do you understand?" "I hear you, Sir." "But do you understand; that's the question?" "I understand, but you don't," he said. "Now, listen to me. There is the noblest young woman in the world; when she was a child I was her horse, the black beast who delighted to do her bidding. I know her--I know she is hungry for someone to talk to. Now, do you understand?" I did, but I said "No." I knew that she was hungry; but if I could give her food, why should this monster dash it to the ground? "If you don't, the theatre is a more innocent place than I think it is," he replied. I looked up at him and he winked at me slowly. "But you say she is noble," I said. "She is, Sir, and strong; but a marriage tie cannot hold an unwilling mind. Don't misunderstand me, Sir. The greatest harm you could do would be to make her still more dissatisfied. With the presumption of an old servant, I may say something that sounds impertinent, but I am a preacher and a moralist. Thomas Rodney Estell is regarded here as a great man; he has been State Treasurer nearly ten years, and he and the Senator are warm friends." "Well?" I said. He looked up at the ceiling and replied: "A girl may marry her father's friend, but it is not often that she loves him." "Washington, are you in league with the devil?" This struck through the superficial coating of his education, into his real negro nature and made him roar with laughter. "No, Sah, I'm er feard o' him;" but feeling the disgrace of his dialect he sobered and said: "I think you understand me now, Mr. Belford." "Yes, I do, and I don't blame you. But before we go further let me tell you this: I have been on the stage, which is quite enough to fix my character in the opinion of many a good but narrow-minded person, but I am from a long line of Puritan stock, and in my blood there is a strong sense of moral responsibility. I have never made an intentional show of those puritanic influences; I have striven rather to hide them from the contempt of my lighter-hearted companions; but a sagacious old stage-strutter once held up my overreligious ancestors as the cause of my failure to catch the subtle art of a high grade of work. He declared that all great English-speaking actors could trace their blood back to the cart's tail." "I don't understand, Mr. Belford--the reference to the cart's tail." "To ease their consciences and to serve the Lord with becoming activity, it was the custom of the Puritans, in the olden day, to condemn actors and tie them to the tail of a cart, and whip them through the street." "I have never read about it, Mr. Belford."