"She told me, as well as she could for her short and convulsive breathing, that the driver had undertaken, in the absence of the overseer, to whip a young negro who is a great favourite among his fellows; and it seems that he had beaten him unmercifully. Some time after, a party had assailed his house where he had shut himself in; as I came up, they had just succeeded in breaking down the door; but the bird had been some time flown, out of a back window. Your mother had gone to drink tea with one of the refugees, a city acquaintance of hers, at the little encampment before mentioned. Under these circumstances, I seized a cudgel and departed to the scene of action, not, however, with Bell's consent. She declared that they would murder me, and clung to my garments until I gently disengaged myself and committed her to her maid. It is not to be denied that I almost blessed the rebellion, for its showing me that I was a person to be preserved in the eyes of your cousin. "When I arrived upon the ground, it was some minutes before I could make the principal actors conscious of the presence of any one not in the number of their confederates; however, by dint of lungs and violent gesticulations, I at length gained an audience, and no sooner had I done so, than the victory was gained. I merely promised to have the matter investigated, and the offender punished himself, if he should prove, upon investigation, to have whipped the favourite either without cause, or unmercifully, with cause. This desirable conclusion to the affair could not have been brought about in every quarter in this neighbourhood, or at any one where they had been less accustomed to have their mutual wrongs redressed. "When I returned to the house, the news of the result had preceded me, and Bell had retired to her room; she soon, however, again made her appearance, more beautiful, if possible, than when I left her; she found it exceedingly difficult to amalgamate her present evident gratitude with her former comico-quizzico treatment of me,--and though the latter decidedly had the advantage, the struggles between the little devil of mischief within, and a proper behaviour to me on the present occasion, kept me quite amused, considering our late excitement, until your mother, who had been sent for, arrived with a number of gentlemen from the sandhills. With these we formed quite a party; your mother was less moved than I expected, owing, I suppose, to her having so long been in the habit of putting her energies to the test. She was undisguisedly pleased to see me.