"
"Pshaw! man, are you crazy? This thing has startled your conscience more
than all the crimes of a lifetime. What has gotten into you, Vernon? I
never knew you to moralize before."
"Look here, my boy, I can do almost anything; but I would not wrong a
woman,--no, not a _woman_,--I am above that," said Vernon, with much
emphasis.
"But, man, she is my slave--a quadroon."
"Property's property; but since I met the girl in the boat, I am half
inclined to believe she is no quadroon. Maxwell, I had a sister once,
and may my body be rent into a thousand pieces but I would tear out the
heart of the man who would serve her as you do this girl. If she is your
_property_, why, that alters the case."
"Certainly it does; so, end your sermon, and tell me how to gain
possession of my _property_."
"We can storm the island."
"What! two of us?"
"I can get plenty of soldiers, if you will pay them."
"I will give a thousand dollars for her; and, if I get her again, by
heavens, she shall not escape me! I will put a pair of ruffles on her
wrists such as the dainty girl never got of her milliner.
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