‘Missy Liz, no talking like dat,’ said an aged negro, speaking for the rest. ‘Missy know we lub her, and call her de Good Angel ob Beauregard.’
‘Then if you love me, coolies, prove it by what you do. Give up this hateful mutiny against those who only desire your good, and let the Governor, and Mr and Mrs Courtney, return to the White House in peace. If you don’t, I warn you my life will be the sacrifice, for you shall trample over my body before you enter the bungalow in search of them.’
She placed her two hands on the lintels of the doorposts as she spoke, to bar their way, and the negroes saw she was in earnest.
‘Go back to your quarters, my friends,’ she continued, in a softer voice. ‘In my name, and the name of all whom I love, I beg of you to return quietly to your homes, and relinquish your murderous design.’
‘For your sake den, Missy Liz, for your sake,’ replied the coolies, as, startled, and somewhat ashamed of themselves, for they had no real cause of complaint, and had only been incited on by the example of others, the crowd broke up into groups, and commenced to walk back slowly to their homes. And then Lizzie turned round, and threw herself weeping into Hugh Norris’s arms.
THE END.
COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
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