“We soon get indifferent to such matters in this country,” said Archie. “See how many of them there are in all directions.”
“I am afraid that you will become indifferent in other matters,” observed Ellen—“to those slave-whips, for instance, though you say they are only used in cases of necessity. When the drivers are judges as to whether that necessity is lawful, the poor slaves are likely to feel the lash very frequently, I suspect.”
“It is found from experience that they cannot otherwise be kept in order,” answered Archie. “I confess that at first I shuddered as I saw the whip used.”
“Do the blacks never rebel against such treatment?” asked Ellen.
“They have at times,” replied Archie. “In the year ’37 there was an outbreak, and there have been others at different periods; but they were put down in so rigorous a fashion that the negroes are not likely again, I fancy, to make the attempt.”
“I trust not,” said Ellen, “for it would be a fearful thing were these tens of thousands of blacks, discovering their strength, to rise on their masters and attempt to revenge the wrongs they have suffered.”
The conversation between Ellen and her devoted attendant was, it must be confessed, of a very unsentimental character; indeed, she would very quickly have put a stop to anything that had been otherwise, although the romantic scenery through which they were passing might, under other circumstances, have exercised its influence over her. Not a breath of wind as yet disturbed the calm, pure atmosphere; the ocean appeared like a sheet of glass; the blue sky overhead was undimmed by a cloud; the mountain-tops seen to the right rose above the mass of green, their outline distinctly marked, though at a considerable distance. The only sounds which reached them were the lowing of cattle and the signal horns of the drivers summoning the negroes to their work. In a short time the light increased, the sun rose above the ocean, and a gentle breeze waved the topmost boughs of the trees, breaking the sea below on the left into tiny wavelets. Now the road led round a hill, with a steep precipice on the left reaching down to the water, and high cliffs to the right covered with shrubs and creepers of every hue. As it was seen ahead, it appeared as if there was barely room for more than one horse to pass, and that no carriage could possibly get along without risk of falling over the precipice; but as they proceeded it widened out, and Archie, notwithstanding Ellen’s cautions, insisted on still keeping his place, riding between her and the edge of the precipice.
“Pray keep behind me, or ride on in front, Mr Sandys,” she exclaimed. “You would horrify me exceedingly were you to fall over the edge; and to save you from running the risk, I am compelled, you see, to ride so close to the cliff that I run the chance of having my hat torn off by the boughs above, or getting my shoulder struck by a projecting rock.”
Still Archie begged to ride on as he was doing. “Were your horse to shy, Miss Ferris,” he remarked, “I might be the means of saving you, and I would run every risk for the sake of doing that.”
Ellen laughed. “I am very ungrateful,” she said, “but I cannot allow you to be placed in any danger on my account: you make me feel uncomfortable, if not nervous, and I am almost inclined to be angry with you for your disobedience.”