The question I wish to ask of you is, whether, if he should find her in the Free States, he could claim her as his slave, and have his claim allowed by law." "Not if he sent them to Nassau," replied Mr.Percival.

"British soil has the enviable distinction of making free whosoever touches it." "But he afterward brought them back to an island between Georgia and South Carolina," said Mrs.Delano.

"The eldest proved a most loving and faithful wife, and to this day has no suspicion of his designs with regard to her sister." "If he married her before he went to Nassau, the ceremony is not binding," rejoined Mr.Percival; "for no marriage with a slave is legal in the Southern States." "I was ignorant of that law," said Mrs.Delano, "being very little informed on the subject of slavery.

But I suspected trickery of some sort in the transaction, because he proved himself so unprincipled with regard to the sister." "And where is the sister ?" inquired Mr.Percival.
"I trust to your honor as a gentleman to keep the secret from every mortal," answered Mrs.Delano.

"You have seen her this evening." "Is it possible," he exclaimed, "that you mean to say she is your adopted daughter ?" "I did mean to say that," she replied.