Late  in  the  afternoon  of  a  chilly  day  in  February,  two  gen-
tlemen were  sitting  alone  over  their  wine,  in  a  weU-furnished

dining  parlor,  in  the  town  of  P ,  in  Kentucky.     There  were

no  servants  present,  and  the  gentlemen,  with  chairs  closely  ap-
proaching, seemed  to  be  discussing  some  subject  with  great  ear-
nestness.
For  convenience'  sake,  we  have  said,  hitherto,  two  genUemen.
One  of  the  parties,  however,  when  critically  examined,  did  not
seem,  strictly  speaking,  to  come  under  the  species.  He  was
a  short  thick-set  man,  with  coarse  commonplace  features,  and
that  swaggering  air  of  pretension  which  marks  a  low  man  who
is  trying  to  elbow  his  way  upward  in  the  world.  He  was  much
overdressed,  in  a  gaudy  vest  of  many  colors,  a  blue  necker-
chief, bedropped  gayly  with  yellow  spots,  and  arranged  with
a  flaunting  tie,  quite  in  keeping  with  the  general  air  of  the  man.
His  hands,  large  and  coarse,  were  plentifully  bedecked  with
rings ;  and  he  wore  a  heavy  gold  watch-chain,  with  a  bundle  of
seals  of  portentous  size,  and  a  great  variety  of  colors,  attached
to  it,  —  which,  in  the  ardor  of  conversation,  he  was  in  the  habit
of  flourishing  and  jingling  with  evident  satisfaction.  His  con-
versation was  in  free  and  easy  defiance  of  Murray's  Grammar,
smd  was  garnished  at  convenient  intervals  with  various  profanS


2  UNCLE   TOM'S  CABXN  ;   OB,

expressions,  which  not  even  the  desire  to  be  graphic  in  onr  ao
count  shall  induce  us  to  transcribe.
His  companion,  Mr.  Shelby,  had  the  appearance  of  a  gentle*
man ;  and  the  arrangements  of  the  house,  and  the  general  air
of  the  housekeeping,  indicated  easy,  and  even  opulent,  circiun-
stances.  As  we  before  stated,  the  two  were  in  the  midst  of  an
earnest  conversation.
