Pompey had long been with Jennings, and understood his business well,
and if he did not take delight in the discharge of his duty, he did it at
least with a degree of alacrity, so that he might receive the approbation
of his master.
Pomp, as he was usually called by the trader, was of real
negro blood, and would often say, when alluding to himself,
"Dis nigger am no counterfeit, he is de ginuine artikle.
Dis chile is none of your haf-and-haf, dere is no bogus about him."
Pompey was of low stature, round face, and, like most of his race,
had a set of teeth, which, for whiteness and beauty, could not be surpassed;
his eyes were large, lips thick, and hair short and woolly.
Pompey had been with Jennings so long, and had seen so much of buying
and selling of his fellow-creatures, that he appeared perfectly indifferent
to the heart-rending scenes which daily occurred in his presence.
Such is the force of habit:--
"Vice is a monster of such frightful mien,
That to be hated, needs but to be seen;
But seen too oft, familiar with its face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
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