"Rather good-looking," she replied, after observing them for a few minutes,
and then added, "Have you seen their parents?"
"No, not yet," was the reply. "I met Walters in the street this morning,
who informed me they are from the South, and very rich; we must try and
cultivate them--ask the children in to play with ours, and strike up an
intimacy in that way, the rest will follow naturally, you know. By the way,
Jule," continued he, "how I hate that nigger Walters, with his grand airs.
I wanted some money of him the other day on rather ticklish securities for
a client of mine, and the black wretch kept me standing in his hall for at
least five minutes, and then refused me, with some not very complimentary
remarks upon my assurance in offering him such securities. It made me so
mad I could have choked him--it is bad enough to be treated with _hauteur_
by a white man, but contempt from a nigger is almost unendurable."
"Why didn't you resent it in some way? I never would have submitted to
anything of the kind from him," interrupted Mrs. Stevens.
"Oh, I don't dare to just now; I have to be as mild as milk with him. You
forget about the mortgage; don't you know he has me in a tight place there,
and I don't see how to get out of it either.
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