ALABAMA. 123 



many years been a member of the legislature of the terri- 

 tory of Mississippi. Now, in advancing life, he was settling 

 in that estate at Dallas, Alabama, which was henceforward 

 to be his residence, and the place of his death in 1847. To 

 :his dignified and agreeable personage, whose polished 



lanners formed a charming contrast to the rough tones he 

 lad lately been accustomed to, Philip Gosse showed his 

 >pen letter of introduction to the planter at Claiborne, 

 r hich Mr. Conrad had given him. It fortunately happened 

 :hat Judge Saffold was seeking a master for a school com- 

 >osed of the sons of his neighbour proprietors and him- 

 self. He instantly engaged Philip Gosse, and when the 

 steamer reached King's Landing, which was the nearest 

 >oint on the river to Dallas, the latter stopped there ; Mr. 

 Saffold proceeding a little further on business, and pro- 



lising to meet him at his own house next day. 



An hour before dawn he was landed at the foot of a 



long flight of steps which descended from a large cotton 



warehouse. His trunks were thrown to him, and the 



steamer wheeled away in the darkness. Mr. Saffold's house 



r as ten miles distant, and how to find it he knew not. He 



;roped along a path up into the forest, and presently came 



:o a clearing with several houses in it. He made his way to 



:he door of one, where a rascally cur kept up a pertinacious 



marking, and he knocked and shouted to no purpose. At 



length, at another house, the cracked voice of a negro 



woman replied. He told her he was on his way to Pleasant 



Hill, and asked her to get him some breakfast. All sound 



within the house died away, till he knocked and shouted 



again, always to receive the same answer, " Sah ? Iss, 



sah ! " At last, when patience was wearing away, the old 



woman appeared, went to another house, and began to 



shout, " Mas' James ! Mas' James ! " But Master James was 



even more impassive than she had been herself, and made 



