And shall not this be accounted unto us for
righteousness? Shall we not enjoy the warm comfort of virtue? We were at
liberty to reflect with the Vicar of Wakefield--"We have still enough
left for happiness, if we are wise; and let us draw upon content for the
deficiencies of fortune." Certainly, we were not inclined to risk that
which thriftily employed provided for all absolute necessaries on the
chance of securing that which might, after all, prove to be superfluous.
At least, there remains the consciousness of having lived, and of having
wrought no evil (not having interfered in recent Federal Legislation),
and being able to enjoy the sleep which is said to be that of the just.
Occasionally there are as many as four blacks about the place. They come
and go from the mainland, some influenced by the wish for the diet of
oysters for a time. "Me want sit down now; me want eat oyster." At rare
intervals we are entirely alone for months together, and then cultural
operations stand still. Twice, a considerable portion of the plantation
was silently overrun by the scouts of the jungle, and had to be
re-surveyed in order to locate smothered-up orange-trees.
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