of gin, with which he liberally supplied his guests.  He knew full well that they were both men of intemperate habits; so he talked gaily about affairs in Maryland, making various inquiries concerning what had happened since he left; and ever and anon he replenished their glasses with gin.  It was not long before they were completely insensible to all that was going on around them.  The colored man and his family then made speedy preparations for departure.  While Colonel Hopper and the constable lay in the profound stupor of intoxication, they were on the way to New Jersey, with all their household goods, where they found a safe place of refuge before the rising of the sun.

When consciousness returned to the sleepers, they were astonished to find themselves alone in the house; and as soon as they could rally their wits, they set off in search of the fugitives.  After spending several days without finding any track of them, the master called upon Isaac T. Hopper.  He complained bitterly of his servant’s ingratitude in absconding from him, and of the trick he had played to deceive him.  He said he and his family had always been extremely comfortable in Maryland, and it was a great piece of folly in them to have quitted such a happy condition.  He concluded by asking for assistance in tracing them; promising to treat them as kindly as if they were his own children, if they would return to him.

Friend Hopper replied, “If the man were as happy with thee as thou hast represented, he will doubtless return voluntarily, and my assistance will be quite unnecessary.  I do not justify falsehood and deception; but I am by no means surprised at them in one who has always been a slave, and had before him the example of slaveholders.  Why thou shouldst accuse him of ingratitude, is more than I can comprehend.  It seems to me that he owes thee nothing.  On the contrary, I should suppose that thou wert indebted to him; for I understand that he has served thee more than thirty years without wages.  So far from helping thee to hunt the poor fugitives, I will, with all my heart, do my utmost to keep them out of thy grasp.”

“Have you seen my man?” inquired the slaveholder.

“He came to me when he left his own house in Green’s Court,” replied Friend Hopper; “and I gave him such advice on that occasion, as I thought proper.  Thou art the first slaveholder I ever met with bearing my name.  Perhaps thou hast assumed it, as a means of gaining the confidence of colored people, to aid thee in recapturing the objects of thy avarice.”

The Colonel replied that it was really his name, and departed without having gained much satisfaction from the interview.  He remained in Philadelphia a week or ten days, where he was seized with mania a potu.  He was carried home in a straight jacket, where he soon after died.

A few months after these transactions, the slave called to see Friend Hopper.  He laughed till he could hardly stand, while he described the method he had taken to elude his old master, and the comical scene that followed with him and the constable.  “I knew his weak side,” said he.  “I knew where to touch him.”