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vi Introduction
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Introduction vii
as much rinse water as possible and dry the outside with a towel. If dry
glassware is needed immediately, rinse the equipment twice with
small amounts of acetone, then return the used acetone to the original
container. The residual acetone in the equipment will vaporize quickly
and leave no residue.
2. Disposal of used materials: Used chemicals and other materials must
be disposed of appropriately. We will use three disposal methods in
the experiments of this manual. Some used chemicals can be flushed
down the sink drain with water. When this method is to be used, you
will be notified as follows:
I R O N C H L O R I D E I N C O N T A I N E R L A B E L E D ‘‘ E X P . 4 , U S E D
C H E M I C A L S . ’’
Disposal
You would then dispose of your used iron chloride by putting it into
the container with the label matching the one given in the notification.
A few materials used in the lab can be put into an ordinary
wastebasket or other similar solidwaste receptacle. This will be
indicated by the following in bold type:
[IDENTITY] IN WASTEBASKET.
Disposal If you are not sure about the proper way to dispose of a used chemical
or other material, ask your lab instructor for directions.
3. Smelling vapors and gases: Never smell a chemical by holding the con-
tainer to your nose. Hold it about 6 to 12 inches away and carry the gas
or vapor to your nose in your cupped hand.
4. Chemical use: To avoid waste, obtain only the amount of chemical
called for in the experiment. Do not remove chemical containers (solids
or liquids) from the designated dispensing area.
5. Dispensing solids: Solid chemicals can be poured easily from contain-
ers by gently rotating the container back and forth during the pouring
process. Do not return excess chemical to the original container.
6. Dispensing liquids: When moderate to large amounts of liquid chemi-
cals are needed, pour the amount needed from the bottle into an app-
ropriate container (beaker, test tube, and so on). Do not lay the bottle
stopper on the bench but hold it between your fingers as demonstrated
by your lab instructor. When small amounts (drops) are needed, do not
put your dropper into the container. Either use the dropper supplied
with the container or pour a small amount into a small test tube or other
container and fill your dropper from that supply. Never return a used
liquid chemical to the original container.
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viii Introduction
SCALE OF EXPERIMENTS
The experiments included in this manual represent a compromise between
microscale approaches that minimize the amounts of chemicals used and
macroscale approaches that require the use of relatively large amounts of
chemicals. Microscale approaches have economic and safety advantages
because of the small quantities of both chemicals required and wastes
generated. However, such approaches often require specialized glassware
and other equipment that must be purchased, a requirement that
eliminates some of the economic advantage. Also, a completely microscale
approach often fails to give students experience in the use of certain basic
types of equipment such as burets and pipets.
The safety-scale experiments in this manual have been generally scaled
down from macroscale in terms of the amounts of materials used to
provide some of the economic and safety advantages of microscale. However,
the amounts are large enough to allow the use of regular, small-sized
laboratory glassware. Thus, most reactions are done using small (10-cm) test
tubes, but pipets, burets, and other basic pieces of glassware are also used
where it is appropriate. The small quantities of liquids required for most
experiments are measured in drops and dispensed from dropper bottles.
We have found this compromise in scale to be an effective approach to
teaching the chemistry laboratory. The students adapt to it very well, and
the stockroom personnel who prepare materials for the experiments
appreciate the small quantities involved.
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Introduction ix
Crucible tongs
Watch glass
Pinch clamp
Screw clamp
Ringstand
with ring
Buret clamp
Thermometer
Plastic dropper
Buret
Wire gauze
Pipet
Stirring rod
Spatula
Test tubes
Clay triangle
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Safety-Scale Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Today Seager E XP ER I M EN T
Measurements and
Significant Figures
INTRODUCTION
Measurement is an important activity in most scientific studies. Every
measurement contains an uncertainty that comes from the device or
technique used to make the measurement. The numbers used to record a
scientific measurement normally indicate the uncertainty in the measure-
ment. For example, a mass recorded as 2.87 g indicates that the measurement
has an uncertainty in the hundredths (.01) of a gram. This fact could be
represented by recording the mass as 2.87 .01 g, but usually this is not
done. The value is simply recognized as having an uncertainty of 1 or 1 in
the last recorded number.
The numbers used to represent the certain part of a measurement (the 2
and 8 in the example), plus one number representing the uncertain part
(the 7 in the example), are called significant figures or significant digits.
Thus, the quantity 2.87 g contains three significant figures.
The necessity of using zeros to express measurements raises the question
of when zeros are considered to be significant figures. The measured mass
expressed as 2.87 g could also be expressed as .00287 kg. The significance of a
measurement cannot be changed simply by changing the units used to
express the measurement. Thus, .00287 kg must contain three significant
figures just as 2.87 g does. This is an example of one rule concerning zeros.
Zeros not preceded on the left by nonzeros do not count as significant figures.
Other zeros, those located between nonzeros and those to the right of
nonzeros, are counted as significant figures. Thus, 3.509 g and 2.870 g both
contain four significant figures, and both indicate that the measurement
uncertainty is .001 or .001 g.
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2 Safety-Scale Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Today Seager
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
A. Measurement The area of a rectangle is equal to the product of the width, w, and length, l,
with Ruler A (area w l). The perimeter of a rectangle is equal to the sum of the four
sides (perimeter w w l l). In this procedure, you will measure the
length and width of four different rectangles. These quantities will be
measured with a ruler that has divisions to the nearest centimeter. When
measuring devices like rulers are used, the measurement uncertainty is
expressed by estimating the value of the measured quantity to one deci-
mal place more than the smallest scale division of the measuring device.
Thus, all measurements made with ruler A should be expressed to the
nearest .1 cm.
To calculate rectangular areas, you will have to multiply together two
measured quantities. The area that results should be expressed using the
correct number of significant figures. In the case of multiplication or
division, the results of the calculation must have the same number of
significant figures as the least significant measured number used in the
calculation. For example, the product 1.1186 0.064 is equal to 0.07159.
However, only two significant figures are used in the answer to match the
two significant figures in 0.064. Thus, the answer is 0.072, where the last
significant figure (1) was rounded up to 2 because the first number being
dropped (5) was equal to 5. In general, the last significant figure retained
during rounding will be increased by 1 in the rounded answer when the
first number being dropped is equal to or greater than 5. When the first
number being dropped is less than 5, the last significant figure in the
rounded answer is not changed.
Rectangle perimeters are obtained by adding a series of numbers.
When numbers are added or subtracted, significant figure rules require
that the answer be rounded so that it contains the same number of places to
the right of the decimal as the smallest number of places in the quantities
added or subtracted. For example, the sum 3.527 0.041 7.12 is equal to
10.688. However, in this answer only two places to the right of the decimal
are used to match the two places in 7.12. When the same rounding rules
given earlier are used, the correctly rounded answer is 10.69. Note that this
answer has four significant figures, even though the numbers added had
four, two, and three significant figures, respectively.
Procedure
1. Use a pair of scissors and carefully cut out ruler A from page 5. Cut
inside the bottom line to remove the bottom line from the ruler. Do not
cut out the rectangles.
2. Use ruler A to measure the length and width of rectangles W, X, Y, and
Z that are drawn on page 5. Note that the smallest division on ruler A
is 1 cm, so measured values should be estimated to the nearest .1 cm.
Record your measured values in cm in Table 1.1 of the Data and Report
Sheet, with the longest side designated as the length.
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Experiment 1 Measurements and Significant Figures 3
B. Measurement Procedure
with Ruler B
1. Use a pair of scissors and carefully cut out ruler B from page 5. Cut
inside the bottom line to remove the bottom line from the ruler.
2. Use ruler B to measure the length and width of rectangles W, X, Y, and
Z that are drawn on page 5. Note the smallest division on ruler B is
0.1 cm, so measured values should be estimated to the nearest .01 cm.
Record your measured values in cm in Table 1.5 of the Data and Report
Sheet.
C. Improving the The number of significant figures in a measured quantity and in quantities
Significance of calculated from measured quantities depends on the way the measuring
Measurements device is used.
Procedure
1. Obtain 10 one-cent coins from the stockroom.
2. Use ruler B to measure the diameter of a single coin; be sure to make an
appropriate estimate and include it in your value. Record the mea-
sured value in Table 1.9 of the Data and Report Sheet.
3. Use ruler B to measure the thickness of a single coin and the thickness
(height) of stacks of coins containing 3, 5, 7, and 10 coins. Include
appropriate estimates in your measurements and record the values in
Table 1.9 of the Data and Report Sheet.
B. Measurement 1. Transfer the measured length and width values from Table 1.5 to
with Ruler B Table 1.6 of the Data and Report Sheet.
2. Complete Table 1.6 by writing the number of significant figures found
in each measured quantity.
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4 Safety-Scale Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Today Seager
C. Improving the 1. Transfer the measured thickness values for each coin stack from
Significance of Table 1.9 to Table 1.10 of the Data and Report Sheet.
Measurements 2. Determine the number of significant figures in each thickness value
and record that number in Table 1.10.
3. Refer to the rules given earlier for division calculations, and determine
the correct number of significant figures that should be used in a cal-
culated value of the average thickness of a coin. This average is ob-
tained by dividing the measured thickness of a stack by the number of
coins in the stack. The number of coins in a stack is a counting number
that is known exactly and does not influence the number of significant
figures used in the calculated value. Record the correct number of
significant figures in Table 1.10.
4. Calculate the average thickness of a coin from the data for each stack
and record the unrounded and properly rounded values in Table 1.10.
5. The volume of a coin is given by
1 2
V dt
4
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Experiment 1 Measurements and Significant Figures 5
Ruler B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Ruler A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E X P E R I M E N T 1
Pre-Lab Review
MEASUREMENTS AND SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
1. Are any specific safety alerts given in the experiment? List any that are given.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Are any specific disposal directions given in the experiment? List any that are given.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. A quantity has a measured value of 8.4126. Which of the five numbers in the measured value has an
uncertainty?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How many significant figures are contained in each of the following measurements?
2.46 g _______ 10.00 mL _______ 0.0109 cm _______
6. You are measuring a quantity with a measuring device on which the smallest scale division is 0.1
unit. A measurement appears to have a value of exactly 3.2 units. How should you record the
measurement in order to properly indicate where the uncertainty is located? ___________________
7. Round the following numbers so they contain the number of significant figures indicated in
parentheses.
1.513 (3) _______ 0.0155 (2) _______ 1.494 (1) _______
0.9866 (2) _______ 12.689 (2) _______ 0.04020 (3) _______
8. Carry out the following calculations and write each result using the correct number of significant
figures. Assume all numbers represent measured quantities.
4 400
0.521 2.1 _______ _______
3 92
0.713 6.12 11.2 _______ 5.472 4.001 0.0119 _______
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E X P E R I M E N T 1
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10 Safety-Scale Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Today Seager
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Experiment 1 Measurements and Significant Figures 11
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12 Safety-Scale Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Today Seager
10
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Experiment 1 Measurements and Significant Figures 13
Questions
1. Suppose the area of rectangle Y was calculated using the length from Table 1.1 and the width from
Table 1.5. How many significant figures would be correct in the calculated area?
a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Suppose the perimeter of rectangle X was calculated using the length from Table 1.1 and the width
from Table 1.5. How many significant figures would be found in the calculated perimeter after
proper rounding?
a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4
Explain your answer: _____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. A buret is a tubular device used to deliver measured volumes of liquids. The smallest division on the
scale of a buret is 0.1 mL. Suppose a buret reading was exactly on the 10-mL mark. How should this
reading be recorded?
a. 10 mL b. 10.0 mL c. 10.00 mL d. 10.000 mL
Explain your answer: _____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Refer to Table 1.10. How can the number of significant figures in a measurement be increased
without changing the measuring device?
a. Estimate two decimals beyond the smallest scale division of the measuring device.
b. Increase the size of the quantity being measured.
c. Decrease the size of the quantity being measured.
Explain your answer: _____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What is the shortest length that could be measured with ruler B that would contain four significant
figures?
a. Exactly 1 cm b. Exactly 5 cm c. Exactly 10 cm d. Exactly 15 cm
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return of Jenkins, fearing that the terrible result would be that which
he promised him.
Three days and nights passed away in this manner, and Blodget
was still kept a prisoner in the subterranean vault, and was daily
visited by Gordon, who came to bring him his scanty allowance of
provisions, and to taunt him with his degraded and altered situation.
The unhappy wretch was at length completely subdued in spirit, and
was incapable of answering the ruffian, and he was at last so
humbled as to entreat Gordon’s mercy, and to pray that he would
release him from his present place of confinement to one less
dismal. This request, however, Gordon only treated with scorn and
derision; so true it is that none feel greater pleasure than the guilty
in torturing one another. Although Blodget had never given the
ruffian the least cause for offence, but, on the contrary, according to
his own admission, had liberally rewarded him for the nefarious
actions in which he had employed him, he now felt the most savage
delight in adding to his misery as much as possible; and the more he
saw him suffer, and the more humbled he was, the greater did he
exult. He had no doubt he should receive great praise, and
something far more substantial from Jenkins for the manner in which
he had acted, and he anticipated his return with much impatience.
He was not made thoroughly acquainted with Jenkins’ intention as
regarded Inez, but he had not the least doubt it was to restore her
to her friends, and he imagined he would ensure from them a rich
reward, in which he also expected to become a sharer to no small
amount for the services he had rendered. How far his expectations
were realized, will be seen anon.
When our heroine had quite recovered from the shock which she
received from the behavior of the villain Blodget, she returned her
most heartfelt thanks to the Almighty for her preservation, and for
the fortitude with which she had been imbued to resist him. She
then expressed her warmest acknowledgments to Alice, to whose
presence of mind in hastening for the aid of Gordon, she might, in a
great measure, attribute her preservation. The conduct of Gordon,
who, there could not be the least doubt, acted entirely by the orders
of Jenkins, left her no longer any room to doubt but that the latter
was really the friend and protector he had told her was, and now
that Blodget was thrust into confinement, from which they were
assured he would not be released until the return of the captain, our
heroine felt that she was safe.
‘What ready means guilt often unthinkingly takes to defeat its own
designs:’ observed Alice; ‘Blodget thrusting me out of the room, was
the very cause of bringing about his own confusion, and frustrating
his evil intentions; for, had he placed me in another room, and
confined me therein, he might easily have silenced the old woman,
had she been inclined to oppose him, and thus he would have been
almost certain to have obtained his object.’
‘Oh, no,’ returned Inez, ‘my mind was made up; never did I feel
more determined, and he perceived it; I would have plunged the
knife to my heart, sooner than he would have triumphed in his
disgusting and diabolical purpose!’
‘Oh, Miss,’ said Alice, ‘the idea of that makes me shudder with
horror! Heaven be praised, that preserved you from such a dreadful
and untimely end. But the wretch will no doubt be amply punished
for his crimes, and for all the sufferings that he has inflicted upon
you.’
‘And how think you that Jenkins will dispose of him?’ interrogated
Inez.
‘Deliver him up to the Vigilance Committee,’ replied Alice.
‘How can he do so without getting himself into trouble?’
‘Oh, there is no doubt but that he will readily hit upon a plan,’ said
Alice; ‘I dare say that he has already arranged that, without knowing
anything of the late circumstance. Clear up, Miss, for depend upon
it, your troubles are fast drawing to a close, and not many days will
elapse ere you will be again restored to your friends.’
‘Alas,’ ejaculated Inez, tears gushing to her eyes, ‘perhaps I have
no dear friends to receive me! Oh, how my poor heart chills at the
thought.’
‘Pray, Miss,’ said Alice, ‘do not encourage fears which, after all,
may prove unfounded. Great, no doubt, as has been the sufferings
of Monteagle and your father, I firmly believe that they are still
living, or Jenkins and the others would have heard of it.’
‘My unhappy lover may have been able to withstand the severity
of his accumulated and unparalleled calamities,’ observed Inez, ‘but,
my poor father; oh, well am I convinced that his mind must have
now become a wreck, in which case, it would be a mercy if the
Almighty should be pleased to take him to Himself. Poor grey-haired
old man, fondest of parents, best of human beings, shall I ever
again be enfolded to thy paternal bosom, with the conviction that
thou art conscious it is thy poor persecuted daughter thou dost
embrace?—Alas! I fear never!’
‘Oh, yes, Miss, you will,’ ejaculated Alice, energetically, ‘Heaven in
its infinite mercy will not deny you such a blessing after the many
afflictions you have so undeservedly undergone. Have you not every
reason to place the firmest reliance upon its goodness, after the
manner in which you have ever been preserved in the moment of
the most imminent danger?’
‘Yes, my good girl,’ replied our heroine, drying her tears, ‘indeed I
have, and it is ungrateful in me thus to give way to despair. But my
mind is so continually tormented, that I scarcely know what I am
saying.’
‘At any rate,’ observed her companion, ‘now that Blodget is made
a prisoner you may rest yourself secure, and Jenkins, I dare say, will
not be long before he returns; when you will speedily be made
acquainted with intentions, which, as I have all along predicted,
depend upon it, will be all in your favor.’
The ideas of Alice were too reasonable to be rejected by Inez, and
she looked forward to the return of Jenkins with the greatest
anxiety.
A fortnight had now waned away, and still Jenkins and his
companions did not return, and Gordon, who did not expect that
they would be gone so long, was fearful lest some accident should
have befallen them. He still kept the wretched Blodget confined in
the same place, and he now became the complete victim of despair.
His form had wasted away, and his countenance betrayed the deep,
the intense agony which perpetually tortured his mind. How dreary
were the days and nights passed in that dark cell, where he had
nothing to commune but his own dreadful thoughts, and where the
horrors of his own guilty conscience constantly brought to his
imagination the many crimes he had committed. Conjecture cannot
form but a weak picture of the mental sufferings of that man of
crime. Oh, who would be guilty, did they but think upon the horrors
that must sooner or later overtake them?—For the gratification of
some moment of sensual pleasure; for the transitory indulgence of
some ambitious wish, the unhappy wretch falls into crime, to pay for
it by years of mental suffering, and ignominious death, and an
eternity of torment!—Oh, how fearful the price, would but erring
mortals pause and think!
It was on a stormy midnight, when nearly three weeks had
elapsed since Jenkins had left, when a party who were in company
with Gordon in the little back room, smoking, were suddenly aroused
by hearing a shrill whistle. The cigars were removed from their lips
in an instant, and they jumped hastily to their feet.
‘Jenkins’s signal, by all that’s fortunate;’ exclaimed Gordon,
advancing towards the door, ‘they have come back at last, and all
safe, I hope!’
‘This has, indeed, been a long trip captain,’ said Gordon, ‘and I
had began to fear that you were never going to return.’
‘Better late than never,’ answered Jenkins; ‘but how is all at the
house?’
‘Quite safe, captain,’ replied Gordon, with a peculiar grin, ‘the lady
is in her own apartments with her companion, Alice, and that arrant
scoundrel Blodget, confined in one of the vaults underneath, where
he has been since two or three days after your departure.’
‘Ah!’ exclaimed Jenkins, ‘has he then dared to scorn the warning
that I gave him?’
Gordon briefly related what had taken place between Blodget and
our heroine.
‘Why, the damned villain!’ cried Jenkins, passionately; ‘after the
strict injunctions which I laid upon him, and knowing that he was
placed entirely at my mercy. But he shall pay dearly for it; his doom
is sealed.’
‘I did not know whether you would approve of the lodging I had
given the fellow,’ answered Gordon.
‘You have acted perfectly right,’ said Jenkins; ‘and I commend you
for what you have done. Blodget shall quickly have another berth,
and his career he may reckon at an end. And is the lady quite well?’
Gordon answered in the affirmative.
‘I am happy to hear that,’ said Jenkins; ‘she shall not much longer
remain in the position she is now placed in.—Poor lady, I shall for
ever regret having been instrumental in any way towards her
unhappiness; but I knew not who she was, or the villain Blodget
should not have retained possession of her. However, his time of
shame is fast approaching, and bitterly will he have to pay for all.’
‘It is, then, your intention to restore the lady to liberty?’ asked
Gordon.
‘Certainly,’ answered Jenkins, ‘and to her friends.’
‘But you will run a great risk in so doing, will you not?’
‘No; leave me alone for that; I have arranged everything in my
own mind,’ said Jenkins.
‘But how do you propose to dispose of Blodget?’ inquired Gordon.
‘I have not exactly made up my mind, although I did threaten him
with death,’ answered Jenkins. ‘To-morrow night, or the next, I shall
convey the scoundrel far away from hence.’
‘You would not deprive him of life?’
‘No,’ replied Jenkins, ‘not by my own hands; besides it would be a
pity to deprive the hangman of a job.’
Gordon did not return any answer to this, for when he recollected
the crimes of which he had himself been guilty, he thought that it
was not all unlikely that he should himself afford employment for
that functionary, sooner or later.
In the morning early, the robber captain was traversing his way
along the vaulted passages, and at length stopped at the door of the
vault in which Blodget was confined. There he paused and listened,
for he could not help feeling that he was only justly punished for the
part he had played towards the unfortunate Inez and her friends.
At length he withdrew the bolts, and entered the cell. The dim
light which was emitted by the lamp which Jenkins carried, could but
faintly penetrate the gloom of the miserable place, so that Blodget
did not at first perceive who it was that had entered, and no doubt,
did not think that it was any one else than Gordon; and the robber
stood contemplating him for a minute or two in silence, but
resentment was strongly portrayed in his countenance.
‘So, villain,’ he at length said, ‘you have dared to brave my threats,
to disobey my injunctions, and have again offered to—’
He was interrupted by a loud exclamation from Blodget, who,
upon recognizing his voice, sprang forward, and in the most abject
manner knelt at Jenkins’s feet, and looked up in his face with the
most earnest supplication.
‘Oh, Jenkins,’ he cried, in the most impressive tones; ‘spare me;—
pity me;—pardon me!—I will own my guilt;—I will acknowledge I
was wrong; but let the agony I have for the last fortnight endured in
this place satisfy you, and do not, oh, do not proceed to extremities.’
Jenkins fixed upon him a look of the utmost contempt, as he
replied:
‘And have you, then, the effrontery to crave pardon, after setting
all my injunctions at defiance? I gave you sufficient warning of what
the consequences would be, did you not obey me; you have scorned
it, and those consequences you must abide by.’
‘No, no;’ groaned the poor terrified wretch, still remaining on his
knees, and looking the very picture of death, with the excess of his
fears; ‘you will not surely do as you say?—You will not deliver me up
to justice?—Consign me to an ignominious and violent death! Pause
ere you do so!—My death will avail you nothing. Suffer me therefore
to live to repent, and I promise you that neither Inez or her friends
shall receive any further annoyance from me!’
‘I will take especial care that they do not;’ returned Jenkins with a
sarcastic grin.’
‘My life will at any time be in your hands,’ added the poor,
trembling coward; ‘should I again break my word, Jenkins, I beg of
you, I supplicate to you, in the most humble manner do not doom
me yet to death!’
‘Despicable scoundrel!’ ejaculated Jenkins; ‘so dead to the
sufferings of others; and yet so fearful of suffering himself. Wretch!
you deserve to die the death of a dog, and you will do so.’
Blodget groaned and covered his face with his hands.
‘Prepare yourself to depart from here in my custody to-morrow
night,’ said Jenkins, as he moved towards the door of the cell.
‘Whither, Jenkins, and for what purpose? Oh, tell me! tell me!’
entreated Blodget, his whole frame violently convulsed with the
power of his emotions. Jenkins looked at him for a moment in
silence, and then replied,—
‘You will know soon; at present I shall leave you to form your own
conjectures, and to ask your conscience what ought to be your
destiny.’
‘Stay, Jenkins, I beseech you!’ cried the unfortunate prisoner, in
delirious accents; but Jenkins had immediately quitted the cell, and
securing the door was quickly far out of hearing.
‘inquire whether Miss Inez will do me the favor to grant me an
interview,’ said Jenkins, addressing himself to Gordon, soon after he
had entered the parlor, after he quitted the place in which Blodget
was confined.
Gordon, without offering any observation, hastened to do as he
was bid, and quickly returned with an answer in the affirmative.
Jenkins then hurried up stairs, and knocking at the door, was
ushered into the presence of Inez.
He paused at the door, and bowed to our heroine with an air of
the utmost respect, and he was altogether lost in the admiration of
Inez’s beauty. Her cheeks had become flushed immediately on her
hearing the message from Jenkins, and her heart palpitated violently
against her side with rekindled hopes.
‘Miss,’ at last observed Jenkins, in a respectful tone of voice; ‘I
have no doubt suffered much in your opinion, from the part which I
at first unfortunately enacted in the plot against you by your enemy,
Blodget.’
Our heroine attempted to reply, but she was too much confused to
do so, and Jenkins continued,
‘I am now, however, anxious to make all the reparation in my
power, by restoring you to liberty and your friends!’
Inez uttered an exclamation of mingled delight and gratitude, and
instantly sunk at the feet of Jenkins, and while the tears gushed
from her eyes, she sobbed:
‘Oh, thanks! thanks! kind sir, for this—’
Jenkins interrupted her, and gently raised her from her knees.
‘Nay, my dear lady,’ he said, ‘I merit not your thanks; for, probably,
had it not been for a certain discovery I by accident made, I might
still have taken no interest in your fate.’
‘A discovery!’ repeated Inez, with a look of astonishment.
‘Ay,’ answered the captain; ‘that you are the daughter of one who
once befriended me.’
‘Know you then my dear father?’
‘Lady,’ answered Jenkins, in peculiar accents, ‘I have reason to
know him, to be unceasing in my gratitude towards him.’
‘Oh, say, does he still live?’
‘He does!’
‘Heaven receive my thanks!’ cried our heroine, fervently, clasping
her hands, and raising her eyes.
‘Miss de Castro, I will at once inform you the nature of the
kindness your father did me, and you will then see why from being
the accomplice and abetter of Blodget, I have become his enemy
and your friend. Some three years since, I crossed the plains from
Missouri. By the time we had crossed the mountains our teams had
given out—our provisions were exhausted—and many of our people
dead. It was at this time that your father, with a party, met with us,
and not only aided us with mules and provisions, but remained
several days attending my children who were prostrated by fever. It
was only during my last visit to the Mission that I met your father
and learned that his name was de Castro, and that you were his
child. I managed to have word conveyed to him that his daughter
was safe, and would soon be restored to his arms. I have now
hastened here to carry you back, and devise means to give Blodget
up to Justice. This cannot be done so speedily or easily as I could
wish, for the villain is master of too many secrets involving perhaps
the lives of members of my band, for me to proceed rashly in the
matter. Meanwhile be cheerful, Alice will remain with you, and in a
few days you will be with your father.’
Inez fervently thanked Jenkins, and throwing herself on her knees
poured out her fervent thanks to that power that had shielded her
from outrage worse than death.
CHAPTER VIII