"An' he wus you' fader, Jake!-you' fader, who, when he wus down yere, you 'bused, an' persecuted, an' treated like a dog, but who, up dar, am fought worthy ter stan' at de Saviour's right han'! I knows it wus him, fur I seed him, I talked wid him, an' he gabe me suffin' ter tell you. Stan' up, now, an' yere what he had ter say."

The black man's face assumed a dogged expression. He moved uneasily on his seat, but shewed no inclination to rise. In a firm, imperious tone, Joe again called out to him

"Stan' up, I say! Folks like you' fader am now, don't talk ter sech as you is when dey 'm sittin' down. Stan' up, or I'll gib you what Cunnel Dawsey neber gabe you in all you' life."

The negro reluctantly rose. Every eye was fixed upon him, as Joe continued

"He ax me ter say ter you, Jake, dat he lubs you-lubs you bery much; dat he fully an' freely furgibs you fur all de wrong you eber done him-fur all de tears an' de sorrer you eber cause him. An' he say ter me, Tell Jake dat I'se been down dar, an' seed him. I'se seed how he shirk his wuck; how he 'buse his wife an' chil'ren; how he hate his massa, an' mean ter kill him-(dough his massa am hard on him, 'tain't no 'scuse fur dat ;) how he swar, an' lie, an' steal, an' teach all de oder brack folks ter do de same; how he'm no fought ob his soul, no fought ob dyin', no fought ob whar he'm gwine when de Lord's patience am clean done gone wid him. Tell him, dat ef he gwo on dis way, he'll neber see his ole fader no more; neber see his ole mudder, an' his little brudders, who am up yere, no more; neber come ter dis fine country, but be shet out inter outer darkness, whar am weepin', an' wailin', an' knashin' ob teeth. Oh, tell him dis! an' 'treat him, by all his fader's keer fur him when he wus a chile; by all his lub fur him now; by all de goodness ob de Lord, who hab borne wid him fru all dese long years, ter turn roun'-ter turn roun', Now, an' sot his face toward dis blessed country, whar he kin hab joy for eber! Tell him, too, dat ef he'll do dis, his ole fader 'Il leab his happy home, an' come down dar an' holp him-holp him at his wuck; holp him ter bar ebery load; gib him strength when he 'm weak; hole up his feet when he 'm weary; watch ober him day an' night, all the time, till he'm ready ter come up yere, an' lib wid de Saviour for eber! Tell him

Joe paused, for a wild cry echoed through the building, and the negro fell in strong convulsions to the floor.

A scene of indescribable excitement and confusion followed, during which the black was carried out, and, more dead than alive, laid upon the ground. When quiet was somewhat restored, Preston made a short and feeling prayer; and then, after giving out a hymn, he dismissed the congregation with the usual benediction.

CHAPTER XII.

BLACK CLAIRVOYANCE.

THE afternoon exercises at the meeting-house were conducted by Preston, who publicly catechised the negroes very much in the manner that is practised in Northern Sunday schools. When the services were over, and the family had gathered around the supper table, I said to him

"I've an idea of passing the evening with Joe; he has invited me. Would it be proper for you and Mrs Preston to go?"

'Oh, yes; and we will. I would like to have you see his mother. She is a singular woman, and, if in the mood, will interest you."

"I think you told me she is a native African?"

"Yes; she was brought from Africa when a child. She has a dim recollection of her life there, and retains the language and superstitions of her race," replied Preston, rising from the table. "I think you had better go at once, for she retires early. Lucy and I will follow as soon as we can."

Joe's cabin was located nearly in the centre of the little collection of negro houses, and a few hundred yards from the mansion. It was of logs, a story and a half high, and had originally been only about twenty feet square. To the primitive structure, however, an addition of the same dimensions had been made, and, stretching for more than forty feet along the narrow bypath which separated the two rows of negro shanties, it then presented quite an imposing ap pearance. A second addition in the rear, though it did not increase its dignity in the eyes of "street" observers, added largely to its proportions and convenience.

The various epochs in Joe's history were plainly written on his dwelling. The original building noted the time when, a common field hand, he married a wife, and set up house.

keeping; the front addition marked the era when his industry, intelligence, and devotion to his master's interest raised him above the dead level of black servitude, and gave him the management of the plantation; and the rear structure spoke pleasantly of a later period, when old Deborah, disabled by age from longer service at "the great house,” and too infirm to clamber up the steep ladder leading to Joe's attic bedrooms, came to dose away the remainder of her days under her son's roof.

The cabin was furnished with two entrance doors, and, suspecting that the one in the older portion led directly into the kitchen, I rapped lightly at the other. In a moment it opened, and Joe ushered me into the "living room.'

That apartment occupied the whole of the newer front, and had a cheerful, cosy appearance. Its floor was covered with a tidy rag carpet, evidently of home manufacture, and its plastered walls were decorated with tasteful paper, and hung with a variety of neatly framed engravings. Opposite the doorway stood a large mahogany bureau, and over it, suspended from the ceiling by a leathern cord, was a curiously contrived shelving, containing a score or more of well-worn books. Among them I noticed a small edition of Shakspeare, Milton's "Poems," Goldsmith's "England," the six volumes of "Comprehensive Commentary," Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying," the "Pilgrim's Progress," a "United States Gazetteer," and a complete set of the theological writings of Swedenborg. Neat chintz curtains covered the small windows, a number of brightly burnished brass candlesticks ornamented a plain wooden mantle over the broad fireplace, and a yellow-pine table, oiled and varnished, on which the "tea things" were still standing, occupied the centre of the apartment.

Through an open door, at the right of the bureau, I caught a glimpse of the dormitory of the aged African. As on the exterior of the building Joe had written a brief epitome of his history, so in that room he had traced a portion of his character. Its comfortable and almost elegant furnishings told, plainer than any words, that he was a devoted and affectionate son. With its worn woollen carpet, red window hangings, cosy lounge, neat centre table, and small blackwalnut bedstead, it might have been mistaken for the private apartment of a white lady of some pretensions.

It was a little after nightfall when I entered the cabin, but a bright fire, blazing on the hearth, gave me a full view of its occupants. Aggy, a tidily clad middle-aged yellow woman,

Bug malam, hink you are really taking too much on yourself, the ace of the children will be a great sax on your strength. Waid & not be better to employ a governess to instruct them? What is now expenied on Joe, would pay a competent person.

What do you say to that, Joe? asked his father; you like to come home, and have a woman teacher?" ke to do what mother wants me to." said the lad,

s arms about her neck, and kissing her.

re a good boy, Joe," said his mother.

u'll let me keep the pony, won't you, father?"

ny son; and if you learn well, you shall go with 8 when you're fifteen."

ward, we separated for the night,

CHAPTER XI.

THE NEGRO MEETING.

ON a gentle knoll, a few hundred yards from the negro quarters, and in the midst of a grove of pines, whose soft brown tassels covered the ground all around it, stood the negro meeting-house. It was built of unhewn logs, its crevices chinked with clay, and was large enough to seat about two hundred persons. Though its exterior resembled a backwoods barn, its interior had a neat and tasteful appearance. Evergreen boughs hid its rough beams and bare shingled roof, and long wreaths of pine leaves hung in graceful festoons from its naked walls and narrow windows. On the two sides of a wide aisle, which served to separate the sheep on the right hand from the goats on the left, were long rows of benches, with hard board bottoms, and rough, open backs; and beyond them, divided from the rest of the interior by a rustic railing, was the "family pew "- -an enclosure about twelve feet square, neatly carpeted, and furnished with half-a-dozen arm-chairs. Opposite to this was a platform elevated three steps from the floor, and on it stood a rustic settee, a large easy-chair, and a modest desk covered with green baize, and decorated with small sprigs of evergreen. On this desk rested a large Bible.

The enormous sea-shell which served as a bell to this "house of prayer," was sending its last blast in long echoes through the old trees, when, with Mrs Preston and the children, I elbowed an opening through the thick group of grinning Africans that blocked the doorway, and worked a passage down the crowded aisle to the family enclosure. Seating myself in one of its cane-bottomed chairs, I glanced around on the assemblage. Such a gathering of woolly heads I have never seen. Every plantation within a circuit of five miles had sent in a representation, till the benches, the aisle, the small area around the pulpit, and the open space near the doorway, were all densely packed. On the left, the men, in gaudy cravats and many-coloured waistcoats, were chatting merrily together, and enjoying themselves as heartily as a parcel of Yankees at a clam-bake; and on the right, the women, in red and yellow turbans, and flaming shawls and neckerchiefs, were bobbing about and flaunting their colours, like so many dolphins sporting in the sunshine. Preston was seated in the lone chair at the back of the pulpit, and Boss