ISHMAEL; Or, IN THE DEPTHS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 439, 22 January 1890, Page 6

ISHMAEL; Or, IN THE DEPTHS.

By MRS EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH,

Author of “Self-Raised,” “Fair Play,” “Ihe Missing Bi'idc,” “A Noble Lord,” “ How lie Won Her.” “The Prince of Darkness,” “Tried for Her Life.” Etc., Etc. CHAPTER XIII. (Continued.) Hannah dropped the paper upon the table. She did not in the least suspect that that little strip of soiled foolscap represented the sum'of five thousand dollars, nor is it likely that she would have taken it had she known what it really was. Hannah's intellect was chaotic with her troubles. She returned to the bedside and was ouce more absorbed in her sorrowful task, when she was again interrupted. This time it was by old Dinah, who having no hand at liberty shoved the door open with her foot, and entered the hut. If ‘there is but one step between the sublime and die ridiculous,’ there is no step at all between the awful and the absurd, which are constantly seen side by side. Though such a figure as old Dinah presented, standing in the middle of the deathchamber, is not often to be found in tragic scenes. Her shoulders were bent beneath the burden of an enormous bundle of bed clothingand her arms were dragged down by the weight of cwo large baskets of provisions. She was much too absorbed in her own ostentatious benevolence to look at once towards the bed and see what had happened there. Probably, if she glanced at the group at all, she supposed that Hannah was only bathing Nora’s head ; for instead of going forward or tendering any sympathy or assistance, she just let her huge bundle drop from her shoulders and sat her two baskets carefully upon the table, exclaiming triumphantly: ‘ Dar ! dar’s somefin to make de gal comfo’ble for a mont’ or more ! Dar, in dat bundle is two thick blankets and four par o’ sheets an’ pillv cases, all out’n my own pretty chist; an’ not beholden to ole mis’ for any on ’em,’ she added, as she carefully untied the bundle and laid its contents, nicely folded, upon a chair. ‘ An’ dar !’ she continued, beginning to unload the largest basket— 1 dar’s a tukky and two chickens offen my own precious roost ; —nor likewise beholden to ole mis’ for dem nyder. An’ dar ! dar’s sassidges and blood puddin’s out’n our own dear pig as me an’ old man Jov’al ris an’ kilt ourselves ; —an’ in course no ways beholden to ole mis’,’ she concluded, arranging these edibles upon the table. ‘ An’ dar !’ she recommenced, as she set the smaller basket beside the other things, ‘ dar’s a whole raft o’ ’serves an’ jellies and pickles as may be useful. An’ dat’s all for dis time ! An’ now, how is de poor gal, honey ? Is she ’sleep ?’ she asked, approaching the bed. * Yes ; sleeping her last sleep, Dinah,’ solemnly replied Hannah. ‘ De Lor’ save us ! what does you mean by dat, honey ? Is she faint ?’ ‘ Look ather, Dinah, and see for yourself !’ ‘ Dead ! oh, Lor’-a-mercy !' cried the old woman, drawing back appalled at the sight that met her eyes ; for to the animal nature of the poor African negro death is very terrible.

For a moment there was silence in the room, and then the voice of Hannah was heard : ‘ So you see the comforts you robbed yourself of to bring to Nora will not be wanted, Dinah, you must take them back again.’ ‘ Debil burn my poor, ole, black fingers if I teches of ’em to bring ’em home again ! S’posin’ de poor dear gal is gone home? aint you lef’ wid a mouf of your own to feed, I wonder? Tell me dab!’ sobbed the old woman. ‘ But, Dinah, I feel as if I should never eat again, and certainly I shall not care what I eat. And that is your Christmas turkey, too, your only one, for I know that you poor coloured folks never have more.’ ‘ Who you call poor ? We’s rich in grace, I’d have you to know ! ’Sides havin’ a heap o’ treasure laid up in Heaben I reckons ! Keep de truck, chile; for ’deed you ain’t got no oder ’ternative ! Tain’t Dinah as is a-gwine-te tote ’em home ag’n. Lor’ knows how dey a’mos’ broke my back a-fetebin’ of ’em over here. Tain’t likely as I’ll be such a consarned fool as te tote ’em all the way back ag’in. So say no more ’bout it, Miss Hannah! ’Sides which how can we talk o’ sick wid de sight o’ she before our eyes! Ah, Miss Nora! Oh, my beauty ! Oh, my pet ! Is you really gone an' died an’ lef’ your poor ole Aunt Dinah behind as lubbed you like de apple of her eye ! What did you do it for, honey ? You know your ole Aunt Dinah wasn’t a-goin’ to look down on you for nothin’ as is happened of,’ whined the old woman, stooping and weeping over the corpse. Then she accidentally touched the sleeping babe and started up in dismay, crying—- ‘ What dis ? Oh, my good Lor’ in Heaben, what dis ?’ ‘lt is Nora’s child, Dinah. Didn’t you know she had one ?’ said Hannah, with a choking voice and a crimson face. ‘Neber even s’picioned ! I knowed as she’d been led astray, poor thin’, an’ as how it was a-breakin’ of her heart and a-ltillin’ of her ! Leastways I heard it up yonder at de house ; but I didn’t know nullin’ ’bout dis yere !’ ‘ But Uncle Jovial did.’ ‘ Dat ole sinner has got eyes like gimlets, dey bores into eberyting !’ ‘ But didn’t he tell you ?’ ‘Not a singly breaf ! he better not ! he know bery well it’s much as his ole wool’s wori to say a word agin dat gal to me. No, he on’y say how Miss Nora wer’ bery ill, an’ in want ob eberyting else besides. An’ how here wer’ a chance to ’vest our property to ’vantage, by lendin’ of it to de Lor’ accordin’ te de Seriptur’ as “whoever giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.” So I hunted up all I could spare and fotch it ober here, little thinkin’ what a sight would meet my old eyes ! Well. Lord !’ ‘ But, Dinah,’ said the weeping Hannah, * you must not think ill of Nora ! She does not deserve it. And you must not, indeed.’

‘ Chile, ifc ain’t for me to judge no poor motherless gal as is already ’peared afore her own Righteous Judge.’ ‘ Yes, but you shall judge her, and judge her with righteous judgment, too! You have known her ell your life—all hers, I mean. You put the first baby clothes on her that she ever wore ! And you will put the last dress that she ever will! And now judge her, Dinah, looking on her pure brow, and remembering her past life, is she a girl likely to have been “led astray,” as you call it?’

‘ No, ’fore my ’Vine Marster in Heaben, ain’t she !’ An’ I ’members ob de time: anybody had a-breaved a s’picion ob Miss Nora, I’d jest up’d an’ boxed deir years for ’em good—’deed «ie7 But what staggers of me, honey, is dat! How de debil we gwine to’count for dat ?' .questioned old; Dinah, _ pointing in sorrowful suspicion at the child. •

For all answer Hannah beckoned to the old woman to watch her, while she!untied from Nora’s neck a narrow black ribbon, and removed from it a plain gold ring. • A wedding-ring!’ exclaimed Dinah, in perplexity. * Yes, it was put upon her finger by the man that married her. Then it was taken off and hung around her neck, because for certain reasons she could not wear it openly. But now it shall go with her to the grave in its right place,’ said Hannah as she slipped the ring upon the poor dead finger. ‘ Lor’, child, who was it that married of her?’

‘ I cannot tell you. I am bound to secrecy.’ The old negress shook her head slowly and doubtfully. * It's no misdoubts as she was innocenter dan a lamb, herself, for she do look it as she lay dar wid de heabenly smile frozen on her face ; but I do misdoubts dese secrety marriages ; I ’siders ob ’em’no’ count. Ten to one, honey, de poor forSo’k sinner as married her has anoder wife some’ers.’ Without knowing it the old woman had hit the exact truth. Hannah sighed deeply, and wondered how it was that neither Dinah nor Jovial had ever once suspected their young master to be the man.

Old Dinah perceived that her conversation distressed Hannah, and so she threw off her bonnet and cloak, and set herself to work to help the poor bereaved sister. There was enough to occupy both women. There was the dead mother to be prepared for burial, and there was the living child to be cared for. ' By the time they had laid Nora out in her only white dress, and had fed the babe and put it to sleep, and cleaned up the cottage, the winter day had drawn to its close and the room was growing dark. Old Dinah, thinking it was time to light up, took a home-dipped candle from the cupboard, and seeing a piece of soiled paper on the table, actually lighted her candle with a cheque for five thousand dollars ! And thus it happened that the poor boy who, without any fault of his mother, had come into the world with a stigma on his birth, now, without any neglect of his father, was left in a state of complete destitution, as well as of entire orphanage. On the Tuesday following her death, poor Nora Worth was laid in her humble grave, under a spreading oak, behind the hut. This spot was selected by Hannah, who wished to keep her sister’s last restingplace always in her sight, and who insisted that every foot of God’s earth, enclosed or unenclosed—consecrated or unconsecrated —was holy ground. Jim Mortis, Professor of Odd Jobs for the country side, made the coffin, dug the grave, and managed the funeral. The Reverend William Wynne, the minister who had performed the fatal nuptial ceremony af the fair bride, read the funeral service over her dead body. No one was present at the burial but Hannah Worth, Reuben Gray, the two old negroes, Dinah and Jovial—the professor of odd jobs and the officiating clergyman. CHAPTER XIV. OVER NORA’S GRAVE. Oh Mother Earth! upon thy lap, Thy weary ones receiving, And o’er them, silent as a dream, Thy grassy mantle weaving. Fold softly in thy long embrace, That heart so worn and broken. And cool its pulse of fire beneath Thy shadows old and oaken. Shut out from her the bitter word, And serpent hiss of scorning: Nor let the storms of yesterday Disturb her quiet morning.- WHITTIER.

When the funeral ceremonies were over and the mourners were coming away from the grave, Mr Wynne turned and said : ‘ Friends, I wish to have some conversation with Hannah Worbh, if you willexcuse me.’ And the humble group with the exception of Reuben Gray, took leave of Hannah, and dispersed to their several homes. Reuben waited outside for the end of the parson’s interview with his betrothed. 4 This is a great trial to you my poor girl; may the Lord support you under it!’ said Mr Wynne, as they entered the hut and sat down. • . Hannah sobbed. ‘I suppose it was the discovery of Mr Brudenell’s first marriage that killed her ?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ sobbed Hannah. * Ah ! I often read and speak of the depravity of human nature; but I could not have believed Herman Brudenell capable of so black a crime, ■ said Mr Wynne with a shudder. ‘ Sir,’ replied Hannah, resolved to do justice in despite of her bleeding heart, * he isn’t so guilty as you judge him to be. When he married Nora he believed that his wifehad been killed in a great railway crash, for so it was reported in all the newspaper accounts of the accident, and he never saw it contradicted.’ ‘ His worst fault then appears to have been that of reckless haste in consummating his second marriage, ’ said Mr Wynne. ‘ Yes, and even for that he had some excuse. His first wife was an artful widow, who entrapped him into a union and afterwards betrayed his confidence and her own home. When he heard she was dead, you see, no doubt he was shocked ; bub he could nob mourn for her as he could for a true, good woman.’ ‘ Humph ! I hope, then, for the sake of human nature, that he is not so bad as I thought him. Bub now, Hannah, what do you intend to do ?’

‘ About what?’ inquired the poor woman, sadly. ‘ About clearing the memory of your sister and the birth of her son from unmerited shame,’ replied Mr Wynne, gravely. ‘Nothing,’ she answered, sadly. ‘ Nothing ?’ repeated the minister, in surprise. ‘ Nothing,’ she reiterated. * What! will you leave the stigma of undeserved reproach upon your sister in her grave and upon her child all his life, when a single revelation from .you, supported by my testimony, will clear them both ?’ asked the minister, in almost indignant astonishment. , i ; • ; ‘Not willingly, the Lord above knows. Oh, I would die to clear Nora from blame !’ cried Hannah, bursting into a flood of tears. ' Well, then, do it, my poor woman ! do it! you can do it,’ said the clergyman, drawing his chair to her side and laying his hand kindly on her shoulder. ‘Hannah, m> girl, you have a duty to the dead and to the living to perform. Do not be afraid to attempt it! Do not be afraid to offend ;. that wealthy and powerful family ! , / / will sustain you, for it is my duty as a Christian minister to do so, even though they—the Brudenells - should afterwards turn all their great influence in the parish against me. ‘ Yes, I will sustain you, Hannah ! I What do I say t—l? —A mightier arm than that of any mortal shall hold you up !’ ‘Oh, it is of no use! the case is quite past remedying,’wept Hannah. * But it is not, I assure you ! When I first heard the astounding . news of Brndenell’B first marriage with, the Countess of Hurstmonceux,. and his wife's sudden arrival at the Hall, aiid recollected at the same time his second'marriage with Nora Worth, which I myself ihad solemnisedj my thoughts flew to his poor young and

I pondered what could be done for her, and I I searched the laws of the land bearing upon | the subject of marriage. And I found that I by these same laws—when a man in the lifetime of his wife marries another woman, the said woman being in ignorance of the said wife, shall be held guiltless by the law, and her child or children, if she have any by the said marriage, shall be the legitimate offspring of the mother, legally entitled to '< bear her name and inherit her estates. That fits precisely Nora’s case. Her son is legitimate. If she had in her own right a j billion, that child would be her heir-at-law. She had nothing but her good name ! Her son has a right to that— unspotted, Hannah ! mind,, unspotted !. Yo,ur proper, way will be to proceed against Herman Brudenell for bigamy, call me for a witness establish the fact of Nora’s marriage, rescue her memory and her child’s birth from the slightest shadow of reproach and let the consequences fall where they should fall, upon the head of the man ! u They will not be more serious than ho deserves. If he can prove what he asserts that he himself was iu equal ignorance with Nora of the existence of his first wife, he will be honorably acquitted in the court, though of course severely blamed by the community. Come, Hannah, shall we go to Baymouth to-morrow about this business ?’

Hannah was sobbing as if her heart would break. * How glad I would be to clear Nora and her child from shame, no one bub the Searcher of Hearts can know ! Bub I dare not! lam bound by a vow ! a solemn vow to the dying! Poor girl! with her last breath she besought me nob to expose Mr Brudenell, and nob to breathe one word of his marriage with her to any living soul!’ she cried. * And you were mad enough to promise ?’ > ‘ I would rather have bitten my tongue off than have used it in such a fatal way. But she was dying fast, and praying to me with her uplifted eyes and clasped hands and failing breath to spare Herman Brudenell. I had no power to refuse her ; my heart was broken ; so I bound my soul by a vow to be silent. And I must keep my sacred promise made to the dying, I must keep it, though till the Judgment Day that shall set all things right, Nora YVorth, if thought of at all, must be considered a fallen girl, and her son the child of sin !’ cried Hannah, breaking into a passion of tears and sobs. ‘ The devotion of woman passes the comprehension of man,’ said the minister, reflectively. ‘ But in sacrificing herself thus, had she no thought of the effect upon the future of her child V . ‘She said he was a boy; his mother would soon be forgotten ; he would be my nephew, ana I was respected,’ sobbed Hannah. ‘ In a word, she was a special pleader in the interest of the man whose reckless haste had destroyed her ! ‘ Yes ! that was it ! that was it ! Oh, my Nora ! oh, my young sister 1 it was hard to see you die ! hard to see see you covered up in the coffin ! but it is harder still to know that people will speak ill of you in your grave, and I cannot convince them that they are wrong!’ said Hannah, wringing her hands in a frenzy of despair. For trouble like this the minister seemed to have no word of comfort. He waited in silence until she had grown a little calmer, and then he said : ‘They say that the fellow has fled. At least he has not been seen at the Hall since the arrival of his wife. Have you seen anything of him ?’ * He rushed in here like a madman the day Bhe died, received her last prayer for his welfare, and threw himself out of the house again, Heaven only knows where !’ ‘ Did he make no provision for this child V

‘I do nob know; he said something about it, and he wrote something on a paper ; but indeed I do not think he knew what he was about; ho was as nearly stark mad as ever you saw a man ; and, anyway, he went off without leaving anything but that bit of paper, and it is but right for me to say, sir, that I would not have taken anything from him on behalf of the child. If the poor boy cannot have his father’s family name, ho shall not have anything else from him with iny consent. Those are my principles, Mr Wynne ! I can work for Nora’s orphan boy, just as I worked for my mother’s orphan girl, which was Nora herself, sir.’ ‘Perhaps you are righb, Hannah. But where is that paper of which you spoke ? I should much like to see it,’ said the minister. ‘ The paper he wrote and left, sir ?’ ‘ Yes ; show it to me.’ 1 ‘ Lord bloss your soul, sir, it wasn’t of no account; it was the least little scrap, with about three lines wrote on it; I didn’t take any care of it. Heaven knows that I had other guess things to think of than fchak Bub I will try to find it if you wish to look at it,’ said Hannah, rising. Her search of course was vain, and after turning up everything in the house to no purpose she came back to the pamon, and said :

‘ I dare say it is swept away or burnt up ; but, anyway, it isn’t worth troubling one’s self about it.’ ‘I think differently, Hannah; and I would advise you to search, and make inquiry, and try 3 our best to find it. And if you do so, just put it away in a very safe place until you can show it to me. And now good-bye, my girl; trust in the Lord, and keep up your heart,’ said the minister, taking his hat and stick to depart. When Mr Wynne had gone, Reuben Gray, who had been walking about behind the cottage came in, and said : . ‘ Hannah, my dear, I have something very particular t 6 say to you.; but 1 feel as this is no time to say it exactly, so I only want to ask you when I may come and have a talk with you Hannah.’ * Any time, Reuben ; next Sunday, if you like.’ , . ’ ‘ " ■’ ‘Very well, my dear; next Sunday it' shall be ! God bless you, Hannah, and God bless the boy, too. I, mean to adopt that child Hannah, and cowhide his father within an inch of his life, if ever I find him: OUt !’ ' i. , 7:;' ‘ Talk of all this on. Sunday when you come, Reuben ; not now; oh, not now. * Sartainly not how, my dear; I see the impropriety of it. ' Goodie, my dear. Now, shan't 1 send Nancy or Peggy over to stay with you?’, 7 7 ‘ Upon no account, Reuben.’ ‘ Just as you say, then,, . Good-bye, my, poor dear.’ 7.V . And after another dozen affectionate adieux, Reuben reluctantly dragged, himself from the hut.

CHAPTER XV;, j j : NORA’S SOJf. ~;7’ ’ Look on this babe; and let thy .pride take heed, Thy pride of manhood, intellect or fame, That thou despise him not; for he indeed. And such as he in spirit and heart the same, ; Are God’s own children in that kingdom bright, Where purity is, praise, and where before s ; r Tlie Father’s throne, triumphant evermore, ; The ministering angels, sons of light, . " Stand unreproved because they offer'there, Mixed with the Mediator’s hallowing prayer,: The innocence of babes in Christ like this., . ? *7 7.'.)- 77 V.y'.!r7T. ‘ Hacwah'jwaft; left alone with her -sorrows and hermortifications; : ' l i • ” ’

Never iintil now had ; she so ,intensely realised her bereavement and her solitude. Nora was buried• and the fewhumblo friends who had sympathised withher were gone ;and so she was alone with her great troubles. She threw horself into a chair, and, for., the third or fourth time that day broke into a storm of grief. And the afternoon.,had faded nearly into night before she regained composure. Even then she sat,, like • one palsied by despair, until a cry,.of distress aroused her. It was the wail of Nora's infant. She arose, and took the child,, and laid it on her lap to feed it. Even; Hannah looked at .it with a pity that was almost allied to contempt. - , It was in fact the thinnest, palest, puniest little object that had ever.,come into this world prematurely, uncalled for and un welcome. It did not look at all. likely to live. And as Hannah fed the ravenous little skeleton, she could not help mentally calculating the number of its hours on this earth, and wishing that she had thought to request Mr Wynne, while be was in the house, to baptize the wretched baby, so little likely to live for another opportunity. Nor could Hannah desire that it should live. It had brought sorrow, death and disgrace into the hut, and it had nothing but poverty, want and shame for its portion, iu this world ; and so, the sooner it. followed its mother, the better, thought Hannah—-short-sighted mortal. Had Hannah been a discerner of spirits to recognise the soul in that miserable little baby-body!. Or had she been a seeress to foresee the future of that child of sorrow ! Reader, this boy is our hero; a real hero, too, who actually lived and suffered and toiled and triumphed in this land ! ‘ Out of the depths’ he came indeed,! Out of the depths of poverty, sorrow and degradation ; he rose, by God!s blessing on his aspirations, to the very zenith of fame, honour and glory ! ;j He made his name, the only name he was legally entitled to bear—his poor wronged mother’s maiden-namo—illustrious in the annals of our nation! ■ ,

But this is to anticipate. No vision of future glory, however, arose before the poor weaver’s imagination, as she sat in that old hut, holding the wee boy on her lap, and for his sake as well as for her own begrudging him every hour of the few days she supposed he had to live upon this earth. Yes! Hannah would have felt relieved and satisfied if that child had been by his mother’s side in the coffin rather than been left on her lap. Only think of that, my readera : think of the utter, utter destitution of a poor little Bickly, helpless infant, whose only relative would have been glad to see him dead ! Our Ishmael had neither father, mother, name nor place in the world. He had no legal right to be in it at all; no legal right to the air he breathed, or to the sunshine that warmed him into life; no right to love or pity, or care ; he had nothing— nothing but the EYE OR THE ALMIGHTY FATHER REGARDING him. BubHannahWorthwasa conscientious woman, and, even while wishing the poor boy’s death, she did everything in her power to keep him alive, hoping all would be in vain. Hannah, as you know, was very, very poor. And with this child upon her bands she expected to be much poorer. She was a weaver of domestic carpets and counterpanes, and of those coarse cotton and woollen cloths of which the common clothing of the plantation negroes are made, and the most of her work came from Brudenell Hall. She used to have to go and fetch the yarn and then carry home the web. She had a piece , of cloth now ready to take home to Mrs Brudenell’s housekeeper; but she abhorred the very idea of carrying it there, or of asking for more work. Nora had been ignominiously turned from the house, Cruelly driven out into the midnight storm; that had partly caused her death. And should she, her sister, degrade her womanhood by going again to that house to solicit work, or even to carry back what she had finished, to meet, perhaps, the same insults that had maddened Nora ?

No, never; she would sooner starve and see the child starve first. The web of cloth should stay there until Jim Morris should come along, when she would get him to take it to Brudenell Hall. And she would seek work from other planters’ wives in the neighbourhood. She had four dollars and a half in the house—the money; you know, that old Mrs Jones, with all her hardness, . had yet refused to take from the poor woman. And then Mrs Brudenell owed her five and a half for the weaving of this web of cloth. In all she had ten dollars, eight of which she owed to the professor of odd jobs for his services at Nora’s funeral. The remaining two she hoped would supply her simple wants until she found work. And, in ,tho meantime, she need nob be idle ; she would employ her time in cutting up . some of Nora’s clothes to make an outfit for the baby —for if the little object lived but a week it must be clothed —now it was only wrapped up in a piece of flannel., - While Hannah meditated upon these things, the baby went to sleep on her lap, and she took it up and laid it in Nora’s vacated place in her bed. , ,;) /A d And soon after Hannah took her solitai-y cup of tea, and shut up the hut and retired to bed. She had not had a goodnight’s rest since that fatal night of Nora’s flight through the snow storm to Brudenell Hall, and subsequent illness and death. Now, therefore, Hannah slept the sleep of utter mental and physical prostration. •■ ’ The babe did nob disturb her repose. Indeed, it was a very patient little sufferer, if such a term may be applied bo so young a child. . But it was strange that an infant, ; so pale, thin and sickly, deprived: of ’its mother’s nursing care besides, should have made so little plaint and given so ’little trouble. Perhaps, in the lack : of huinan pity, he had the love of heavenly '* spirits, who watched over him, scared for him, soothed his pains ; and stilled his cries. We cannot tell how that may have been; 1 but it is certain that Ishmael was an angel from-his verv birth. . .i •:/

The next day,, as:Hannah was standing .at-the table, busy in cutting out small garments, and the baby-boy was lying jupon the bed equally busy in sucking his thumb, the door was pushed open and the professor of odd jobs stood in the doorway, with a hand upon either post, and sadness on his usually good-humoured and festive countenance. f ‘Ah, Jim, is that you ? Come in, your money is all ready for you,’ said Hannah, on perceiving him. - - - 7 ' 7 It is not the poor who ‘grind the ; faces of the poor. ’ Jim Morris would have,scorned to have taken a dollar from, Hannah Worth at this trying crisis of her life. 7 ,7 :1;.-;" bi» ‘ Now, Miss Hannah,’ he answered, as He came in at>.her bidding,. * please don’t say one word to me ’bout r de filthy lucre, ’less you mean to-’sult me an' ihurt my feelin’s. I don’t ’quire of no money for doin’ of a man’s duty by a lone’oman ! Think Jim Moiris is a man to>’posß upon a lone ’oman ? Hopes not, indeed i> No, Miss Hannah l‘ >I ain’t C f. a » wolf,; likewise -a bear is f Our' Heaborily Maker, ho gib us our lives an’ de earth an’ all as is on it, for free ! And what have we to render him in ’turn ? Nothing. And what floes he’quire ob us ? O’ny lub Nim human beings an’ mor tab douls made; itrHis own image to live for not toTcrew'

anti ’press, each oder,anddewour an’ prey on each oderlikede wild beastesses - dab perish ! And I considers, Miss Hannah— ’ . Arid here in fact, the . professor having secured a patient hearer, launched .into an oration that, were; ! to report it word for word, would take up more room than we can spare him. He; brought his discourse round in a circle, and ended where, he. had begun. 1 And so, Miss Hannah, say no more to me ’bout de money, ’Jess you want to woun’ my feolin’s.’ , i ; ‘ Well, I will riot,. Morris ; but I feel so grateful to you that I would like to repay you in something better than mere words? said Hannah. ‘ And so you shall, honey,, so you shall, soon as eber I has de need and you has de power ! But now don’t you go and fall into de pop’lar error of misparagin’ o’ words. Words ! .why words is de most powerfullist ongine of good or evil in dis work ! Words is to idees what bodies is bo souls ! Wicl words you may save a human from dispair, or you may drive him to perdition! Wid words a great captain, may rally his discomforted troops, an’ lead em’ .on towiatory ! wid words a great congressman may change the laws of de land ! Wid words a great lawyer may ’suade a jury to hang an innocent , man, or to let a murderer go free. It’s bery fashionable to misparage words, callin’ of ’em “ mere words.” Mere wot ds! mere tire! mere life ! mere death ! mere lieaben! mere hell! as soon as mere words! What are all the grand books in de worl’ filled with ? words ! What is the ono great Book called? What is the Bible called! He wokd!’ said the professor, spreading out his arms in triumph at this peroration ! Hannah gazed in very sincere admiration upon this orator, and when he had finished, said;

‘Oh, Morris, what a pity you had not been a white man, and been brought up at a learned profession !’ * Now ain’t it, though, Miss Hannah ?’ said Morris, with an injured air. ‘ You would have made such a splendid lawyer or parson !’ continued the simple woman, in all sincerity. ‘Now wouldn’t I, though?’ complained the professor. ‘ Now ain’t it a shame I’m nyther one nor t’other? I have so many bright idees all of my own ! I might have lighted de ’ciety an’ made my fortin at de same time ! Well!’ he continued, with a sigh of resignation, ‘if I can’t make my own fortin I can still lighten de ’ciety if only dey’d let me ; an’ I’m willin’ to do it for nothin’! But people won’t ’sent to be lighted by me; soon as ever I begins to preach or to lecture in season, an’ out’n season, de white folks, dey shut up my mouf, short! It’s trufe I’m a-tellin’ of you, Miss Hannah ! Hey ain’t no ways like you. Hey can’t ’predate ge’uns. Now I mus’ say as you can, in black or white ! An’ when I’s so happy as to meet long of a lady like you who can ’predate me, I’m willin’ to do anything in de wide work for her ! I’d make coffins an’ dig graves for her an’ her friends from one year’s end to de t’other free, an’ glad of de chance to do it!’ concluded the professor, with enthusiastic goodwill. , ■ ‘ I thank you very kindly, Jim Morris; but of course I would not like to give you so much trouble,’ replied Hannah, in perfect innocence of sarcasm.

‘La, it wouldn’t be no trouble, Miss Hannah ! But then, ma’am, I didn’t coma over here to pass compliments, nor no sich ! I come with a message from old madam up yonder at Brudenell Hall.’ ‘Ah,’ said Hannah, in much surprise and more disgust, ‘what may have been her message to me ?’ ‘Well, Miss Hannah, it may have been words of comfort, such as would become a Christian lady to send to a sorrowing fellow* creatur', only it wasn’t,’ sighed Jim Morris. ‘ I want no such hypocritical words from her'.’. said Hannah, indignantly. ‘ Well, honey, she didn’t send none !’ * What did she send ?’ .‘Well, chile, de madam, she ’quested of me to come over here an’ hand you dis five dollar an’ a half, which she says she owes it to you. An’ also to ax you 1 to send by the bearer, which is vie, a certain piece of cloth, which she says how you’ve done wove for her. An’ likewise to tell you as you needn’t come to Bredinell Hall for more work, which there is no more to give you. Here, Miss Hannah, dere’s de message jes’ as de madam give it to me, which I hopes you’ll ’aider as I fotch it in d© way. of my profession, an’ not take no ’fence at me, who never meant any towards you,’ said the; professor, deprecatingly.

*Of course not, Morris. So far from being angry with you, I am very thankful to you for coming. You have relieved me from a quandary. I didn’t know how to return the work or to get the pay. For after what has happened, Morris, the cloth might have stayed here and the money there, for ever, before I would have gone near Brudenell Hall!’ * Morris slapped his knee with satisfaction, saying: ‘Just what I thought, Miss Hannah! which made me the more willing to bring de message, So now if you’ll jest take de money an- give me de cloth I’ll be off. I has got some clocks and umbrell’s to mend to-night. And that minds me ! if you’ll give me ,dat broken. coffee mill o’ yourn I’ll fix it at de same time, 5 said the professor. Hannah complied with all his requests and he took his departure, i He had scarcely got out of sight when Hannah had another visitor, Reuben Grey, who entered the hut with looks of deprecation and ; words of apology. :i> ‘Hannah, woman, I couldn’t wait till Sunday ! I couldn’t rest!Knowing of your situation, I felt as if I must come to you and say what I had on my mind. Do yourforgive me ?’ For what ?’ asked Hannah in surprise. ‘ For coming afore Sunday.’ ‘Sit down, Reuben, and don’t be silly. As well have it over now as any other time.’. n- ■ i ~ * Very well, then, Hannah,’ said the man, drawing a chair to the table at which she sat working, and seating himself. .‘ Now, then, what have you to say, Reuben?’ no nsyrih .«■>:<? 'v >7 -'•*•'' 1:'"” ‘ Well, Hannah, my dear,; you see i didn’t want to make a disturbance while the body of that poor girl lay unburied in the house.; but now I ask you right up and down -wha is . the-wretch as'wronged Nofa?' demanded the man with a look of'sternness Hannah bad never 1 seen on his patient face before.-’ • «'« T* vmo

‘ Why do you . wish to know, Reuben ?’ : she inquired! in a low voice. i t ; ‘To KILL HIM.* ‘ Reuben Gray !’ . - ’ ‘ Well, wbat’s the matter, girl ?’ ‘. Would you? do murder ?’ - * Sartainly not, Hannah s ; but I will kill the villain as wronged Nora wherever I find him, as I would a mad dog.’ ■! ‘ It would be the same thing !-- It would be.mucder.! ? >h. xf*--’'’ Sitffftvo'Kijtp * No, it wouldn’t, Hannah. It would be honest killing. For, when : a cussed villain hunts down and destroys an - innocent girl, -he ought to be counted an - outlaw' that-any man may slay who finds him. -Andifsobe ■he don’t get:,..hiß ;r death from the first corner,'he ought to be sure qf.it from the girl’sneareiit'male. relation, or next'friend. And if every’such scoundrel knew he" was to ;die‘;for his crime and. tbe layy .would [ hold ! *his slayer guiltless,, there'would be fa deal less sin and misery in tliia world.

As for me, Hannah, I feel it to be my J solemn , duty to Nora, to womankind and to the,' world, to seek , out the wretch as wronged her and kill him where I find him, juab as I would a rattlesnake as had bit my child.’ . * They would hang you for it, Reuben!’ shuddered Hannah. : . * Then they’d do very wrong. , Bub they’d not hang me, Hannah ! Thank Heaven, in these here parts we all vally our women’s innocence-a deal higher than we do our lives, or even our honour. And if a man is right to, kill another in defence of his own life, he is doubly right ,to do so in defence of woman’s honour. And judges and juries know it, too, and feel it, as has often been proved. But anyways, whether or no,’ said Reuben Gray, with the dogged persistence for which men of his class are often noted, ‘I, want to find that man to give him his dues!’ ‘ And be hung for it,’ said Hannah, curtly. ‘ No, my dear, I don’t want to be hung for. the follow. Indeed, to tell the truth, I shouldn’t like it at all ; I know I shouldn’t beforehand; but at the same time I mustn’t shrink from doing of my duty first, and suffering for it afterwards, if necessary ! So now for the rascal’s name, Hannah k ‘ Reuben Gray, I couldn't tell you if I would, and I woiddn’t tell you if I could ! What, do you think that I—a Christian woman—am going to send you in your blind, brutal vengeance to commit the greatest crime you possibly could commit?’

‘ Crime, Hannah 1 why it is a holy duty !’ ‘Duty! Reuben! do you live in the middle of the nineteenth century—in a Christian land, and have you been going to church all your life, and hearing the Gospel of peace preached bo this end ?’ * Yes ! For the Lord Himself is a God of vengeance. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, and once He destroyed the whole world by water !’ ‘ “ The devil can quote Scripture for bis purpose,” Reuben ! and I think he is prompting you now ! What! do you, a mortal, take upon yourself the Divine right of punishing sin by death ? Reubßn, when, from the dust of the earth, you can make a man, and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life, then, perhaps, you may talk of punishing sin with death. Yon cannot even make the smallest gnat or worm live ! How, then, could you dare to stop the sacred breath of life in a man V said Hannah, solemnly. * I don’t consider the life of a wretch who has destroyed an innocent girl sacred by any means,’ persisted Reuben. ‘ The more sinful the man, the more sacred his life !’ ‘ Well ! I’m blowed to thunder, Hannah, if that ain’t the rummest thing as ever I heard said !—the more sinful the man, the more sacred his life !! ! What will you tell me next, I wonder S’ ‘ Why this : that if it is a great crime to kill a good man, it is the greatest of all crimes to kill a bad one k

To this startling theory Reuben could nob even attempt a reply. He could only stare at her in blank astonishment. His .mental calibre could not be compared with Hannah’s in capacity. • Have patience, dear Reuben, and I will make it all clear to you ! The more sinful the man, the more sacred his life should be considered, because in that lies the only chance of his repentance, redemption and salvation. And it is a greater crime to kill a bad man than to kill a good man, you kill his body only ; but if you kill a bad man, you kill both his body and his soul ! Can’t you understand that now, dear Reuben ?’ Reuben pulled his forehead, and answered, sullenly, like one about to be convinced against his-will: •Oh, I know what you mean, well enough, for that matter.’ 4 Then you must know, Reuben, why it is that the wicked are suffered to live so long on this earth ! People often wonder at the mysterious ways of Providence, when they see a good man prematurely cub off and a wicked man left alive! . Why, it isn’t mysterious ht all to me ! The good man was ready to go, and the Lord took him; the bad man was left to his chance of repentance. Reuben, the Lord, who is the most of all offended by sin, spares the sinner a long time to afford him opportunity for repentance ! If He wanted to punish the sinner with death in this world, He could strike the sinner dead ! But he doesn't do it, and Bhall we dare : to ? No ! we must bow in humble submission to His awful words—“ Vengeance is mine !” ’ ‘ Hannah, you may be right; I dare say you are ; yes, I’ll speak plain—l know you are ! but it’s hard to put up with such ! I feel baffled and disappointed and ready to cry ! A man feels ashamed to set down quiet under such mortification !’ i ‘Then I’ll give you a cure for that! It is the remembrance of the Divine Man and the dignified patience with which He bore the insults of the rabble crowd upon His day of trial! You know what those insults were, and how He bore them ! Bow down before His majestic meekness, and pay Him the homage of obedience to His command of returning good for evil!’ ‘ You’re right, Hannah !’ said Gray, with a great struggle, in which he conquered his own spirit. ‘ You’re altogether right, my girl ! So you needn’t tell me the name of the wrong-doer! Ar.d, indeed, you’d better not; for the temptation to punish him might be too, great for my strength, as soon as I am out of your sight and in his.’ ‘ Why, Reuben, my lad, I could nob tell you if I Were inclined to do so. lam Sworn to secrecy!’ ‘Sworn to secrecyf that’s queer too! Who swore you ?’ ‘ Poor Nora, who died forgiving all her enemies and at peace with all the world.’

‘ With him, too ?’ ‘ With him most of all! And now, Reuben, I want you to listen to me. I met yourideas of vengeance and argued them upon your own ground, for the sake.of convincing you that vengeance is wrong even under the greatest possible provocation, such as'you believed that we had all had. But, Reuben, you are much mistaken. We have had no provocation'!’ said Hannah, gravely. y "'. ; _ ' • ‘What! no provocation ! notin all the wrong done to Nora V \ :;; | ‘There has been no intentional wrong done to. Nora !’ ‘ ‘ What! no wrong in all that villany ?’ ! ‘ There has been no villany, Reuben !’ ‘ Then if that wasn’t villany, there’s none in the " world, and never' was any in the world, that’s all I have got to say V 1 ‘ Reuben, Nora was married to the father of heir child. He loved her dearly, and meant her well. You . must believe this, for it is as true ; ’as Heaven,’ skid Hannah, solemnly. •. Reuben-pricked up his ears; perhaps he . vyas not sorry to be entirely relieved from the temptation; of killing and the danger of hanging.'';"'"’’ ! ' ; M -~" ' ‘ ‘‘ And Hannah gave him as satisfactory an explanation of Nora’s case as she could give, without- breaking her promise and betraying' Herman Brudenell as the partner of Nbra’s .misfortunes/; ' (To hi continued*) , ;