A livelier strain came from the band, 'God bless you' went from each to each; A gazing eye, a waving hand, Where hearts were all too full for speech. He marched, obeying duty's call, Of noblest nature, first to hear; I, bound by fond domestic thrall, In path of duty lingered here. Slowly the summer months rolled on, October harvested the corn, November came with shortening days, Passed by in mist and rain,--was gone,-- Yet still he came not; winter's snow In feathery vesture clothed the trees, Or, iceclad in a jewelled glow, They sparkled in the chilly breeze. Spring glowed along Potomac vales, While north her footsteps tardier came, For him the golden jasmine trails O'er bright azaleas all aflame; Still upon Yorktown's trampled fields, O'er grassy plain and wooded swell, Her sunny wealth the summer yields, And still the word comes, 'All is well.' A MERCHANT'S STORY. 'All of which I saw, and part of which I was.' CHAPTER XII. In the afternoon the exercises at the meeting house were conducted by Preston, who publicly catechized 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 wonderful woman, and, if in the mood, will astonish you.' 'I think you told me she is a native African?' 'Yes, she is. 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 you 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 as it then stretched for more than forty feet along the narrow bypath which separated the two rows of negro shanties, it presented quite an imposing appearance. A second addition in its rear, though it did not increase its dignity in the eyes of 'street' observers, added largely to its proportions and convenience.