to make the best of the place to which Providence
had so clearly led her for some wise purpose of his own. She had arisen
early and explored the premises in quest of the spots of sunshine which
she knew were there as well as elsewhere, and she had found them, too,
in the grand old elms and maples which shaded the wooden building, in
the clean, grassy lawn and the running brook, in the well-kept garden of
flowers, and in the few choice volumes arranged in the old bookcase at
one end of the hall. Who reads those books, her favorites, every one of
them? Not 'Lina, most assuredly, for Alice's reminiscences of her were
not of the literary kind; nor yet Mrs. Worthington, kind, gentle
creature as she seemed to be. Who then but Hugh could have pored over
those pages? And Alice felt a thrill of joy as she felt there was at
least one bond of sympathy between them. There was no Bible upon the
shelves, no religious book of any kind, if we except a work of infidel
Tom Paine, at sight of which Alice recoiled as from a viper. Could Hugh
believe in Tom Paine? She hoped not, and with a sigh she was turning
from the corner, when the patter of little naked feet was heard upon the
stairs, and a bright mulatto child, apparently seven or eight years old,
appeared, her face expressive of the admiration with which she regarded
Alice, who asked her name.

Curtseying very low, the child replied:

"I dunno, missus; I 'spec's I done lost 'em, 'case heap of a while ago,
'fore you're born, I reckon, they call me Leshie, but Mas'r Hugh done
nickname me Muggins, and every folks do that now. You know Mas'r Hugh?
He done rared when he read you's comin'; do this way with his boot, 'By
George, Ad will sell the old hut yet without 'sultin' me,'" and the
little darky's fist came down upon the window sill in apt imitation of
her master.

A crimson flush overspread Alice's face as she wondered if it were
possible that the arrangements concerning her coming there had been made
without reference to Hugh's wishes.

"It may be, he was away," she sighed; then feeling an intense desire to
know more, and being only a woman and mortal, she said to Muggins
walking around her in circles, with her fat arms folded upon her bosom.
"Your master did not know I was coming till he returned from New Orleans
and found his mother's letter?"

"Who tole you dat ar?" and Muggins' face was perfectly comical in its
bewilderment at what she deemed Alice's foreknowledge. "But dat