anging the subject.

"Just walking about in the woods and fields," answered Gabriel.

"'Twant no use fer ter ax you, suh; you been doin' dat sence you wuz big
nuff ter clime a fence. Ef you wan't wid Miss Nan, you wuz by yo'se'f. I
uv seed you many a day, suh, when you didn't see me. You wuz wid Miss
Nan dis ve'y day." The Rev. Jeremiah dropped his head to one side, and
smiled a knowing smile. "Oh, you needn't be shame un it, suh," the negro
went on as the colour slowly mounted to Gabriel's face. "I uv said it
befo' an' I'll say it ag'in, an' I don't keer who hears me--Miss Nan is
boun' ter make de finest 'oman in de lan'. An' dat ain't all, suh: when
I hear folks hintin' dat she's gwine ter make a match wid Mr. Frank
Bethune, sez I, 'Des keep yo' eye on Mr. Gabe'; dat zackly what I sez."

"Oh, the dickens and Tom Walker!" exclaimed Gabriel impatiently; "who's
been talking of the affairs of Miss Dorrington in that way?"

"Why, purty nigh eve'ybody, suh," remarked the Rev. Jeremiah, smacking
his lips. "What white folks say in de parlour, you kin allers hear in de
kitchen."

After firing this homely truth at Gabriel, the Rev. Jeremiah went to
work with his broom and made a great pretence of sweeping and moving the
benches about. The lad followed him in, and looked about him with
interest. It was the first time he had revisited the old school-house
since he was a boy of ten, and he was pleased to find that there had
been few changes. The desk at which he had sat was intact. His initials,
rudely carved, stared him in the face, and there, too, was the hole he
had cut in the seat. He remembered that this was a dungeon in which he
had imprisoned many a fly. These mute evidences of his idleness seemed
to be as solid as the hills. Between those times and the present, the
wild and furious perspective of war lay spread out, and Gabriel could
imagine that the idler who had hacked the desk belonged to another
generation altogether.

He went to the blackboard, found a piece of chalk, and wrote in a large,
bold hand: "Rev. Jeremiah Tomlin will lecture here to-night, beginning
at early candle-light."

The Rev. Jeremiah, witnessing the performance, had his curiosity
aroused: "What is de word you uv writ, suh?" he inquired, and when
Gabriel had read it off, the negro exclaimed, "Well, suh! You put all
dat down, an' it didn't take you no time; no, suh, not no time. But I
might uv speckted it, bekase I hear lots er talk about how sm