o be very drowsy, and manifested no curiosity concerning
her condition. She was as passive in their hands as an infant, and
they treated her as such. Chloe sung to her, and told her stories,
which were generally concerning her own remarkable experiences; for
she was a great seer of visions. Perhaps she owed them to gifts of
imagination, of which culture would have made her a poet; but to her
they seemed to be an objective reality. She often told of seeing
Jesus, as she walked to and from the plantation. Once she had met him
riding upon Thistle, with a golden crown upon his head. One evening he
had run before her all the way, as a very little child, whose shining
garments lighted up all the woods.

Four months after the swift destruction of her hopes, Rosa, after
taking some drink from Tulee's hand, looked up in her face, and said,
"How long have I been sick, dear Tulee?"

"No matter about that, darling," she replied, patting her head fondly.
"Ye mustn't disturb your mind 'bout that."

After a little pause, the invalid said, "But tell me how long."

"Well then, darling, I didn't keep no 'count of the time; but Tom says
it's February now."

"Yer see, Missy Rosy," interposed Chloe, "yer sperit hab done gone
somewhar, an' yer didn't know nottin'. But a booful angel, all in
white, tuk yer by de han' an' toted yer back to Tulee an' Chloe. Dat
ar angel hab grat hansum eyes, an' she tole me she war yer mudder;
an' dat she war gwine to be wid yer allers, cause twar de will ob de
Lord."

Rosa listened with a serious, pleased expression in her face; for the
words of her simple comforter inspired a vague consciousness of some
supernatural presence surrounding her with invisible protection.

A few hours after, she asked, with head averted from her attendant,
"Has any one been here since I have been ill?"

Anxious to soothe the wounded heart as much as possible, Tulee
answered: "Massa Gerald come to ask how ye did; and when he went to
Savannah, he left Tom and Chloe at the plantation to help me take care
of ye."

She manifested no emotion; and after a brief silence she inquired
for letters from Madame. Being informed that there were none, she
expressed a wish to be bolstered up, that she might try to write a few
lines to her old friend. Chloe, in reply, whispered something in her
ear, which seemed to surprise her. Her cheeks flushed, the first
time for many a day; but she immediately closed her eyes, and tears
glistened o