ally when I have a becoming new dress."

"Here are the bones of our ancestors, if they were once animated with
souls; and I guess they were, particularly the old man, for I have
heard many stories from old Toney, that convince me that he was a
pretty hard one. How do we know that their spirits are not here by us
now? Why is it deemed that there shall be no communication between the
living and the dead? O! how I want to ask all about the spirit-land.
Wake up and reclothe thy bones and become again animated dust, and tell
me thou, my great progenitor, the mysteries of the grave, of heaven and
hell. How quiet is the grave? No response, and it is impious to ask
what I have. O! what is life which animates and harmonizes the elements
of this mysterious creation, man! Life how imperious, and yet how kind;
it unites and controls these antagonistic elements, and they do not
quarrel on his watch. Mingling and communing they go on through time,
regardless of the invitation of those from which they came to return.
But when life is weary of his trust and guardianship, and throws up his
commission, they declare war at once--dissolve, and each returns to his
original. Death and corruption do their work, and life returns no more,
and death is eternal, and the soul--answer ye dumb graves--did the soul
come here? or went it with life to the great first cause? or is here
the end of all; here, this little tenement? I shudder--is it the flesh,
the instinct of life; or is it the soul which shrinks with horror from
this little portal through which it must pass to eternal bliss, or
eternal--horrible! Assist me to my horse, if you please. Come cousin,
let us go and see old Uncle Toney--and, sir, he will teach you more
philosophy than you ever dreamed of."

"Who is Uncle Toney? miss," asked the stranger of the visiting cousin
when he returned to aid her descent of the mound.

"He is a very aged African, brought to this country from Carolina by
our grandfather, in 1775, or earlier; he says there were remnants of
the Natchez in the country at that time, and the old man has many
stories of these, and many more very strange ones of the doings of the
whites who first came and settled the country. He retains pretty well
his faculties, and, like most old people, is garrulous and loves a
listener. He will be delighted with our visit."

"Miss Alice, do you frequently visit Uncle Toney?"

"Very nearly every day. I have in my basket, here, something fo