Bress de Lord! Bress
His holy name foreber an' eber.'
"'And what will you do with your liberty, Uncle Joe?' I asked; then he
looked half frightened. 'Massa, you ain't gwine to send us off? we lub you
an' Miss Elsie an' de chillen, an' we's gettin' mos' too ole to start out
new for ourselves.'"
"Well, dear, I hope you assured him that he had nothing to fear on that
score."
"Certainly; I told him they were free to go or stay as they liked, and as
long as they were with, or near us, we would see that they were made
comfortable. Then he repeated, with great earnestness, that he loved us
all, and could never forget what you had done in restoring him to his
wife, and making them both so comfortable and happy."
"Yes, I think they have been happy with us; and probably it was the bitter
remembrance of the sufferings of his earlier life that made freedom seem
so precious a boon to him."
Going into the nursery half an hour later, Elsie was grieved and surprised
to find Chloe sitting by the crib of the sleeping babe, crying and sobbing
as if her very heart would break, her head bowed upon her knees, and the
sobs half-smothered, lest they should disturb the child.
"Why, mammy dear, what is the matter?" she asked, going to her and laying
a hand tenderly on her shoulder.
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