they looked down in pity on the sufferings of Job.

Gabriel's favourite Bermuda field was crowned by a hill, which,
gradually sloping upward, commanded a fine view of the surrounding
country; and though it was close to Shady Dale, it was a lonely place.
Here the killdees ran, and bobbed their heads, and uttered their
plaintive cries unmolested; here the partridge could raise her brood in
peace; and here the whippoorwill was free to play upon his flute.

Many and many a time, while sitting on this hill, Gabriel had watched
the village-lights go out one by one till all was dark; and the silence
seemed to float heaven-ward, and fall again, and shift and move in vast
undulations, keeping time to a grand melody which the soul could feel
and respond to, but which the ear could not hear. And at such time,
Gabriel believed that in the slow-moving constellations, with their
glittering trains, could be read the great secrets that philosophers and
scientists are searching for.

Beyond the valley, still farther away from the town, was the negro
church, of which the Rev. Jeremiah Tomlin was the admired pastor.
Ordinarily, there were services in this church three times a week,
unless one of the constantly recurring revivals was in progress, and
then there were services every night in the week, and sometimes all
night long. The Rev. Jeremiah was a preacher who had lung-power to
spare, and his voice was well calculated to shatter our old friend the
welkin, so dear to poets and romancers. But if there was no revival in
progress, the nights devoted to prayer-meetings were mainly musical, and
the songs, subdued by the distance, floated across the valley to Gabriel
with entrancing sweetness.

One Wednesday night, when the political conditions were at their worst,
Gabriel observed that while the lights were lit in the church, there was
less singing than usual. This attracted his attention and then excited
his curiosity. Listening more intently, he failed to hear the sound of a
single voice lifted in prayer, in song or in preaching. The time was
after nine o'clock, and this silence was so unusual that Gabriel
concluded to investigate.

He made his way across the valley, and was soon within ear-shot of the
church. The pulpit was unoccupied, but Gabriel could see that a white
man was standing in front of it. The inference to be drawn from his
movements and gestures was that he was delivering an address to the
negroes. Hotchkiss was stand