me."

By the time Pete had finished he was in a state of rapture, swaying from
side to side as though in fancy he were mounting upwards on angel's
wings. But he was brought out of his ecstasy by the shouts of

"Bravo! well done for you, Pete."

"Where did you learn it?" eagerly inquired Agnes.

"At de camp, Miss," was the reply.

"Why, were you in the army, or were you a slave?" another asked.

Pete rolled his eyes until nothing but the whites could be seen, as he
said, "At de Camp-Meetin', you know. No, ladies, I never was a slave
only to old Satan. Dat was enough of slavery for dis here darkey."

"Say, now, tell us how he treated you, that's a good fellow," said Guy,
handing him some loose change out of his pocket. "This is for singing,
now go on."

Poor Pete's face grew very grave. "It ain't very pleasin' to tell of,
and ef it's jest de same, I won't scare de ladies with talkin' about
it."

"But we wish it," they said, and as there was no help for him, Pete
began.

[Illustration: Decoration]

CHAPTER XII.

PETE'S SLAVERY AND FREEDOM.

"WELL, it's rather flusticatin' to tell grand folks like you about a
darkey what's of no account, but I thinks of it considerable when there
ain't much else to do. You see I had a father and a mother, and my
father wasn't of much account for he drinked like a fish. Then he
walloped us all round, and come pretty near killin' the whole of us like
he did mother."

"Killed your mother, the wretch! what did you let him do it for?" asked
one of the girls excitedly.

"Couldn't help it Miss; but I'm comin' to that. Well, you see he got
drunk and walloped us, and mother said she weren't going to slave
herself for a animal like him, so when he came home drunk she wouldn't
give him nothing to eat, and that made him furiouser.

"Mother said he might bang till he got tired, so she used to lock
herself in her room and take us with her, and then when he got tired
cussin' and swearin' he lay down and went to sleep. Mother worked hard
enough, I tell you, to get bread for us all: you see there was six of
us, and it took a powerful sight of wittles. She never said nothin'
about workin', though, only when father broke up the cheers and things,
and then she used to cry, and we all cried." Here Pete drew his hand
across his eyes, and the girls looked pityingly at him. In spite of the
pain caused by such recollections, they were so curious to know all,
that Pete was again urged t