p yer ef de missus got a grudge agin yer,"
muttered Snowball. "An' she sut'n'ly hab got one elsen she wouldn't put
yer in dis place whar we niggas is put. Why, missy, dis ain't no place
foh yer."

"But you have to stay here, Snowball. I ought to stand it if you do. I
wish there was some way to get word to General Butler. He would take me
from here I know."

"Dere won't be no way, missy," said Snowball with melancholy conviction
as Jeanne sprang to her feet and began a hurried inspection of the room.
"Missus wouldn't leab a mouse hole ef she thought it could be used."

And Jeanne found her words true. It was a small low room without furniture
of any kind. A pile of straw upon which the darky lay was the only thing
in it. There were iron shutters at the windows so strong that it would
require the strength of a man to open them. The door was bolted and
Jeanne resumed her seat by the girl in a hopeless manner.

"What can we do, Snowball?"

"Nuffin. Can't do a bressed thing tell de missus ready ter let us out.
'Tain't so bad when yer gits usen ter de dahk."

"Does your back hurt much?"

"Not now, honey. It did huht awful when dey pouhed de brine on tho'."

"The brine! Not salt water, Snowball?"

"Yes'm. It did huht shore nuff when dey pouhed dat on. Dey does it kase
dey think de whip won't make no scahs when dey heal. But it do huht awful."

This new horror held Jeanne silent, and her tears fell fast. A fierce
indignation foreign to her usually gentle nature shook her from head to
foot. "And father used to say that abolitionists were extremists," she
thought. "Oh, if ever I get home again I'll cry out on the streets against
slavery."

"Is yer cryin', lill' missy?" exclaimed Snowball, as the warm drops fell
upon her hands. "Done yer do it. It done mattah 'bout a pore nigga laik
me. Heah you is tiahed mos' ter def, I reckon. Can't yer sleep?"

"I'll try, Snowball," and Jeanne crept beside the girl on her straw. "I
am tired. I almost wish I could die."

"Done yer be downhahted, missy. Dey'll take me outen heah soon. Jes' as
soon as ma back gits well, kase dey can't 'ford ter lose a val'able nigga
laik me, and ef dey doesn't take you outen dis 'fore den I'll run away
ter de Gin'ral. Heaps of de cullah folks go ter him."

"Will you, Snowball?" A gleam of hope stole into Jeanne's heart. She
snuggled down into the straw and soon fell into a deep sleep.

When she awakened she was alone in the room. During her slumbe