dat am de truf,' says
Massa John Brown; 'but see here, uncle: de Lord has done 'p'inted yer to
be a guardian angel to dat po' chile. He calls yer to be a fader to her;
an' from dis day yer _is_ her fader--'member dat. But it may be jus' as
well for yer to purtend to be her husband: 'at will keep de udder boys
from pesterin' her. But 'member dis: de Lord will 'quire dat chile's
happiness of yo' han's, an' will so do by yer as yer do by her.'--'Be yer
de angel ob de Lord, massa?' says I. 'Clar' to goodness, sah! I was dat
skeered one knee knocked ag'in de udder like a woodpecker a-hammerin' a
rotten tree.--'Yes,' says he: 'I _be_ de messenger ob de Lord, an' my name
is John Brown, but I don't s'pose yer ebber heern tell ob it.'--'No,
massa,' says I, 'we don't see no powerful sight ob angels down in de
rice-swamps.'--'Well, keep a-watchin' an' a-waitin',' says he, 'an' yer
_will_ heer from me ag'in.' Wid dat de driber come up, and he tole him he
guessed he wouldn't buy me dat day; and den he went away.

"Vina said dis mornin' she 'lowed to go up to yo' house to do some washin'
for de missus; an' yer can ax her, sah, an' she'll tell yer dat all I'se
been a-sayin' is de libbin' truf."

The judge hardly needed any confirmation--Abram's story was too
straightforward and naif to have been coined--but, telling him to call at
his house toward evening, and that he would have the necessary papers
there, and make them out if satisfied as to the eligibility of the parties
for such a contract, he dismissed the aspirant for marital honors. As the
judge entered the shaded coolness of his library after a distracting day
spent in the discussion of a complicated will-case, the refreshing
atmosphere of refinement and quiet and home exercised so powerful an
influence over his tired nerves that he straightway forgot all
professional and other cares, and stretching himself in his favorite
lazy-chair, was soon fast asleep.

As he drifted back to a semi-conscious state he became aware of voices
conversing on the back veranda, which shaded one of the library windows.
The voices were those of his wife and the girl Vina, and the words which
he first clearly comprehended were--

"I tell yer what, Miss' Fairdealer, dar ain't no niggerism about ole Fader
Abram."

As Father Abram approached the nearest to a pure-blooded Congo African of
any negro that he knew, the judge rubbed his forehead in the gentle
stimulating way which he always employed wh