icated,
profiting as much by his master's rather dull preaching as any of the
congregation around him who were pretending to listen.

One Sunday morning Cuffee noticed that several gentlemen in the
neighborhood of his master's pew had taken out their pencils, and were
taking notes of the discourse; either because it was more than usually
interesting, or because they wished it to be seen by the parson that they
_thought_ it was. Cuffee determined that he would follow the example thus
set him; so in the afternoon he brought a sheet of paper and pen and
ink-horn to church with him. His master, looking down from his pulpit into
his pew, could hardly maintain his gravity, as he saw his servant "spread
out" to his task, his great red tongue out, and one side of his face
nearly touching the paper. Cufee applied himself vigorously to his notes,
until his master had come to his "sixteenth and lastly," and "in view of
this subject we remark, in the eighth and last place," &c., knowing
nothing all the while, and caring just as little, about the wonderment of
his master, who was occasionally looking down upon him.

When the minister reached home, he sent for Cufee to come into his study.

"Well, Cuffee," said he, "what was that I saw you doing in meeting this
afternoon?"

"Me, massa?--w'at was _I_ a-doin?"

"Yes, Cuffee; what was that you were about, in stead of listening to the
sermon?"

"I was a-listenin' _hard_, massa, and I was _takin' notes_."

"You taking notes!" exclaimed the minister.

"Sartain, massa; all de oder gem'men take notes too."

"Well, Cuffee, let us _see_ your notes," said his master.

Hereupon Cuffee produced his sheet of paper. It was scrawled all over with
all sorts of marks and lines; worse than if a dozen spiders, escaped from
an ink-bottle, had kept up a day's march over it. It would have puzzled
Champollion himself to have unraveled its mysteries.

The minister looked over the notes, as if with great attention, and at
length said,

"Why, Cuffee, this is all nonsense!"

"E'yah! e'yah!" replied Cuffee; "I t'ought so myse'f, all de time you was
a-preachin'! Dat's a fac'! E'yah! e'yah!"

The minister didn't tell the story himself, being rather shy about the
conclusion. It leaked out, however, through Cuffee, one day, and his
master "never heard the last of it."

-------------------------------------

In a play which we once read, there is a physician introduced, who comes