up de young
marster. Pride o' fambly, suh. What might you be desirin' now, Mars'
Ormond? One li'l drap o' musk on yoh hanker? Lawd save us, but you sho'
is gallus dishyere day! Spec' Miss Dorry gwine blink de vi'lets in her
eyes. Yaas, suh. Miss Dorry am de only one, suh; de onliest Ormond in
dishyere fambly. Seem mos' lak she done throw back to our folk, suh.
Miss Dorry ain' no Varick; Miss Dorry all Ormond, suh, dess lak you an'
me! Yaas, suh, h'its dat-a-way; h'it sho' is, Mars' Ormond."

I drew a deep, quivering breath. Home seemed so far, and the old slave
would never live to see it. I felt as though this steel-cold North held
me, too, like a trap--never to unclose.

"Cato," I said, abruptly, "let us go home."

He understood; a gleam of purest joy flickered in his eyes, then died
out, quenched in swelling tears.

He wept awhile, standing there in the centre of the room, smearing the
tears away with the flapping sleeves of his tarnished livery, while,
like a committed panther, I paced the walls, to and fro, to and fro,
heart aching for escape.

The light in the west deepened above the forests; a long, glowing crack
opened between two thunderous clouds, like a hint of hidden hell, firing
the whole sky. And in the blaze the crows winged, two and two, like
witches flying home to the infernal pit, now all ablaze and kindling
coal on coal along the dark sky's sombre brink.

Then the red bars faded on my wall to pink, to ashes; a fleck of rosy
cloud in mid-zenith glimmered and went out, and the round edges of the
world were curtained with the night.

Behind me, Cato struck flint and lighted two tall candles; outside the
lawn, near the stockade, a stable-lad set a conch-horn to his lips,
blowing a deep, melodious cattle-call, and far away I heard them
coming--tin, ton! tin, ton! tinkle!--through the woods, slowly, slowly,
till in the freshening dusk I smelled their milk and heard them lowing
at the unseen pasture-bars.

I turned sharply; the candle-light dazzled me. As I passed Cato, the old
man bowed till his coat-cuffs hung covering his dusky, wrinkled fingers.

"When we go, we go together, Cato," I said, huskily, and so passed on
through the brightly lighted hallway and down the stairs.

Candle-light glimmered on the dark pictures, the rusted circles of arms,
the stags' heads with their dusty eyes. A servant in yellow livery,
lounging by the door, rose from the settle as I appeared and threw open
the door on