ed clouds a flash of
lightning broke, and there was the thunder of cannon and the rain of
lead over the land. From his home in the North he watched the storm as
it raged and wavered, now threatening the North with its awful power,
now hanging dire and dreadful over the South. Then suddenly from out
the fray came a voice like the trumpet tone of God to him: "Thou and
thy brothers are free!" Free, free, with the freedom not cherished by
the few alone, but for all that had been bound. Free, with the freedom
not torn from the secret night, but open to the light of heaven.

When the first call for colored soldiers came, Joshua Leckler hastened
down to Boston, and enrolled himself among those who were willing to
fight to maintain their freedom. On account of his ability to read
and write and his general intelligence, he was soon made an orderly
sergeant. His regiment had already taken part in an engagement before
the public roster of this band of Uncle Sam's niggers, as they were
called, fell into Mr. Leckler's hands. He ran his eye down the column
of names. It stopped at that of Joshua Leckler, Sergeant, Company F.
He handed the paper to Mrs. Leckler with his finger on the place:

"Mrs. Leckler," he said, "this is nothing less than a judgment on me
for teaching a nigger to read and write. I disobeyed the law of my
state and, as a result, not only lost my nigger, but furnished the
Yankees with a smart officer to help them fight the South. Mrs.
Leckler, I have sinned--and been punished. But I am content, Mrs.
Leckler; it all came through my kindness of heart,--and your mistaken
advice. But, oh, that ingrate, that ingrate!"

THE CASE OF 'CA'LINE'

A KITCHEN MONOLOGUE

The man of the house is about to go into the dining-room when he hears
voices that tell him that his wife has gone down to give the "hired
help" a threatened going over. He quietly withdraws, closes the door
noiselessly behind him and listens from a safe point of vantage.

One voice is timid and hesitating; that is his wife. The other is
fearlessly raised; that is her majesty, the queen who rules the
kitchen, and from it the rest of the house.

This is what he overhears:

"Well, Mis' Ma'tin, hit do seem lak you jes' bent an' boun' to be
a-fin'in' fault wid me w'en de Lawd knows I's doin' de ve'y bes' I
kin. What 'bout de brekfus'? De steak too done an' de 'taters ain't
done enough! Now, Miss Ma'tin, I jes' want to show you I cooked dat
steak an'