"De foxes hab holes,
An' de birdies hab nes',
But de Son ob Man he hab not where
To lay de weary head.

CHORUS.

"Jehovyah, Hallelujah! De Lord He will purvide!
Jehovyah, Hallelujah! De Lord He will purvide!"

They repeat the words many times. "De foxes hab holes," and the
succeeding lines, are sung in the most touching, mournful tones; and
then the chorus--"Jehovyah, Hallelujah"--swells forth triumphantly, in
glad contrast.

Christmas night, the children came in and had several grand shouts. They
were too happy to keep still.

"Oh, Miss, all I want to do is to sing and shout!" said our little pet,
Amaretta. And sing and shout she did, to her heart's content.

She read nicely, and was very fond of books. The tiniest children are
delighted to get a book in their hands. Many of them already know their
letters. The parents are eager to have them learn. They sometimes said
to me,--

"Do, Miss, let de chil'en learn eberyting dey can. _We_ nebber hab no
chance to learn nuttin', but we wants de chil'en to learn."

They are willing to make many sacrifices that their children may attend
school. One old woman, who had a large family of children and
grandchildren, came regularly to school in the winter, and took her seat
among the little ones. She was at least sixty years old. Another
woman--who had one of the best faces I ever saw--came daily, and brought
her baby in her arms. It happened to be one of the best babies in the
world, a perfect little "model of deportment," and allowed its mother to
pursue her studies without interruption.

While taking charge of the store, one day, one of the men who came in
told me a story which interested me much. He was a carpenter, living on
this island, and just before the capture of Port Royal had been taken by
his master to the mainland,--"the Main," as the people call it,--to
assist in building some houses which were to shelter the families of the
Rebels in case the "Yankees" should come. The master afterward sent him
back to the island, providing him with a pass, to bring away a boat and
some of the people. On his arrival he found that the Union troops were
in possession, and determined to remain here with his family instead of
returning to his master. Some of his fellow-servants, who had been left
on "the Main," hearing that the Federal troops had come, resolved to
make their escape to the islands. They found a boat of their master's,
o