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"Leave her alone," said the master, "and let her grieve it out. The cat
will mew when her kittens are taken away. She'll get over it before long,
and come up again all right."
"Ye mus' b'ar it, chile," said Annie's poor, old mother, drawing from
her own experience the only comfort which could be of any avail. "De
bressed Lord will help ye; nobody else can. I's so sorry for ye, honey;
but yer poor, old mudder can't do noffin. 'Tis de yoke de Heavenly
Massa puts on yer neck, and ye can't take it off nohow till he ondoes it
hissef wid his own hand. Ye mus' b'ar it, and say, De will ob de bressed
Lord be done."
But, trying as this separation was, it proved to be the first link in that
chain of loving-kindnesses by which this little slave-child was to be
drawn towards God. Do you remember this verse in the Bible: "I have
loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee"?

CHAPTER III.
SUNSHINE.
IF ever there was a sunshiny corner of slavery, it was that into which a
kind Providence dropped this little, helpless babe, now but a little more
than two years old.
It was a pleasant day in early spring when Colonel Lee alighted from
his gig before the family mansion at Rosevale, and laid the child, as a
present, at the feet of his daughter Matilda.
Miss Matilda Lee was about thirty years of age,-- as active and thrifty a
little woman as could be found any where within the domains of this
cruel system of oppression. Slavery is like a two-edged knife, cutting
both ways. It not only destroys the black, but demoralizes and ruins the
white race. Those who hold slaves are usually indolent, proud, and
inefficient. They think it a disgrace to work by the side of the negro,
and therefore will allow things to be left in a very careless, untidy way,
rather than put forth their energy to alter or improve them. And as it is
impossible for slaves, untaught and degraded as they are, to give a neat
and thrifty appearance to their homes, we, who have been brought up at
the North, accustomed to work ourselves, assisted by well-trained
domestics, can scarcely realize the many discomforts often to be
experienced in Southern houses. But Miss Lee was unusually energetic
and helpful, desirous of having every thing about her neat and tasteful,
and not afraid to do something towards it with her own hands.
Being the eldest daughter, the entire charge of the family had devolved
upon her since the death of her mother, which had occurred about ten
years before. Within this time, her brothers and sisters had been
married, and now she and her father were all that were left at the old
homestead.
Their servants, too, had dwindled away. Some had been given to the
sons and daughters when they left the parental roof; some had died, and

others had been sold to pay debts and furnish the means of living. Old
Rosa, the cook, Nancy, the waiting-maid, and Methuselah, the ancient
gardener, were all the house-servants that remained. So they lived in a
very quiet and frugal way; and Miss Matilda's activities, not being
entirely engrossed with family cares, found employment in the nurture
of flowers and pets.
The grounds in front of the old-fashioned mansion had been laid out
originally in very elaborate style; and, though of late years they had
been greatly neglected, they still retained traces of their former
splendor. The rose-vines on the inside of the enclosure had grown over
the low, brick wall, to meet and mingle with the trees and bushes
outside, till together they formed a solid and luxuriant mass of verdure.
White and crimson roses shone amid the dark, glossy foliage of the
mountain-laurel, which held up with sturdy stem its own rich clusters
of fluted cups, that seemed to assert equality with the queen of flowers,
and would not be eclipsed by the fragrant loveliness of their beautiful
dependents. The borders of box, which had once been trimmed and
trained into fanciful points and tufts and convolutions of verdure, had
grown into misshapen clumps; and the white, pebbly walks no longer
sparkled in the sunlight.
Still Miss Matilda, by the aid of Methuselah, in appearance almost as
ancient as we may suppose his namesake to have been, found great
pleasure in cultivating her flower-beds; and every year, her crocuses
and hyacinths, crown-imperials and tulips, pinks, lilies, and roses, none
the less beautiful because they are so commonly enjoyed, gave a
cheerful aspect to the place.
Her numerous pets made the house equally bright and pleasant. There
was Sir Walter Raleigh, the dog, and Mrs. Felina, the