CHAPTER XI. - AN UNHAPPY WOMAN.

 

PRESENTLY Ponto came in sight, on his way back. His appearance was picturesque in the extreme. He bore on his head a beautiful basket, heaped with fruit and grapes; this he held with one hand, while with the other he led by a golden cord a beautiful white heifer. He was chanting musically, as before, a song in which "flowin' wif milk an' honey, Canaan an' de promise' lan'," and, "down by de riber Jerden," bore a large share.

 

I did not catch all the words, if indeed, there were others, but these were enough to show how happy and content he was. It was really the promised land to him, who had shortly before been a poor, old, worn out slave, whipped to his death.

He came up to the gate.

"Miss Suly," he said, "will you an' de stranger lady come long wif little Katy, while dis nigga bring de milk an' de honey, an' de grapes?"

Ursula laughingly replied:

"Yes, Ponto; we will come too. Would you like to go?" she asked, turning to me.

"Oh; very much!"

"We will take little Katy, and the other children can remain here until our return. Come, Katy," she called; "come! we are going to see your papa, and your mama has come to be with us too."

Katy came skipping up, holding the kittens in her apron.

"What! are you going to take the kittens?"

"Yes," replied Katy; "me mus' tate 'ittle tittens. 'Ittle tittens want to see my papa, an' me sa'l dive one 'ittle titten to mama."

"Very well," said Ursula. "You shall take them along if you want to."

The child was a beautiful little creature, fair as a lily, with flaxen curls, and starry blue eyes. She was chubby, and dimpled as a cherub, which she very much

resembled. She wore a blue, silken frock, and white, gauzy pinafore, through which the pretty maltese and white kittens could plainly be seen: she also wore a necklace of small pearls around her pretty, white throat.

 

Ursula opened the gate, and we started; Ponto following with the basket and the heifer. Presently the little girl wanted to ride, and Ponto lifted her to the heifer's back, where she sat like a fairy queen, playing with the kittens. Ponto said she ought to be crowned; so he gathered some small, fragrant, star-shaped blossoms, wove them into a wreath, and placed them on her head.

 

Oh! how lovely everything was! We had not far to go, for just around a curve in the beautiful, winding path, we came in sight of the house. The lawn, Which we were now crossing, was covered with the freshest and most beautiful of dandelion blossoms, with their long, pipe-like stems. Little Katy clapped her hands delightedly.

 

"O Ponto!" she cried. "Me want pitty posies!".

 

We all stopped, and Ponto, together with our aid, gathered a large number of, the blossoms, and, while he was forming a wreath for the white heifer's neck, I had time to take in all the details of the house and its surroundings.

 

The house was erected in the midst of a wide-spreading green, was roomy and rambling, one story in height, with a wing here and another there to suit the fancy of the builder. There were a number of large old-fashioned windows, three or four doors, a portico here and a veranda there. There was no particular style of architecture about it. It seemed to have been thrown up after a promiscuous fashion, yet, altogether, presented quite a beautiful and imposing appearance: but its greatest charm lay in its exceedingly restful, home-like look. It reminded me of grandfathers, grandmothers, and sweet old-fashioned homes—and, surely, that must be a well-sweep near the house. The roof was almost flat, just rounded up sufficiently to hold a flagstaff, from which floated a bright flag—the American flag of stars and stripes—but in each stripe were printed words, and I read them with curiosity: they read thus:

 

Ethiopia's children will soon be free!

 

The strong arm of the Northman shall smite his Southern brother even unto death, and the powers of heaven shall descend, and rest within the soul of Abraham! By his hand shall Ethiopia's chain be loosed I"

 

At some distance from the house were clustered a number of outbuildings, and roaming around them were many animals of various kinds: conspicuous among them were a number of mules and donkeys. There were horses, colts, cows, calves, sheep, oxen, swine, pigs, turkeys, chickens, cocks, hens, peacocks, guinea-hens, rabbits, ducks, goslings, cats, dogs, crows, mocking­birds, parrots, and a great many other kind of birds which love to frequent home-like places and farmyards. At the back of all this, not far off, was a large tract of wooded land, which one could see was sequestered and very beautiful. A glancing, shining river wound its serpentine course between the farmyard and the woods. When my eyes had drunk in all the beautiful scenery, my attention was again called to Ponto, who was placing a hanging wreath of dandelions around the neck of the white heifer. Little Katy was shouting with glee, crying:

 

"How pitty the 'ittle cow looks; tause she has a yellow necklace."

 

We moved on. As we drew near the house I perceived a gentleman seated on one of the verandas; he was tall and slender, with light blue eyes, pale brown hair and beard; his appearance was somewhat dejected and forlorn; he greeted us with politeness, and clasped little Katy in his arms. She patted his face with her dimpled hands, and kissed him fondly many times.

 

Ponto turned his heifer loose, to roam about the place at her own sweet will and pleasure; many of the other creatures came up to her to get acquainted. We all took seats on the veranda, and we could distinctly hear the voice of the unhappy woman inside the house. She was groaning, praying, crying, and screaming alternately. The following were some of the words which caught my ear:

 

"O Lord, save me for Christ's sweet sake! O God, bend down thine ear, and hearken to the prayers of thine handmaiden! O God, in thine infinite mercy, save me from mine enemy! O Lord, bind min-adversary, that he may not drag my soul down to hell!

 

O God, smite this wicked old negro, who is in league with satan against me! O God, why hast thou hidden thy face from me? O Lord, smile upon me, and hear my prayers! Here, on my bended knees, I crave thy mercy! Hear me, O God, for Christ's sweet sake! Open to me the gates of paradise, that my soul may enter in!"

 

Then would come groanings, heart-rending cries, and loud screaming. The gentleman's face grew more and more dejected and disconsolate, as he hugged his little girl closer and closer to his breast.

 

Ponto had seated himself on the step of the veranda, and one could see two great, glistening tears resting on his cheeks.

 

"Dis nigga wish missus would listen to reason. Why; heah we all am right heah in de promis' lan', an' it am all flowin' wif milk an' honey. De Lor' he am a sperret, he am like a sweet bref ob air. De Lor' he pass by, an' bress Ponto all right. Jes' see how good de Lor' am. He gib Ponto, wifout money an' wifout price, all dese fine cattle an' horses, an' dem nice, fat pigs, an' he not eben ask ole Ponto feed um no mo'. Dey jes' all lub ole

 

Ponto, an' Ponto lub dem. Oh! de Lor' am bery good to Ponto! All de cattle an' de horses am free. Ponto doan hab to steal um. De Lor' in his marcy gib um to Ponto, as many as he like."

 

And Ponto wiped the tears from his cheeks, grinning with fond delight, as his great, rolling, black eyes roamed over his possessions.

 

The groaning and praying from within, again smote the ear. Little Katy looked frightened.

 

"It is mama," said the gentleman. "She is very unhappy. Let us go in, and see if we can comfort her."

 

But Katy held back.

 

"Who is hurting mama?" she asked.

 

"Not any one," he replied. "She is hurting herself, I think. Come, Katy! Come and see if you can comfort mama."

 

He led the reluctant child into the house immediately there was a violent scream. Ursula and I went to the open window, and looked in. The unhappy woman, on beholding her child, had covered her face with her hands, and was screaming with great violence:

 

"Oh! my child—my child—my child! My little innocent Katy! Has that fiend been able to decoy my child to her destruction?"

 

She was on her knees, wringing her hands, and swaying her form backward and forward; her black hair was hanging around her in dishevelled masses; her pallid features expressed horror and despair. Katy ran up to her mother, opened her pinafore, and cried gleefully:

 

"Mama—mama: des look at 'ese 'ittle tittens! See, mama. See my 'ittle tittens!"

 

The act was so perfectly natural and childlike that the mother was taken by surprise. She dropped her hands from her eyes, and stared at the little girl wonderingly. Such a vision of innocent beauty never was and never could be an inhabitant of hell. The little creature held up one of the kittens, and placed it on her mother's hand.

 

"O mama—mama! it 's pitty, pitty! an', see my wreaf, mama. Ole Ponto made it for me."

 

She pulled the wreath from her head, and hung it on her mother's arm, over the hand which held the little kitten. That mother, there on her knees; the little child standing in front of her, her cherubic face wreathed in innocent smiles; the little bright-eyed kitten on the woman's extended hand; the wreaths of white blossoms hanging on her arm, made a picture I shall never forget. The woman glanced toward the window where Ursula and myself were looking in upon her. She rose slowly to her feet. Ursula smiled sweetly as she said:

 

"Pardon us, madam; but we have brought your baby to you, thinking you might wish to see her; we also assure you that we are not denizens of hell or in league with satan; in fact, we are not acquainted with his majesty at all, and have never seen him, although, one of us, at least, has been in this life many months. We have had your child in our keeping since she came here, and I think you will agree with us that she is none the worse for our care. We have also been taught, since coming to this life, that God helps those who help themselves; and if you wish God to save you from hell, you had best commence by saving yourself, taking care of your own child, trying to make your husband happy, and humbly asking old Ponto's forgiveness, whom you caused to be whipped to death. Instead of going on your knees to an imaginary personal God, you had better go on your knees to one of his children whom you have most shamefully abused. We advise these methods, for they are the only ones whereby you will be able to climb into heaven. The heaven and the God, madam, are within yourself, if you so will it, or you can make a hell there whose flames will scorch your own soul."

 

The woman stood a picture of guilt and amazement. At last she stammered:

 

"Who—who are you? Perhaps God has commissioned you to accompany me to his blest abode?"

 

"Well," replied Ursula, "I have not seen a personal God any more than I have a personal devil, and I have been in this land for some time; but the God within my soul commissions me to enlighten the ignorant, teach truth instead of error, and work for the good of souls, wherever I find them: in this way, I gain a little more of heaven each hour; but one might go on, as you have been doing, for ever, and accomplish nothing toward getting into heaven, but gradually sink deeper and deeper into hell. Come forth, madam, and look about you! Heaven may lie all around a fool, or a blind person, and they not know it. Take your little child by the hand; come forth, and open the eyes of your understanding that you may see, and the ears of your hearing that you may hear. Love and wisdom, beauty and heaven, lie all around you: you have but to put forth your hand, pluck and eat. God is wisdom! God is love! God is beauty and majesty! The God within me has commissioned me, as you said, to lead you into heaven; to open your eyes and your ears. Become as your own little child. Let her instruct you in wisdom's ways; for one who wishes to gain heaven must first become like a little child, who finds its heaven in natural objects, as your own little one does with kittens and flowers, riding on the backs of docile animals, and making a heaven with innocent smiles and gleeful laughter; loving that which is lovable, and growing, day by day, more heavenly and beautiful."

 

The woman still stood looking wildly at Ursula

 

"You cannot mean to tell me," she at last said, "that there is no God, no heaven, no hell; nothing but this place which looks so much like the earth that one can hardly tell the difference; where there are animals, negroes, and nobody can tell what other things besides?"

 

"I did not say there was no God," replied Ursula; "on the contrary, I mean to say that God is all things which are or were or ever shall be. We, here, recognize a God so grand, majestic and perfect, that it requires immensity to hold Him; although, we do not recognize a him alone as God, but a God so perfect that the male and female are one and indivisible, equally balanced and co-existent; but if you expect to see a small heaven for a select few and a personal male God seated on a throne, then my answer is: there is no such God: there is no such heaven. You ask me if there is no hell, and my reply is: yes, there is a hell, and you are at present within one of its compartments; or, a portion of it is within yourself, and we invite you to come out of hell. Nothing obliges you to remain there. You ask if you are to live in the same place with animals, negroes, and no one can tell what besides. Our reply is: that the animals won't hurt you, the negro won't whip you to death, nor even whip you at all; but if he were to do so, it would be no more than you deserve, and if the soul of the negro was not in a higher heaven than your own, he would whip and torture you. Your former slave is far better than yourself, more acceptable to God and heaven."

 

The woman dropped the wreath and the kitten. Katy quickly picked them up; again placing the wreath on her little head she ran out on the veranda, and commenced to romp with the kittens; presently two or three little dogs joined in the play.

 

"Madam," said Ursula; "we are about to take some lunch. Will you come forth and join us."

 

"Miss," replied the woman; "you have talked to me in the most impertinent manner. I do not believe that you are all that you should be. My associations have always been of he best. I doubt if you are a proper person to sit at table with."

 

"Very well," answered Ursula; "then you shall take your lunch by yourself; but, pray) come out and see what a nice lunch Ponto has prepared for you."

 

The foolish woman could not yet forget her former dignity. She began to arrange her dress, and assumed a commanding air, then she gracefully swept out to the veranda. Her husband, as we shall still call him, had already seated himself at the little table, which was spread for four. In the center stood a large, silver fruit dish, heaped with the grapes and fruit that Ponto had gathered, "down by de riber Jerden," as he said. She took her seat at the table, gave her husband a haughty glance, and then swept her eyes superciliously over the rest of the company.

 

"O, please, Miss Suly, jes' yo' take dis seat, and the stranger lady de odder one. Ponto jes' done break his ole heart ef yo' doan eat some ob de grapes an' de peaches an' plums. Dis ole nigga gader urn fo yo', sure."

 

"Yes; kindly sit at the table with us," entreated the gentleman. Katherine, do treat our guests with politeness," he continued, turning to his wife.

 

Ursula complied, and took one of the vacant seats, whilst I took the other. Ponto brought sparkling water from the well, in a pitcher, and filled our goblets; the gentleman heaped our plates with the delicious fruit and grapes. Mrs. Evans raised a grape to her lips, but immediately put it down without tasting it. The expression of her face grew dark and ominous as a thunder-cloud. She gave Ursula a threatening glance.

 

"I care little for what you have said," she remarked. "An emissary of satan can put on a very attractive appearance when endeavoring to lead souls astray: I see through all your wiles! No doubt you were a very bad girl before you came to his life, but being quite good looking, satan thinks you will be able to do him good service. But, you shall never get the best of me! I promise you that! And as for this seeming fruit, I will not touch it! I am certain that, if I were to do so, it would give you more power over me. Any person who will tell me to my face that there is no God and no heaven, must be an extremely wicked, bad character: and I wonder that you, who look so much like a lady, should be found in the company of one who in the most blasphemous and awful manner denies both God and the Saviour," she continued, turning to me.

 

Until now I had not spoken. I must own that I felt timid, and afraid of this strong, positive-minded woman. I had not been in this life long enough to have much strength of purpose, except that of loving and being with my children. I had not as yet much heavenly wisdom. I glanced at Ursula entreatingly, and then looked at Mrs. Evans deprecatingly.

 

"I have but lately arrived in this world," I said, at last, "and this young lady is the teacher of my two little girls, one a mere babe, the other but a little creature. I also found your little Katy in her care, besides other small children, and all the surroundings of their home so exquisitely beautiful, that I cannot associate her, or anything that I have* seen here, with satan or his emissaries; and, as I cannot think my own little darling's are destined for hell, knowing as I do that they never committed sin, it is not reasonable to think that a, young lady, who was not pure and good, should be given the charge of these little innocents. Certainly, if there were a personal God, he would not allow sweet little babes, like yours and mine, to be given into the care of one of satan's emissaries. No, madam: I am sure that Miss Ursula is as good as she is beautiful. My own dear sister not only fetched me hither, but left me to stay, with my children and the young lady, as long as I liked: and, really, madam, I am constrained to accept things as I find them. I was born and bred a Catholic, and it was quite hard for me, at first, to give up my preconceived ideas.—I really did think, for awhile, that I was in purgatory, but I have already paid a visit to earth, and my husband and children there. As this world is not at all like what I thought purgatory to be, surely, one can not be blamed for accepting things as one finds them."

 

"Well," said she, "whatever you may think, I shall still hold to my own opinions, and the teachings of the holy church of God. I have heard that the devil can cast a mirage before people's eyes, and make them think they see that which is not, and am certain that this is what he is doing in your case and my own.

 

They are not really our children which we see, but some little satanic imps made to look like our little ones, that our souls may be misled, and more easily dragged down to hell. As for me, I will not again look upon that little imp resembling my Katy, who must be in heaven, swinging her little harp before the throne of God. Madam, you and I are being deceived by illusions, be sure of that; and, now I think of it, that little imp they call my Katy, has on a blue, silken gown, or something that looks like it. Certainly, angels do not wear silk frocks. O madam! we are being cruelly deceived!"

 

Ursula called to Katy: "Come here, darling!" And the little one came dancing toward her with curls flying in the sweet air, her small face aglow with happiness, one of the little kittens perched on her shoulder.

 

"We will let the kittens go now, Katy," said Ursula. "Come with me a moment," and she led the happy child into the house: presently, they returned. Katy's dress was changed. She now wore a long white robe, somewhat like a night-dress; her pearl ornaments had been taken off, her little feet were bare; she looked as though just ready for bed, although it was yet broad day. Ursula led the child with one hand, and in the other she carried a little chair. She placed, the chair a short distance from where we were seated at the table, then, returning into the house, she fetched out a little harp. Placing Katy in the chair, she put the harp within her hands.

 

"Now, baby," she said, with a sweet smile;

 

Ursula wants you to sit there for a long, long time, and play the most exquisitely perfect music on the little harp; and, dearest, you must sing, all the while you are playing, praises to God."

 

Katy looked at Ursula wonderingly, then at the harp with greater wonder still; she picked at the strings in a playful way with her little, chubby fingers. Twing! twang! twing! The sound pleased the child, and for two or three minutes she twinged, twanged away, rocking herself backward and forward in the little chair. She picked the strings at random, without any method whatever.

 

"Oh," said Ursula, "you must play perfect and heavenly music, and sing at the same time."

 

Dess me don't want to any more. Me raver do play," and she threw the harp down.

 

"O, my darling! pick up the harp," said Ursula. "You want to please your mama; don't you, Katy? your mama, who has just come here to live with you? and, darling, she does not think your blue silk frock pretty or suitable. She thinks it better for you to wear that long white robe. Baby, in order to please mama, you must sit there and play that little harp for evermore. That is the only way to please her, and her particular kind of God."

 

Katy picked up the harp, for she had been accustomed to obey her gentle teacher for love alone, and stared at Ursula with round wondering eyes: presently two great tears rolled down the chubby little cheeks.

 

"Me tant play no more," she said, with a sob. "Me tant sin' eiver. Me don't know how to sin'. Dod don't want 'ittle dirls to sin when dey tant. I 's tired. Me wants to dit up out'en dis chair, an' do play wif my 'ittle tittens."

 

She threw the harp as far from her as her slight strength would allow.