out on de porch to see us off, callin' out 'Good bye! good bye! When yo' comin' home?' Den ole miss answer, 'In a day or two.' Yo' see didn't nobody think in dem days dat de war wuz gwine lass mo' dan a week or so."

Mammy paused to shake her head significantly.

"How old were you then, Mammy?" inquired the interested listener.

"How ole wuz I?" Mammy repeated, "I can't tell yo' zackly, kaze I had been a nuss right along ever since I wuz took frum de quarter, but I reckon I wuz jes turnin' 'roun' de corner somewhare kaze little Miss Carline had jes been excessful in cuttin' her las' tooth. Dat chile certainly had a hard time subjugatin' dem great mole teeth, an' de las' big grinder had jes submurged frum de gum when we started fur de

war.

"It was sich a hot, sulky day, an' we wuz so long gittin' dyah dat de sun wuz sinkin' in de fermament, when a loud noise 'woke me an' little Miss Carline, an' I seed dat we had done stopped, an' ole Miss wuz leanin' out de winder talkin' to a solger, an' dayh wan' nuthin' but solgers everywhere. Some wuz racin' dyah horses up an' down, yethers wuz runnin' an' hollowin' an' some wuz on de grown'.

"I hyrd dem tell Uncle Abram dat he couldn't go no further kaze we wuz already on de overskirts uv de battle fiel' an' da tole miss dat ole marster wuz way off yonder somewhere. Den ole miss got out de kerrige an' tole Uncle Abram dat she wuz gwine look fur him, an' fur him to stay dyah till she got back."

"When me an' little Miss Carline got tired uv sittin' still we got out. I wuz standin' dyah holdin' dat chile, when I hyrd somebody callin', an' a little way off I seed a solger on de groun', settin' half up an' half down, an' he wuz beckonin' to me. When I went to him he sade, 'Help me up an' gim me my rifle.' I put little Miss Carline down, an' wuz gwine lif' him. up when he fell back, an' I saw wildness in his eyes. Jes den a pack uv solgers come by runnin' 'long side uv

a wagon an' shoutin', 'Clear de way! Clear de way!' An' da picked him up an' put him in wid de yethers, an' da ax me what I wuz doin' dyah an' when I sade I wuz watin' fur de battle to decease, one called out dat de battle

wuz over.

"I wuz awful skeered kaze de way wuz blocked up an' I couldn't see no kerrige, an' when I tried to git back da mos' run over me an' sade, 'Git out de way, 'oman! What yo' doin' heah?' Den I went way out on de edge an' sot down on a log. It wuz gittin' dusky an' little Miss Carline gin to cry kaze she wuz hongry. I thanked de Lord dat he had put it in my mine to tuck a biscuit in my pocket 'fo' I got out de kerrige, an' she munched on dat till she went to sleep. I wuz feared to put her down kaze I sade to myself, yo' done los' everything else an' yo' better hole on to de chile. So I laid her 'cross my lap, an' wuz jes' goin' off in a snatch sleep myself when I hyrd a moan, like somebody wuz in trouble. When it kept continuin', I got up an' followed de soun', pickin' my way by de dade bodies till I foun' a man on de groun' moanin' an' axin' fur water. ain't got none, I tole him, but may be I ken fine some. I searched de canteens layin' 'roun' an' foun' one an' fotched it to him. Presently he whispered, 'I is better now, an' I must go.' And he tried to git up. I seed dat his strength wuz mos' gone, an' I tole him dat he wuz too weak to move an' mus' keep still, but he kept sayin' he mus' git up or de battle would be los'. I tole him dis battle is over, an' de battle uv life is mos' over, too, an' yo' ain't got much time 'lowed yo' now to make yo' peace wid yo' Maker, yo' mus' qualify yo' mine to pray, an' I gwine pray wid yo'. He wouldn't heah nothin' I had to say, an' got mad, an' sade, 'Help me up, don' yo, know I is on my way to de front? Yo' is on yo' way to heaven, I tole him, pray dat yo' may enter in at de strait gate. He didn't 'pear to listen, but tried to git up, an' reached 'roun' wid his han's to fine suthin', but he couldn't do nuthin', an' fell back heavy. When I looked

"All dis time another one wuz moanin' an axin' fur water, too, an' when I lifted him up to give him some I saw de light uv heaven in his face, fur de moon wuz shinin' jes' like day. He tried to speak, but he couldn't. I laid little Miss Carline down on de groun' an' smoothed de hair frum his wet forehead, an' rubbed his han's an' tried to 'courage him, kaze he wan' nuthin' but a boy. Den I sade to him, Yo' is gwine home, honey, yo' is mos' dyah an' de angels is beckenin' yo' to come. Dyah ain't nuthin' to be feared uv fur de great Shepherd is allurs watchin' over de lambs, an' yo' po' chile ain't nuthin' but a lamb. Dis kine Shepherd is gwine to take yo' in his arms an' bear yo' safe into de promised lan'. At fus' he looked frightened, but when I continued to talk an' pray he got qualified. He didn't try to talk no mo', but lay still while I wuz singin':

"Swing low sweet chariot An' carry me home.'

"I didn't heah nuthin' till suthin' shook me hard, an' ax, 'Who is dis?' It's me, I answer de man, an' dis is little Miss Carline.

""What yo' doin' heah, 'oman? Yo' ain't no charity sister.'

"I don't keer if I ain't, I answer. I'm a sister in Christ an' I been helpin' dese po' souls to fine de heavenly road. Dis heah one done jes' pass through de golden gate. I mos' hyrd de angels singin' when da seed him comin'.

"Yo better git out de way,' he 'clare, 'de ambulance is comin', an' we is in a hurry.'

"I took up little Miss Carline an' comed away. I climbed up a long hill. to some trees an' laid her down. When I looked down on de battle field I saw dat it wuz all dark, de moon had gone in mournin' under a dense black cloud, jes' like it were a human creater.

"Den I sade to myself, De Lord is our light in darkness, he ain't neither slumberin' nor sleepin', but jes' watchin', yes, he is watchin' over dis suffer

watch over me an' little Miss Carline, too, bless his holy name. Den I laid down. When I woke up de sun wuz shinin' an' little Miss Carline wuz cryin'. De reason wuz dat she were hongry, an' I didn't have a mouffull to give her to eat. I wuz hongry too, kaze I didn't have no supper. I tried to qualify de chile as I toted her down de hill. Done yo' cry, honey, I tole her, don' yo cry no' mo, kaze Mammy gwine git yo' suthin' to eat right away; but I didn't see nuthin', things wuz all heaped about, an' dyah wan' nuthin' roun' but silence. I walked on an' on, over broken swords an' guns an' hats an' coats an' all sorts uv things, till I got to a clear place. Den I put little Miss Carline down an let her walk kaze she wuz very heavy fur a small light chile, an' we went on' an on, keepin' to de overskirts uv de field. When de chile cried ag'in I took her up an' kep' sayin', Yo' gwine have suthin' to eat soon, honey, deed yo' is; but I didn't know what to do 'ceptin' to keep on prayin' to de Lord to help me.

"By dis time I noticed dat we wuz followin' cart tracks an' dat my prayer wuz answered, fur right dyah befo' me on de groun' wuz a piece uv brade. I made little Miss Carline kneel down wid me an' give thanks to the great Giver, an' we bof ate some an' I put some in my pocket fur de chile in case we didn't git nowhere nor fine no mo'.

"Bime-by we comed to a real road, an' den I gived right out an' set down. wid de chile sleep on my lap. I knowd dat de Lord had fetched me heah an' dat He wan' one uv dem kine dat gits tired uv helpin' yo', an' passes over on de yether side, an' I wuz still trustin' in Him when my hade got so heavy dat it wouldn't stan' up no mo' but fell down on my ches'! I don't know how long it were when I hyrd a big rumbling noise, an' dyah come a man drivin' a wagon. I axed him to stop an' tole him 'bout me an' little Miss Carline gittin' los'. He wuz a kine man an' sade he could take us mos' to our do', kaze he knowd where it were, but dat all dat part uv de country had

been 'bolished. De reason why wuz dat when de battle wuz ceased, de vanquished enemy sliped 'round' de corner when wan' nobody noticin', an' got intermixed behin', an' in dat way strayed mos' everywhere stealin' an' 'stroyin'. I wuz so upset 'bout gittin' home dat I didn't take in de significence uv what he sade. When he tole us we wuz dyah an' put us out de wagon I couldn't help sayin' to de chile, though she wuz 'sleep: 'What yo' 'spose dat triflin' no count man done lef all we heah fur? Dat house I see ain't my home wid one chimbly an' piece uv de roof gone, an' de fence all layin' low wid jes' two big marble posses standin', an' where is all dem lovely flowers an scrubs gone?'

"While I wuz standin' dyah cultivatin' my mine to fine out where I actually were, Miss 'Lizabeth come a runnin' out de house an' snatched little Miss Carline frum me an' run back callin' to me to come, too. When I got in de house da wuz all 'joicing over little Miss Carline an' holdin' a salutation as to what wuz bes' to be done, kaze da sade dat ole miss had hardly got back home an' in de house when a bom shell struck de house an' de whole place wuz run over by de palitia, an' though da didn't tech nuthin' in de house ner hurt nobody, ole miss wuz so overcome by it an' likewise by de losin' uv me an' little Miss Carline dat she wuz ragin' in her bade an' didn't know herself nor nobody else. At las' da 'cided dat it might instigate her mine if da took me an' little Miss Carline in to see her, but she didn't recognize dat innocent chile nor me no mo' den if we had been angels frum heaven."

Here Mammy paused to yawn. She was evidently getting tired, for when she spoke again she said,

"Now I mus' drap de subjec' right heah; I done promise Miss Carline dat I wan' gwine drag dem dark days to de light no mo' an' I done stop thinkin' 'bout it 'cusin' when it will ooze up in my mine an' I 'members how dat pallace uv a place down ole home wuz reduced til dyah wan' nuthin' much lef' but de bare house, kaze de bullets

come down upon it same as hail frum a thunder storm, an' added to dat when we digged up de boxes uv lace curtains an' velvich hangin's an' all de bes' close, dyah wan' nuthin' dyah but a heap uv mildew an' rus', even de chillun's dolls an' yether playthings all had vanquished into suthin' else."

"But, Mammy," pleaded the interested listener, who was not satisfied with such an abrupt conclusion, "tell me first, did ole miss die? and was she . very old?"

"My ole miss ole? Deed she wan', but she wuz a mighty sagacious 'oman, she raised 'leven growed-up chillun mostly boys an' girls an' Miss Carline is jes' like her, 'scusin' our las' chillun which is twinzes; howsomever, da is jes' de same like de yether. What I is been talkin' to yo' 'bout wuz de fus outbreak uv de war, an' we lived through many a ragin' battle 'fo' it wuz subdued. I wan' ole den, not till I turned 'roun' de corner, neither wuz ole miss, but we wuz bleged to give her dat epitaph kaze dah wuz so many yethers both sons an' daughters, likewise ole marster, who had to be signified. In dem days it wan' 'lowed no colored people to call no white chile, not even a infunt in arms, bedout an attachment to dyah names, jes like I been tellin' yo' 'bout little Miss Carline when she wan' nuthin' but a infunt, an' she has been miss up to dis day. No indeed! my ole miss ain't dade, an' if she ain't young as she once wuz, she is standin' up down ole home as straight as an arrow wid her hade up in de air de same as if she wuz a queen, 'deed she is, an' she ain't gwine take it down nuther; but de time ain't 'lowed me to say no mo' to-day. is welcome, an' some yether time when I ain't busy, like I is now, I gwine tell yo' de res'."

Yo'

Mammy watched the retreating figure, then suddenly roused herself, as she said:

"Dyah, now! I sade so; I mus' git up an' bustle 'round' kaze I heahs Miss Carline comin' now."

(To be continued)

W

HY is it, I wonder, that so many amateur photographers lay aside their cameras with the advent of cold weather and never take them up again until the winter season has passed. Is it that they fear the cold or that they really think that there is nothing out of doors, in the winter time, worth the trouble of photographing? If the latter is the reason, then are they most wofully mistaken in their ideas and must be devoid of all sense of the beautiful in nature, for really the winter season offers better opportunities for truly beautiful landscape photographs than does the summer time, and this is particularly true when the snow is lying deepest upon the ground. Unfortunately our cameras cannot be made to photograph the winter the winter winds that sough drearily through the pines or whistle about the eaves of our country houses. Those winds that are a part of winter, that seem to penetrate even the stoutest overcoat and cause our ears and fingers to tingle, making us glad of the opportunity of sitting close to an open fireplace and equally disgusted when necessity calls us out of doors. They can, however, be made to reproduce the conditions of a wintry landscape so faithfully that we can, with the aid of but a very little imagination, almost feel the cold and desolateness when we look at the picture.

But all winter scenes are not dreary or desolate, by any means, although those that contain a note of unresponsive coldness and cheerlessness are the ones that show us most truly the spirit of winter and, to me, those pictures that sound this note the strongest are the ones that appeal most, as,

on the other hand, do those summer scenes that accentuate the cheerful warmth of that season.

Winter is not altogether the dreary season that many suppose, and those who wish for an opportunity to take photographs can find just as great a wealth of material at this time of the year as at any other, but not by staying indoors and looking at the outside world only through a window.

Winter, however, is hardly the time. for experimenting afield, for numbed fingers and ice-cold feet are hardly conducive to artistic feeling. I, therefore, should advise anyone who wishes to attempt winter photography to know the picture he wishes to take and just where and how he is going to obtain it before starting out. It will save many wasted plates and much wear and tear on one's patience. Do not go out on an exploring expedition with your camera, when the mercury is ranging around the freezing point, in the hopes of finding some scene worthy of being immortalized. If you do you will, in all probability, return with just as many unexposed plates as you started out with, or if, in desperation, you make some exposures, the resulting negatives will, doubtless, prove practically worthless. Much better to be always on the lookout for promising material and when such is found it is an easy matter to return to it when the conditions are such as to give the best results.

Remember that there are many things that go to make an artistic production. Composition alone does not make it, but the masses of light and shade and the atmospheric conditions must all be taken into consideration. The snow and the sun are two