REPEATED WORD FOR WORD AS 1 

 HEARD IT. 



IT was summer time, and twilight. 

 We were sitting on the porch of 

 the farm-house, on the summit 

 of the hill, and "Aunt Rachel" was 

 sitting respectfully below our level, 

 on the steps,. — for she was pur ser- 

 vant, and colored. She was of 

 mighty frame and stature; she was 

 sixty years old, but her eye was un- 

 dimmed and her strength unabated. 

 She was a cheerful, hearty soul, and 

 it was no more trouble for her to 

 laugh than it is for a bird to sing. 

 She was under fire, now, as usual 

 when the day was done. That is to 

 say, she was being chaffed without 

 mercy, and was enjoying it. She 

 would let off peal after peal of laugh- 

 ter, and then sit with her face in her 

 hands and shake with throes of en- 

 joyment which she could no longer 



get breath enough to express. At such a moment as this a thought occurred 



to me, and I said : 



"Aunt Rachel, how is it that you've lived sixty years and never had any 



trouble?" 



She stopped quaking. She paused, and there was a moment of silence. 



