And while the hymn was being sung, Uncle Daniel had his wish of “monahs ’pun top er monahs,” for the benches and aisles immediately around the altar were soon crowded with the weeping negroes. Some were crying, some shouting Glory! some praying aloud, some exhorting the sinners, some comforting the mourners, some shrieking and screaming, and, above all the din and confusion, Uncle Daniel could be heard halloing, at the top of his voice, “Dem s’ords an’ dem famines!” After nearly an hour of this intense excitement, the congregation was dismissed, one of them, at least, more dead than alive; for “Aunt Ceely,” who had long been known as “er pow’ful sinful ooman,” had fallen into a trance, whether real or assumed must be determined by wiser heads than mine; for it was no uncommon occurrence for those “seekin’ ’ligion” to lie in a state of unconsciousness for several hours, and, on their return to consciousness, to relate the most wonderful experiences of what had happened to them while in the trance. Aunt Ceely lay as if she were dead, and two of the Christian men (for no sinner must touch her at this critical period) bore her to her cabin, followed by the “chu’ch membahs,” who would continue their singing and praying until she “come thu,” even if the trance should last all night. The children returned to the house without Mammy, for she was with the procession which had followed Aunt Ceely; and as they reached the yard, they met their father returning from the lot.
“Papa,” called Dumps, “we’re goin’ ter have awful troubles hyear.”
“How, my little daughter?” asked her father.
“The Lord’s goin’ ter sen’ s’ords an’ famines, an’ they’ll eat up all the young men, an’ ev’ybody’s sons an’ daughters,” she replied, earnestly. “Uncle Dan’s said so in meetin’; an’ all the folks was screamin’ an’ shoutin’, an’ Aunt Ceely is in a trance ’bout it, an’ she ain’t come thu yet.”
Major Waldron was annoyed that his children should have witnessed any such scene, for they were all very much excited and frightened at the fearful fate that they felt was approaching them; so he took them into his library, and explained the meaning of the terms “swords and famines,” and read to them the whole chapter, explaining how the prophet referred only to the calamities that should befall the Hebrews; but, notwithstanding all that, the children were uneasy, and made Aunt Milly sit by the bedside until they went to sleep, to keep the “swords and the famines” from getting them.
CHAPTER XIV
DIDDIE AND DUMPS GO VISITING
It was some time in June that, the weather being fine, Mammy gave the children permission to go down to the woods beyond the gin-house and have a picnic.
They had a nice lunch put up in their little baskets, and started off in high glee, taking with them Cherubim and Seraphim and the doll babies. They were not to stay all day, only till dinner-time; so they had no time to lose, but set to playing at once.
First, it was “ladies come to see,” and each of them had a house under the shade of a tree, and spent most of the time visiting and in taking care of their respective families. Dumps had started out with Cherubim for her little boy; but he proved so refractory, and kept her so busy catching him, that she decided to play he was the yard dog, and content herself with the dolls for her children. Riar, too, had some trouble in her family; in passing through the yard, she had inveigled Hester’s little two-year-old son to go with them, and now was desirous of claiming him as her son and heir—a position which he filled very contentedly until Diddie became ambitious of living in more style than her neighbors, and offered Pip (Hester’s baby) the position of dining-room servant in her establishment; and he, lured off by the prospect of playing with the little cups and saucers, deserted Riar for Diddie. This produced a little coolness, but gradually it wore off, and the visiting between the parties was resumed.
After “ladies come to see” had lost its novelty, they made little leaf-boats, and sailed them in the ditch. Then they played “hide the switch,” and at last concluded to try a game of hide-and-seek. This afforded considerable amusement, so they kept it up some time; and once, when it became Dumps’s time to hide, she ran away to the gin-house, and got into the pick-room. And while she was standing there all by herself in the dark, she thought she heard somebody breathing. This frightened her very much, and she had just opened the door to get out, when a negro man crawled from under a pile of dirty cotton, and said,