I’m a-gwine to keep a-climbin’ high,
See de hebbenly land;
Till I meet dem er angels in a de sky
See de hebbenly lan’.
Dem pooty angels I shall see,
See de hebbenly lan’;
Why don’t de debbil let a-me be,
See de hebbenly lan’.
“Yes, Doctor; these niggers will pray till twelve o’clock at night; break up their meeting and go home shouting and singing, ‘Glory hallelujah!’ and every darned one of them will steal a chicken, turkey, or pig, and cry out ‘Come down, sweet chariot, an’ carry me home to hebben!’ yes, and still continue to sing till they go to sleep. You may give your slaves religion, and I’ll give mine the whip, an’ I’ll bet that I’ll get the most tobacco and hemp out of the same number of hands.”
“I hardly think,” said the Doctor, after listening attentively to his neighbor, “that I can let Ike pass without some punishment. Yet I differ with you in regard to the good effects of religion upon all classes, more especially our negroes, for the African is pre-eminently a religious being; with them, I admit, there is considerable superstition. They have a permanent belief in good and bad luck, ghosts, fortune-telling, and the like; but we whites are not entirely free from such notions.”
At the last sentence or two, the Colonel’s eyes sparkled, and he began to turn pale, for it was well known that he was a firm believer in ghosts and fortune-telling.
“Now, Doctor,” said Col. Lemmy, “every sensible man must admit the fact that ghosts exist, and that there is nothing in the world truer than that the future can be told. Look at Mrs. McWilliams’ lawsuit with Major Todd. She went to old Frank, the nigger fortune-teller, and asked him which lawyer she should employ. The old man gazed at her for a moment or two, and said, ‘missis, you’s got your mind on two lawyers,—a big man and a little man. Ef you takes de big man, you loses de case; ef you takes de little man, you wins de case.’ Sure enough, she had in contemplation the employment of either McGuyer or Darby. The first is a large man; the latter was, as you know, a small man. So, taking the old negro’s advice, she obtained the services of John F. Darby, and gained the suit.”
“Yes,” responded the Doctor, “I have always heard that the Widow McWilliams gained her case by consulting old Frank.”
“Why, Doctor,” continued the Colonel, in an animated manner, “When the races were at St. Louis, three years ago, I went to old Betty, the blind fortune-teller, to see which horse was going to win; and she said, ‘Massa, bet your, money on de gray mare.’ Well, you see, everybody thought that Johnson’s black horse would win, and piles of money was bet on him. However, I bet one hundred dollars on the gray mare, and, to the utter surprise of all, she won. When the race was over, I was asked how I come to bet on the mare, when everybody was putting their funds on the horse. I then told them that I never risked my money on any horse, till I found out which was going to win.
“Now, with regard to ghosts, just let me say to you, Doctor, that I saw the ghost of the peddler that was murdered over on the old road, just as sure as you are born.”
“Do you think so?” asked the Doctor.