I was so frightened that I crept into bed, and pulled the clothes over my head, putting my fingers in my earsI was not then a bit sleepy, at least so I thought, but I must have fallen asleep, for except dreams, I do not remember anything until the morning, when Jonathan woke meI think that it took me an effort and a little time to realize where I was, and that it was Jonathan who was bending over meMy dream was very peculiar, and was almost typical of the way that waking thoughts become merged in, or continued in, dreams I thought that I was asleep, and waiting for Jonathan to come backI was very anxious about him, and I was powerless to act, my feet, and my hands, and my brain were weighted, so that nothing could proceed at the usual paceAnd so I slept uneasily and thoughtThen it began to dawn upon me that the air was heavy, and dank, and coldI put back the clothes from my face, and found, to my surprise, that all was dim aroundThe gaslight which I had left lit for Jonathan, but turned down, came only like a tiny red spark through the fog, which had evidently grown thicker and poured into the roomThen it occurred to me that I had shut the window before I had come to bedI would have got out to make certain on the point, but some leaden lethargy seemed to chain my limbs and even my willI lay still and endured, that was allI closed my eyes, but could still see through my eyelids(It is wonderful what tricks our dreams play us, and how conveniently we can imagine The mist grew thicker and thicker and I could see now how it came in, for I could see it like smoke, or with the white energy of boiling water, pouring in, not through the window, but through the joinings of the doorIt got thicker and thicker, till it seemed as if it became concentrated into a sort of pillar of cloud in the room, through the top of which I could see the light of the gas shining like a red eyeThings began to whirl through my brain just as the cloudy column was now whirling in the room, and through it all came the scriptural words "a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night Was it indeed such spiritual guidance that was coming to me in my sleep? But the pillar was composed of both the day and the night guiding, for the fire was in the red eye, which at the thought got a new fascination for me, till, as I looked, the fire divided, and seemed to shine on me through the fog like two red eyes, such as Lucy told me of in her momentary mental wandering when, on the cliff, the dying sunlight struck the windows of StSuddenly the horror burst upon me that it was thus that Jonathan had seen those awful women growing into reality through the whirling mist in the moonlight, and in my dream I must have fainted, for all became black darknessThe last conscious effort which imagination made was to show me a livid white face bending over me out of the mist I must be careful of such dreams, for they would unseat one's reason if there were too much of themSeward to prescribe something for me which would make me sleep, only that I fear to alarm themSuch a dream at the present time would become woven into their fears for meTonight I shall strive hard to sleep naturallyIf I do not, I shall tomorrow night get them to give me a dose of chloral, that cannot hurt me for once, and it will give me a good night's sleepLast night tired me more than if I had not slept at all 2 October 10 P-Last night I slept, but did not dreamI must have slept soundly, for I was not waked by Jonathan coming to bed, but the sleep has not refreshed me, for today I feel terribly weak and spiritlessI spent all yesterday trying to read, or lying down dozingRenfield asked if he might see mePoor man, he was very gentle, and when I came away he kissed my hand and bade God bless meSome way it affected me muchI am crying when I think of himThis is a new weakness, of which I must be carefulJonathan would be miserable if he knew I had been cryingHe and the others were out till dinner time, and they all came in tiredI did what I could to brighten them up, and I suppose that the effort did me good, for I forgot how tired I wasAfter dinner they sent me to bed, and all went off to smoke together, as they said, but I knew that they wanted to tell each other of what had occurred to each during the shop day

Arrayed in a new calico dress, with clean, white apron, and high, well-starched turban, her black polished face glowing with satisfaction, she lingered, with needless punctiliousness, around the arrangements of the table, merely as an excuse for talking a little to her mistress ?Laws, now! won?t it look natural to him?? she said?Thar,?I set his plate just whar he likes it,round by the fireMas?r George allers wants de warm seatO, go way!?why didn?t Sally get out de best tea-pot,?de little new one, Mas?r George got for Missis, Christmas? I?ll have it out! And Missis has heard from Mas?r George?? she said, inquiringly ?Yes, Chloe; but only a line, just to say he would be home tonight, if he could,?that?s all ?Didn?t say nothin? ?bout my old man, s?pose?? said Chloe, still fidgeting with the tea-cupsHe did not speak of anything, ChloeHe said he would tell all, when he got home ?Jes like Mas?r George,?he?s allers so ferce for tellin? everything hisselfI allers minded dat ar in Mas?r GeorgeDon?t see, for my part, how white people gen?lly can bar to hev to write things much as they do, writin? ?s such slow, oneasy kind o? work ?I?m a thinkin? my old man won?t know de boys and de babyLor?! she?s de biggest gal, now,?good she is, too, and peart, Polly isShe?s out to the house, now, watchin? de hoe-cakeI ?s got jist de very pattern my old man liked so much, a bakin?Jist sich as I gin him the mornin? he was took offLord bless us! how I felt, dat ar morning!? MrsShelby sighed, and felt a heavy weight on her heart, at this allusionShe had felt uneasy, ever since she received her son?s letter, lest something should prove to be hidden behind the veil of silence which he had drawn ?Missis has got dem bills?? said Chloe, anxiously ??Cause I wants to show my old man dem very bills de perfectioner gave me?And,? say he, ?Chloe, I wish you?d stay longer ?Thank you, Mas?r,? says I, ?I would, only my old man?s coming home, and Missis,?she can?t do without me no longer There?s jist what I telled himBerry nice man, dat Mas?r Jones was Chloe had pertinaciously insisted that the very bills in which her wages had been paid should be preserved, to show her husband, in memorial of her capabilityShelby had readily consented to humor her in the request ?He won?t know Polly,?my old man won?tLaws, it?s five year since they tuck him! She was a baby den,?couldn?t but jist standRemember how tickled he used to be, cause she would keep a fallin? over, when she sot out to walkLaws a me!? The rattling of wheels now was heard ?Mas?r George!? said Aunt Chloe, starting to the windowShelby ran to the entry door, and was folded in the arms of her sonAunt Chloe stood anxiously straining her eyes out into the darkness ?O, poor Aunt Chloe!? said George, stopping compassionately, and taking her hard, black hand between both his; ?I?d have given all my fortune to have brought him with me, but he?s gone to a better country There was a passionate exclamation from MrsShelby, but Aunt Chloe said nothing The party entered the supper-roomThe money, of which Chloe was so proud, was still lying on the shop table

?Come!? said she, in a whisper, fixing her black eyes on him?Come along! He?s asleep?soundI put enough into his brandy to keep him soI wish I?d had more,?I shouldn?t have wanted youBut come, the back door is unlocked; there?s an axe there, I put it there,?his room door is open; I?ll show you the way I?d a done it myself, only my arms are so weakCome along!? ?Not for ten thousand worlds, Misse!? said Tom, firmly, stopping and holding her back, as she was pressing forward ?But think of all these poor creatures,? said Cassy?We might set them all free, and go somewhere in the swamps, and find an island, and live by ourselves; I?ve heard of its being doneAny life is better than this ?No!? said Tom, firmly?No! good never comes of wickednessI?d sooner chop my right hand off!? ?Then I shall do it,? said Cassy, turning ?O, Misse Cassy!? said Tom, throwing himself before her, ?for the dear Lord?s sake that died for ye, don?t sell your precious soul to the devil, that way! Nothing but evil will come of itThe Lord hasn?t called us to wrathWe must suffer, and wait his time?Haven?t I waited??waited till my head is dizzy and my heart sick? What has he made me suffer? What has he made hundreds of poor creatures suffer? Isn?t he wringing the life-blood out of you? I?m called on; they call me! His time?s come, and I?ll have his heart?s blood!? ?No, no, no!? said Tom, holding her small hands, which were clenched with spasmodic violence?No, ye poor, lost soul, that ye mustn?t doThe dear, blessed Lord never shed no blood but his own, and that he poured out for us when we was enemiesLord, help us to follow his steps, and love our enemies ?Love!? said Cassy, with a fierce glare; ?love such enemies! It isn?t in flesh and blood ?No, Misse, it isn?t,? said Tom, looking up; ?but He gives it to us, and that?s the victoryWhen we can love and pray over all and through all, the battle?s past, and the victory?s come,?glory be to God!? And, with streaming eyes and choking voice, the black man looked up to heaven And this, oh Africa! latest called of nations,?called to the crown of thorns, the scourge, the bloody sweat, the cross of agony,?this is to be thy victory; by this shalt thou reign with Christ when his kingdom shall come on earth The deep fervor of Tom?s feelings, the softness of his voice, his tears, fell like dew on the wild, unsettled spirit of the poor womanA softness gathered over the lurid fires of her eye; she looked down, and Tom could feel the relaxing muscles of her hands, as she said, ?Didn?t I tell you that evil spirits followed me? O! Father Tom, I can?t pray,?I wish I couldI never have prayed since my children were sold! What you say must be right, I know it must; but when I try to pray, I can only hate and curseI can?t pray!? ?Poor soul!? said Tom, compassionately?Satan desires to have ye, and sift ye as wheatI pray the Lord for yeO! Misse Cassy, turn to the dear Lord JesusHe came to bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort all that mourn Cassy stood silent, while large, heavy tears dropped from her downcast eyes ?Misse Cassy,? said Tom, in a hesitating tone, after surveying her in silence, ?if ye only could get away from here,?if the thing was possible,?I?d ?vise ye and Emmeline to do it; that is, if ye could go without blood-guiltiness,?not otherwise ?Would you try it with us, Father Tom?? ?No,? said Tom; ?time was when I would; but the Lord?s given me a work among these yer poor souls, and I?ll stay with ?em and bear my cross with ?em till the endIt?s different with you; it?s a snare to you,?it?s more?n you can stand,?and you?d better go, if you can ?I know no way but through the grave,? said Cassy?There?s no beast or bird but can find a home some where; even the snakes and the alligators have their places to lie down and be quiet; but there?s no place for usDown in the darkest swamps, their dogs will hunt us out, and find usEverybody and everything is against us; even the very beasts side against us,?and where shall we go?? Tom stood silent; at length he said, ?Him that saved Daniel in the den of lions,?that saves the children in the fiery furnace,?Him that walked on the sea, and bade the winds be still,?He?s alive yet; and I?ve faith to believe he can deliver shop you

In China the heat was even more oppressive than usualLater everyone a greed the unusual heat was a portent of troops and arms, for it was the twenty-sixth year of the Republic (1937)The French liner, the Vicomte de Th-agelonne, was on its way to ChinaSome time after eight in the morning, the third-class deck, still damp from swabbing, was already filled with passengers standing and sitting about-the French, Jewish refugees from Germany, the Indians, the Vietnamese, and needless to say, the ChineseThe ocean breeze carried with it an arid heat; the scorching wind blew dry the bodies of fat people and covered them with a frosty layer of salt congealed with sweat, as though fresh from a bath in the Dead Sea in PalestineStill, it was early morning, and people's high spirits had not yet withered or turned limp under the glare of the sunThey talked and bustled about with great zestThe Frenchmen, newly commissioned to serve as policemen in Vietnam or in the French Concession in China,1 had gathered around and were flirting with a coquettish young Jewish womanBismarck 3 once remarked that what distinguished French ambassadors and ministers was that they couldn't speak a word of any foreign language, but these policemen, although they did not understand any German, managed to get their meaning across well enough to provoke giggles from the Jewish woman, thus proving themselves far superior to their diplomatsThe woman's handsome husband, who was standing nearby, watched with pleasure, since for the last few days he had been enjoying the large quantities of cigarettes, beer, and lemonade that had been coming his way Once the Red Sea was passed, no longer was there fear of the intense heat igniting a fire, so, besides the usual fruit peelings, scraps of paper, bottle caps, and cigarette butts were everywhereThe French are famous for the clarity of their thought and the lucidness of their prose, yet in what 'er they do, they never fail to bring chaos, filth, and hubbub, as witness the mess on board the shipRelying on man's ingenuity and entrusted with his hopes, but loaded with his clutter, the ship sailed along amidst the noise and bustle; each minute it returned one small stretch of water, polluted with the smell of man, back to the indifferent, boundless, and never-ending oceanEach summer as usual a batch of Chinese students were returning home after completing their studies abroad, and about a dozen of them were aboardMost were young people who had not as yet found employment; they were hastening back to China at the start of the summer vacation to have more time to look for jobsThose who had no worries about jobs would wait until the cool autumn before sailing leisurely toward homeAlthough some of those on board had been students in France, the others, who had been studying in England, Germany, and Belgium, had gone to Paris to gain more experience of night life before taking a French ship homeMeeting at a far corner of ti' earth, they became good friends at once, discussing the foreign threats a1~ internal turmoil of their motherland, wishing they could return immediately to serve herThe ship moved ever so slowly, while homesickness welled up in everyone's heart and yearned for releaseThen suddenly, from heaven knows where appeared two sets of mahjong, the Chinese national pastime, said to be popular in America as wellThus, playing mabjong not only had a down- home flavor to it but was also in tune with world trendsAs luck would have it, there were more than enough people to set up two tables of mahjong So, except for eating and sleeping, they spent their entire time gamblingBreak fast was no sooner over than down in the dining room the first round of mah jong was to begin Up on deck were two Chinese women and one toddler, who didn't count as a full person-at least the ship's company did not consider him as one and had not made his parents buy a ticket for himThe younger woman, wearing sunglasses and with a novel spread on her lap, was elegantly dressedHer skin would be considered fair among Orientals, but unfortunately it looked stale and dry; and even though she wore a light lipstick, her lips were a little too thinWhen she removed her sunglasses, she exposed delicate eyes and eye brows, and when she rose from the canvas lounge chair, one could see how slight she wasMoreover, the outline of her figure was perhaps too sharp, as if it had been drawn with a square-nibbed penShe could be twenty-five or twenty-siX, but then the age of modern women is like the birthdates tradi tional women used to list on their marriage cards, whose authentication re quired what the experts call external evidence, since they meant nothing in and by themselvesThe toddler's mother, already in her thirties, was wearing an old black chiffon Chinese dress;3 a face marked by toil and weariness, her slanting downward eyebrows made her look even more miserableHer son, not yet two years old, had a snub nose, two slanted slits for eyes, and eye brows so high up and removed from the eyes that the eyebrows and the eyes must have pined for each other-a living replica of the Chinese face in news paper caricatures The toddler had just learned to walk, and he ran about incessantlyHis mother held him by a leather leash so that he could not run more than three or four steps without getting yanked backBothered by the heat, tired, and irritable from pulling, the mother, whose thoughts were on her husband who was gambling down below, constantly scolded her son for being a nuisanceThe child, restricted in his movements, turned and dashed toward the young woman reading the bookOrdinarily the young woman had a rather con cited, aloof expression, much like that of a neglected guest at a large party or an unmarried maiden at a wedding feastAt that moment her distaste for the child surfaced so much so that not even her sunglasses could hide itSensing J1 that, the child's mother apologetically pulled at the strap and said, "You zi~ughty child disturbing Miss Su! Come back here! How studious you are, Miss Su! You know so much and still you read all the timeSun is always telling me, 'Women students like Miss Su give China a good shop name

?Lor, Pete,? said Mose, triumphantly, ?han?t we got a buster of a breakfast!? at the same time catching at a fragment of the chicken Aunt Chloe gave him a sudden box on the ear?Thar now! crowing over the last breakfast yer poor daddy?s gwine to have to home!? ?O, Chloe!? said Tom, gently ?Wal, I can?t help it,? said Aunt Chloe, hiding her face in her apron; ?I ?s so tossed about it, it makes me act ugly The boys stood quite still, looking first at their father and then at their mother, while the baby, climbing up her clothes, began an imperious, commanding cry ?Thar!? said Aunt Chloe, wiping her eyes and taking up the baby; ?now I?s done, I hope,?now do eat somethingThis yer?s my nicest chickenThar, boys, ye shall have some, poor critturs! Yer mammy?s been cross to yer The boys needed no second invitation, and went in with great zeal for the eatables; and it was well they did so, as otherwise there would have been very little performed to any purpose by the party ?Now,? said Aunt Chloe, bustling about after breakfast, ?I must put up yer clothesJest like as not, he?ll take ?em all awayI know thar ways?mean as dirt, they is! Wal, now, yer flannels for rhumatis is in this corner; so be careful, ?cause there won?t nobody make ye no moreThen here?s yer old shirts, and these yer is new onesI toed off these yer stockings last night, and put de ball in ?em to mend withBut Lor! who?ll ever mend for ye?? and Aunt Chloe, again overcome, laid her head on the box side, and sobbed?To think on ?t! no crittur to do for ye, sick or well! I don?t railly think I ought ter be good now!? The boys, having eaten everything there was on the breakfast-table, began now to take some thought of the case; and, seeing their mother crying, and their father looking very sad, began to whimper and put their hands to their eyesUncle Tom had the baby on his knee, and was letting her enjoy herself to the utmost extent, scratching his face and pulling his hair, and occasionally breaking out into clamorous explosions of delight, evidently arising out of her own internal reflections ?Ay, crow away, poor crittur!? said Aunt Chloe; ye?ll have to come to it, too! ye?ll live to see yer husband sold, or mebbe be sold yerself; and these yer boys, they?s to be sold, I s?pose, too, jest like as not, when dey gets good for somethin?; an?t no use in niggers havin? nothin?!? Here one of the boys called out, ?Thar?s Missis a-comin? in!? ?She can?t do no good; what?s she coming for?? said Aunt ChloeAunt Chloe set a chair for her in a manner decidedly gruff and crustyShe did not seem to notice either the action or the mannerShe looked pale and anxious ?Tom,? she said, ?I come to?? and stopping suddenly, and regarding the silent group, she sat down in the chair, and, covering her face with her handkerchief, began to sob ?Lor, now, Missis, don?t?don?t!? said Aunt Chloe, bursting out in her turn; and for a few moments they all wept in companyAnd in those tears they all shed together, the high and the lowly, melted away all the heart-burnings and anger of the oppressedO, ye who visit the distressed, do ye know that everything your money can buy, given with a cold, averted face, is not worth one honest tear shed in real sympathy? ?My good fellow,? said MrsShelby, ?I can?t give you anything to do you any goodIf I give you money, it will only be taken from youBut I tell you solemnly, and before God, that I will keep trace of you, and bring you back as soon as I can command the money;?and, till then, trust in God!? Here the boys called out that Mas?r Haley was coming, and then an unceremonious kick pushed open the doorHaley stood there in very ill humor, having ridden hard the night before, and being not at all pacified by his ill success in recapturing his prey ?Come,? said he, ?ye nigger, ye?r ready? Servant, ma?am!? said he, taking off his hat, as he saw Mrs Aunt Chloe shut and corded the box, and, getting up, looked gruffly on the trader, her tears seeming suddenly turned to sparks of fire Tom rose up meekly, to follow his new master, and raised up his heavy box on his shoulderHis wife took the baby in her arms to go with him to the wagon, and the children, still crying, trailed on behindShelby, walking up to the trader, detained him for a few moments, talking with him in an earnest manner; and while she was thus talking, the whole family party proceeded to a wagon, that stood ready harnessed at the doorA crowd of all the old and young hands on the place stood gathered around it, to bid farewell to their old associateTom had been looked up to, both as a head servant and a Christian teacher, by all the place, and there was much honest sympathy and grief about him, particularly among the women ?Why, Chloe, you bar it better ?n we do!? said one of the women, who had been weeping freely, noticing the gloomy calmness with which Aunt Chloe stood by the wagon ?I?s done my tears!? she said, looking grimly at the trader, who was coming up?I does not feel to cry ?fore dat ar old limb, no how!? ?Get in!? said Haley to Tom, as he strode through the crowd of servants, who looked at him with lowering brows Tom got in, and Haley, drawing out from under the wagon seat a heavy pair of shackles, made them fast around each shop ankle