towards becoming land owners. He attended their political meetings, not
to array class against class, nor to inflame the passions of either
side. He wanted the vote of the colored people not to express the old
hates and animosities of the plantation, but the new community of
interests arising from freedom.

For awhile the aspect of things looked hopeful. The Reconstruction Act,
by placing the vote in the hands of the colored man, had given him a new
position. There was a lull in Southern violence. It was a great change
from the fetters on his wrist to the ballot in his right hand, and the
uniform testimony of the colored people was, "We are treated better than
we were before."

Some of the rebels indulged in the hope that their former slaves would
vote for them, but they were learning the power of combination, and
having no political past, they were radical by position, and when
Southern State after State rolled up its majorities on the radical side,
then the vials of wrath were poured upon the heads of the colored
people, and the courage and heroism which might have gained them
recognition, perhaps, among heathens, made them more obnoxious here.

Still Louis and Minnie kept on their labors of love; their inner lives
daily growing stronger and broader, for they learned to lean upon a
strength greater than their own; and some of the most beautiful lessons
of faith and trust they had ever learned, they were taught in the lowly
cabins of these newly freed people.

Often would Minnie enter these humble homes and listen patiently to the
old story of wrong and suffering. Sympathizing with their lot, she would
give them counsel and help when needed. When she was leaving they would