with the rest of us. I am to take the word to him when I go to see Mr.
Brooks. She has seen the ravages of cholera before. There is nothing to
do but to be careful about diet, keep cheerful, and surrender to no
fears. I am not in the least alarmed. But the negroes are panic
stricken. They are calling upon the Lamb to save them. They are singing
and wailing. They are congregating at the hut of Aunt Leah, an aged
negress, who is sanctified and gifted with supernatural power. Zoe is
not in fear, and Sarah goes about the duties of the day with calm
unconcern.

I am off to see Mr. Brooks again. The streets are almost deserted. The
faces of those I meet are white and drawn. Mr. Brooks acts as if his
mind is stretched out of him in apprehension. Yet he is in his office
ready to pick up what business may come his way; and he is waiting to
see me.

I tell Mr. Brooks at once that I want to divide the property equally
with Zoe. He thinks, evidently, that I have weakened before the mere
prospect of a contest; and he assures me that the estate can be settled
as my father intended. Well, but can this plan of mine be carried out?
As easily as the other, he says, and of course more bindingly if there
can be a difference. For he had intended to have the court decree a sale
of the property and divide the money under the sanction of the court.
But according to my plan Zoe could get no more; and therefore no one
could object to it.

I am curious about my father. What is the danger of a contest, even if
Zoe could be brought to make one? Mr. Brooks tells me that my father was
drinking heavily toward the last; that he looked aged and worn. His hair
had turned white, though he was only forty. He acted like a man who had