one morning as she came forth from her tent she saw a brace of fine
partridges hanging from the arrow. Once more excitement spread
throughout the camp, and again various conjectures were heard as to the
presence of the partridges. The birds were carefully examined, and
several small pieces of lead were found in their bodies. Jean showed
these to Mammy in her effort to convince the superstitious servant that
the devil had nothing to do with it.

"Why, these birds were shot, Mammy," she explained. "Some one with a
gun did it, and brought them to us."

"Ah, Missie Jean," and the old woman raised a warning finger, "de
debbil knows eberyt'ing. He kin use a gun when he wants to, an' he kin
make men do his nasty work. Didn't he put it into de heart of ol'
Judas Scariot to betray de good Lo'd? An' mark my word, dat's jes what
he's doin' now. He's up to some trick."

"But why would he be so friendly, Mammy? He's helping us instead of
trying to do us harm."

"Doan ye know yo' Bible, chile? Doesn't it say in de Good Book dat de
debbil comes to folks as an angel of light, an' makes 'em b'lieve dat
he's friendly an' good? No, ye kin nebber trust de debbil. He's got
somet'ing up his sleeve, an' doan yo' fo'git it."

Jean merely smiled at the woman's fears, knowing how useless it was to
reason any further. She was satisfied in her own mind where the birds
had come from, and the thought brought a thrill to her heart. This was
intensified several days later when two wild ducks were found one
morning suspended from the arrow.