*

Mother tells me you are going away," she said, at length, after a silence of considerable duration.

"Yes, I am going," he said.

Then something, I know not whether it was an expression of her face, or what, caused him to move closer to her.

"Are you sorry ?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," she answered, candidly. "Why shouldn't I be!"

Surely, there was nothing uncommon in that question. Wasn't she his friend? Of course, then, she would be sorry.

But something made Dearborn's heart leap. He caught both the hands of the girl in his, and looked into her eyes. They fell before his, and his fell to her hands.

The ring! Where was it? Not there. Not there! What a great wave of hope rolled into Dearborn's heart in that instant!

He caught the girl's gaze again. He kept it. Her face dyed. Her lip quivered. A moment later she burst into tears. Dearborn leaned toward her, and the words that he had never expected to speak found utterance.

"I love you."

If you can tell what made Vic Penrhyn burst into tears you are wiser than I. Love? I think not at least not exactly. Probably that had something to do with it. Wo. man's pride almost invariably sustains her in such cases. I think I will venture a guess. It was the consciousness of Will Dearborn's love. Remember, he had not spoken the words, but consider that her heart did not understand. But when he did speak the words her tears dried, and she released her hands from his grasp. She

even straightened herself up coldly. Still an enigma! Yes, I suppose so!

Most certainly so, unless a woman's heart can read a man's love from his glance, and the next instant her pride make her believe it is not so, though he utters the very words. "Can you, do you love me?" Dearborn murmured.

"I fear, Mr. Dearborn, that pity makes you say all this."

"And wherefore pity?" "Because-because, you leave soon-because you think I love you."

Dearborn looked at her a moment. Her eyes were moistening again. He caught her face between his hands, and drew it down upon his shoulder. An instant later his lips met hers.

"I love you," he murmured once more. "And I love you," he heard her say almost beneath her breath. And love reigned.

Swiftly a-down from the cloud-flecked sky
The crystal rain bells are falling,
Over fragrant valleys and gold-tipped hills,
Where the sweet-voiced rills are calling.
Like fleecy banners the gray fog flies

By the side of the brimming river;
Where the wavelets dance and merrily sing,
As they flow on forever.
Plymouth, N. II., April, 1874.

There's a sound of music under the leaves,

And down in the pearl-strewn meadows; There's a low sweet murmur afloat on the breeze

And golden rifts in the shadows.

There's a scarlet flush in the burnished west,
Where the sunlight's, fainting, dying;
In silver and gold 'gainst the purple sky,
The sun-kissed clouds are lying.

The great tradition of the Ashantees refers to the Creation, and is called by travellers the Legend of the Calabash and the Book. It is of extreme antiquity, and implies a very early conviction of the intellectual inferiority of the black to the white races. They say that in the beginning of the world God created three white and three black men, with an equal number of women of each color. He then resolved, according to the best missionary version of the legend, in order that they might be left without complaint, to allow them to fix their own destiny by giving them the choice of good and evil. A large box or calabash was, in consequence, placed upon the ground, together with a sealed paper or letter. The black men had the first choice, and took the calabash,expecting that it contained all that was desirable; but, upon opening it, they found only a piece of gold, some iron, and several other metals, of which they did not know the use. The white men opened the paper or letter, and it told them everything. All this is supposed to have happened in Africa, in which country, it is believed, God left the blacks, with the choice which their avarice had prompted them to make, under the care of inferior or subordinate deities: but conducted the whites to the water-side, where he communicated with them every night, and taught them to build a small vessel, which carried them to another country, whence after a long period, they returned with various kinds of merchandise to barter with the blacks, whose perverse choice of gold, in preference to the knowledge of letters, had doomed them to inferiority.

and the Prah are favorite fetishes of the Ashantees. Thus, in one of those poetical and Homeric rants which the Ashantee warriors deliver when extolling the power of their king, a chieftain, describing the impossibility of any escape for his enemies, cried, "If they run to the Adirai river it is the king's fetish, and will kill them. They cannot either pass the Tando." The Prah, another of these fetishes, is called Bosumprah, or the sacred river. According to Mr. Beecham, this river gushes from a large gaping rock about half-way up the side of a mountain, near a little town called Samtasu. Here the god is supposed to specially dwell, and show his most potent influences, just as the river gods of the Greeks were worshipped at fountain heads.

It is at such places that the natives offer sacrifices. On the north bank of the Prah, at the ford where it is crossed on the road from Cape Coast Castle, there is a fetish house, where the Ashantee traveller makes oblations to the river god before he dares to plunge into the stream. The Sakum, a small river about four miles westward from Accra, is a great fetish with its inhabitants, who ascribe to it all the blessings they obtain and all the evils they escape. They are always singing its praises, and it is exceedingly dangerous to speak disrespectfully of it anywhere near Accra.

Lakes and pools have also their fetishes. At Coomassie they regard the Lake Echni as the guardian deity of their capital. At Cape Coast Town two ponds, named Papratah and Buakun, are deified, the former especially, as it has so often supplied the Fantee inhabitants with water when besieged by their enemies the Ashantees. Remarkable mountains and rocks are also worshipped by the Ashantees and their neighbors. The cliff on which Cape Coast Castle stands is supposed to be inhabited by a great fetish called Talibil, and when the sea breaks loudly against the foot of it the natives say "the god is firing." Some kinds of trees are also regarded as fetishes, and are always left untouched by the axe, when the ground on which they stand is cleared

The animal creation supplies many fetishes. Leopards, panthers, wolves and serpents, as powers of evil, and hostile to man, are especially venerated, and regarded as messengers and representatives of the gods. At Dix Cove the crocodile obtains divine bonors, as it once did in Egypt. There was formerly one kept in a pond near the fort,. and any traveller was allowed to see it if he would go to the expense of bringing a white fowl and a bottle of spirits. The fetishman went to the pond and called the crocodile by a peculiar noise which he made with his mouth. The crocodile instantly ran to the fetishman, who, when the animal came within two or three feet, threw the fowl into the monster's gaping mouth, and then poured a small libation of rum upon the ground. If there was any delay on the part of the fetishman in throwing the fowl, the crocodile would instantly pursue any person present who was dressed in white, till the fowl was tossed to him.

Some years ago, the fowl having escaped into the bush, the crocodile pursued two European gentlemen who were present, and would have attacked them, had not a dog luckily crossed his path, and fallen a sacrifice to his ferocious hunger. He would frequently carry off sheep and dogs, and attack children in the neighborhood of the pond. The predecessor of this crocodile had grown so tame, that he would leave his pond and visit the houses of the fetishman and the king, to claim his white fowl for dinner.

In Fantee, the country the Ashantees have so long devastated, there is a place called Embrotan, where the inhabitants carefully preserve a number of flies in a small temple, and regard them as a fetish. The Gold Coast people worship rudelycarved idols, with tinsel eyes, and crowns of shells, and also venerate images of birds and beasts, which they smear with red ochre.

Of these fetishes some are tutelar deities of the nation, like the great fetish at Abrah, in the Braffo country. Others protect and favor particular towns. The Cape Coast people, who are peculiarly superstitious, pride themselves on being guarded by seventy-seven fetishes. Every house, indeed, has at least one small temple, built of mud or swish, in round, square or oblong form. These round fetish houses are mere huts of poles tied together at the top, and

then thatched. Like the idolaters of Canaan, the Gold Coast people never build a fetish house without at the same time planting a grove.

Every fetishman or priest, moreover, has his private fetishes in his own house. "William de Graft," says Mr. Beecham, "describes one of those private collections, which he had the opportunity of examining, as consisting of images of men, one of a bird, stones encircled with strings, large lumps of cinders from an iron furnace, calabashes, and bundles of sticks tied together with strings. All these were stained with red ochre, and rubbed over with eggs. They were placed on a square platform, and shrouded by a curtain from the vulgar gaze. Then there are the domestic fetishes, for, like the Romans, the natives have their penates or household gods. These are, in some cases, small images; in others a stone, about a foot square, with a bamboo string tied round it, or a calabash containing a string of beads. And, whatever may be the form or the materials, red ochre and eggs are invariably the covering. These household fetishes are sometimes placed on the outside of a house, by the door, but most frequently in the corner of the room within, covered by a curtain."

The natives, according to the missionaries, do not seem to regard these stones and cinders as gods, but only look at them as consecrated objects which spiritual and intelligent beings sometimes condescend to euter. They also believe that the fetishes frequently render themselves visible to mortals. The great fetish of Cape Coast Castle Rock is said to come forth at night in superhuman size, and dressed in white, to chase away the evil spirits. When M. Dupuis showed the King of Ashantee the moving shadows in the magic lantern, the king took them for fetishes, clutched hold of Dupuis, and was afraid to be left alone with them in the dark. How far the higher notions of the more intelligent Ashantees accord with the materialism of their more degraded countrymen we know not, but the latter certainly consider their fetishes to be of both sexes, and to require food.

The notion of a future state universally prevails. It is believed that after death the soul passes into another world, where it exists in a state of consciousness and activity. They say it is like the wind, and can me into a room when the doors are closed, and

there is no visible entrance. They firmly believe that the spirits of dead persons frequently appear to the living. The Reverend Mr. Thompson, a clergyman who spent some time on the Gold Coast more than a century ago, although evidently not disposed to be over-credulous upon the subject, mentions the following circumstance, which he had from good authority: "A caboceer, walking one day to a neighboring croom or town along the sea-sands, saw a man before him coming forward in great haste, whom he was well acquainted with; and as he drew near, being still intent upon his speed, he called to him to stop a little. The other, making signs that he was in a hurry, ran past him, and continued his pace. When he came to the town, finding a concourse of people in the market-place, he asked the reason of it, and was told that such a man's head had just been taken off. He said it could not be, for he had met him on the way, and spoken to him. But the answer was made that it was so, and if he questioned the truth of it, he might see the parts of him, and be convinced by his own eyes."

The people believe that the spirits of their departed relatives exercise a guardian care over them, and they will frequently," says Mr. Beechain, "stand over the graves of their deceased friends, and invoke their spirits to protect them and their children from harm. It is imagined that the spirit lingers about the house some time after death. If the children be ill, the illness is ascribed to the spirit of the deceased mother having embraced them. Elderly women are often heard to offer a kind of prayer to the spirit of a departed parent, begging it either to go to its rest, or at least to protect the family by keeping off evil spirits, instead of injuring the children or other members of the family by its touch. The ghosts of departed enemies are considered by the people as bad spirits, which have power to injure them. The gloom of the forest is supposed to be the haunt or abode of the evil spirits; and travellers into the interior have mentioned that when overtaken on their journey by the night, their native attendants have manifested great fear, and have made the forest resound again with their shouts and yells, uttered with the intent to drive the evil spirits away."

One of the most degraded beliefs of the Ashantees and Fantees is the notion that

the future world exactly resembles this and that the future life is, in fact, merely the present one over again, with all its sorrows and all its animal wants. This fatal belief leads, on the death of a chief, to the wholesale murder of his wives and attendants, and is productive of ceaseless bloodshed.

The Ashantees and Fantees firmly believe in the existence of the devil, whom they call Abonsum. This evil being is supposed to be ever at hand for purposes of mischief; so when a person rises from his seat, his attendants are accustomed immediately to lie down upon it, to prevent the devil from slipping into their master's place. Whatever may be the case in other parts of Africa, it does not appear that, says Beecham, the devil is worshipped by the Fantees and Ashantees; on the contrary, he is annually driven away on the Gold Coast, with great form and ceremony. This custom is observed at Cape Coast Town, about the end of August. Preparation is made for the ceremony in the course of the day; as the hour of eight o'clock in the evening draws nigh, the people are seen collecting in groups in the streets, armed with sticks, muskets, and other weapons; at the instant when the eight o'clock gun is fired from the castle, a tremendous shouting, accompanied with the firing of muskets, breaks forth from all parts of the town, and the people rush into their houses, and beat about with their sticks in every corner, shouting and hallooing with all their strength. This sudden outburst of all kinds of noises often alarms Europeans who have recently arrived, inducing them to suppose that an enemy has attacked the place. When it is imagined that the devil is excluded from, all the houses, a simultaneous rush is then made out of the town, and the people in a body pursue the invisible enemy, with lighted flambeaux, shouts, and the firing of muskets, until it is concluded that he is completely routed and put to flight. After this achievement they return, and, in some of the towns, the women proceed to wash and purify their wooden and earthen vessels, to prevent the devil from returning to their houses.

To call another "devil" is a very great insult, and should the person who has thus been abused shortly after die, his death is ascribed to the influence of the evil spirit in the person who insulted him. When such a circumstance occurs, painful results

generally follow, for the friends of the deceased do not fail to seek satisfaction.

The Ashantees observe a Sabbatical day, but it is not the same day observed by the neighboring nations. Along the coast, and in Ashantee, the regular fetish day is Tuesday. On this day the people wear white garments, and mark their faces, and sometimes their arms, with white clay. They also rest from labor, believing that, if they went to the plantation, the fetish would send a leopard or panther to punish them.

The fetish men depend upon voluntary contributions and on a share of the offerings made to the deities. These offerings are often considerable, the King of Ashantee generally giving two ounces of gold. The priests also obtain large sums, by surrendering to their masters slaves who have fled for sanctuary to the fetish house. By an old custom any slave can desert his master and devote himself to the service of the fetish, and in Ashantee any master who took his runaway slave from the fetish house would consider the death of his whole family as certain. But the mercenary priests, unwilling to interfere with slavery, and greedy for gold, will surrender a slave on the payment of two ounces of gold and four sheep, and absolve the master from all evil consequences.

The Ashantees firmly believe that all evils that afflict men are produced by supernatural means, and can only be removed by supernatural agency. The fetishes, they say, send misfortunes, and the interposition of the deities must be sought through the medium of the priests, their friends and ministers. To maintain their power the fetish men exert themselves to obtain information of all kinds. They employ spies and agents in various parts of the country, to collect news and family secrets. When a fetishman, on his travels, enters a new town, he will always shut himself up for a few days in religious seelusion, till by secret inquiries he has discovered who is sick, and what is going on among the principal inhabitants. He thus learns to astonish his dupes, and to strengthen his priestly power. The fetishmen work together and supply each other with information. They also study medicine, and their knowledge of herbs and plants tends to increase their repute for wisdom and supernatural power.

The Ashantees are strict in their daily

religious observances. Every morning the master of a household takes water in a calabash, and pours it on the ground before the door of his house, praying to the fetish to wash his face that he may be the better prepared to watch over the household on that day. Sometimes an offering of a fowl is made. When Mr. Dupuis was on his journey to Coomassie, he was aroused from sleep one morning at an early hour, at the place where he had stopped for the night, by the entrance of a man, whom he discovered to be the master of the house, with a present for his tutelary god, which in this case happened to be a tree, growing at the door of the apartment where he (Dupuis) lodged. The offering, which consisted of a white and speckled fowl, and a small calabash containing a little corn and plantain, steeped in a fluid looking like blood, was, in the first instance, placed on the ground, close by the tree; but afterwards, the members of the fowl were severed from each other, and suspended by a piece of cotton-yarn upon one of the lowest branches. A blackish fluid, contained in another calabash, was then poured out at the root of the tree as a libation, during the recital of a prayer which Dupuis did not understand. The washing of the stem of the tree, with a coloring made from gray and white clay, concluded the ceremony.

Before eating or drinking by an Ashantee man, a little of the liquid and a portion of the food are thrown on the ground, as offerings to the fetish and the spirits of departed relatives. Application, says Beecham, is made to the fetishes for counsel and aid in every domestic and public emergency. When persons find occasion to consult a private fetishman, they take a present of rum and gold dust, and proceed to his house. He receives the present, and either puts a little of the rum on the heads of his various, images, or pours a small quantity on the ground before the platform as an offering to the whole pantheon; then taking a brass pan with water in it, he sits down with the pan between himself and the fetishes; and the inquirers also seat themselves to await the result. Having made these preparatory arrangements, looking earnestly into the water, he begins to snap his fingers, and, addressing the fetish, extols his power, saying that people have arrived to consult him, and requesting him to come and give the desired auswer. After