now?"

"De Lord will pervide," said Sam, rolling up his eyes piously. "As I've
been a sayin', dis yer 's a providence and no mistake, as Missis has
allers been a instructin' on us. Thar's allers instruments ris up to do
de Lord's will. Now, if 't hadn't been for me today, she'd a been took
a dozen times. Warn't it I started off de hosses, dis yer morning' and
kept 'em chasin' till nigh dinner time? And didn't I car Mas'r Haley
night five miles out of de road, dis evening, or else he'd a come up
with Lizy as easy as a dog arter a coon. These yer 's all providences."

"They are a kind of providences that you'll have to be pretty sparing
of, Master Sam. I allow no such practices with gentlemen on my place,"
said Mr. Shelby, with as much sternness as he could command, under the
circumstances.

Now, there is no more use in making believe be angry with a negro than
with a child; both instinctively see the true state of the case, through
all attempts to affect the contrary; and Sam was in no wise disheartened
by this rebuke, though he assumed an air of doleful gravity, and stood
with the corners of his mouth lowered in most penitential style.

"Mas'r quite right,--quite; it was ugly on me,--there's no disputin'
that ar; and of course Mas'r and Missis wouldn't encourage no such
works. I'm sensible of dat ar; but a poor nigger like me 's 'mazin'
tempted to act ugly sometimes, when fellers will cut up such shines as
dat ar Mas'r Haley; he an't no gen'l'man no way; anybody's been raised
as I've been can't help a seein' dat ar."

"Well, Sam," said Mrs. Shelby, "as you appear to have a proper sense of