He proposed that they should quicken their pace, and as his companion made no objection, they soon reached the house.
The next day being Sunday, breakfast was rather later than usual, and as Lawrence looked out on the bright morning, with the mists just disengaging themselves from the many-hued foliage which crowned the tops of the surrounding hills; and on the recently risen sun, hanging in an atmosphere of grey and lilac, with the smile of Indian summer on its face; he thought he would like to take a stroll, before that meal; but either the length of his walk on the previous day, or the rapidity of the latter portion of it, had been rather too much for the newly-recovered strength of his ankle, which now felt somewhat stiff and sore.

When he mentioned this at the breakfast table, he received a good deal of condolence from the two ladies, especially Mrs Keswick.
And, at first, it was thought that it might be well for him to give up his proposed attendance at the negro church.

But to this Lawrence strongly objected, for he very much desired to see some of the peculiar religious services of the negroes.

He had been talking on the subject the evening before with Mrs Keswick, who had told him that in this part of the country, which lay in the "black belt" of Virginia, where the negro population had always been thickest, these ceremonies were more characteristic of the religious disposition of the African, than in those sections of the State where the white race exerted a greater influence upon the manners and customs of the colored people.
"But it will not be necessary to walk much," said Miss Annie.

"We can take the spring-wagon, and you can go with us, aunt." The old lady permitted herself a little grin.