A short time after this threat Mr. Brown commenced to drink harder than ever, so that at times he did not know his own family.  But the providence of God was slowly leading Mr. Brown through the unknown paths to a sudden change of life, as we shall soon see.

Mr. Brown’s family consisted of a wife, one child, and Aunt Betty, the old colored woman who had brought him up.  She was the only mother he knew, for his own mother had died when he was an infant, and her dying request had been that mamma Betty, the old woman, should bring up this boy, who was an only child; and when Mr. Brown got married he took Aunt Betty into his family and told her she need not do any work only what she chose to do, and that he would take care of her the balance of her days.  And Mrs. Brown regarded Aunt Betty more as a mother-in-law than as a negress servant.  Sometimes when Mr. Brown would not listen to his wife, he would to his mamma Betty, when he was sober enough to know her.  One afternoon, while Mr. Brown was in one of those drunken fits, he went into his bedroom and lay down across the bed, talking to himself.  His wife went in to speak to him, but as she entered he jumped up and got his loaded double barrelled gun and threatened to shoot her.  Frightened at this, she ran out of the room and screamed saying, “Oh my God, mamma Betty, please go in and speak to your Massa Manning, for he threatened to shoot me.”  With that old familiar confidence in one who had often listened to her advice, Aunt Betty went into the house and to the room where she found Mr. Brown lying across the bed, with the gun by his side.  On entering the room, as she was advancing toward the bed, she said, “Massa Manning, what is the matter with you?  You naughty boy, what is the matter?” On saying these words, before she had reached the bed, Mr. Brown rose, with the gun in hand, and discharged the contents of both barrels at the old woman; she dropped instantly to the floor.  Mr. Brown lay across the bed as before, with the gun by his side, talking to himself, and soon dropped to sleep.  Mrs. Brown fainted away several times under the excitement.

Aunt Betty lived about an hour.  Soon after she had been shot she wanted to see Mr. Brown, but when told that she could not, she said, “O, my Lord, I wanted to see my child before I die, and I know that he would want to see his mamma Betty, too, before she leaves him.”  During the time she lived she prayed for Mr. Brown, and requested that he would change his course of life, become a Christian, and meet her in heaven.  After singing one of her familiar hymns, Aunt Betty said to some one who stood by her bedside, “I want you to tell Massa Manning that he must not feel bad for what he did to me, because I know that if he was in his right mind he would not hurt me any more than he would himself.  Tell him that I have prayed to the Lord for him that he may be a good boy, and I want him to promise that he will be a Christian and meet me in heaven.”  With these words Aunt Betty became speechless, dying a few moments afterwards.  The doctor was sent for, but had to come from such a distance that she died before he reached there.