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Page 13
"All nature seemed rejoicing."
Half hid by a majestic live-oak which shaded the front, and within
a few yards of the river, stood a small white house. It was built of
adoles, and contained only three rooms. Instead of reaching these by
a broad flight, one step from the threshold placed you on the ground.
The floor was uncovered, and, as usual, of cement. In one corner of
the front apartment stood a sideboard, covered with glass of various
kinds, and a few handsome pieces of plate. Its _vis-�-vis_ was a range
of shelves, filled with books; and on the plain deal mantelpiece stood
a pair of neat China vases, decked with brilliant prairie flowers.
Before the open window was placed the table, arranged for the morning
meal. How pure the cloth looked, how clear the glass; and then the
bouquet of fragrant roses which adorned the center, how homelike,
fresh, and beautiful it seemed! An air of comfort--American, southern
comfort--pervaded the whole. The breakfast was brought in by a
middle-aged negress, whose tidy appearance, and honest, happy, smiling
face presented the best refutation of the gross slanders of our
northern brethren. I would that her daguerreotype, as she stood
arranging the dishes, could be contrasted with those of the miserable,
half-starved seamstresses of Boston and New York, who toil from dawn
till dark, with aching head and throbbing heart, over some weary
article, for which they receive the mighty recompense of a shilling.
When she had arranged every dish with great exactness, a small bell
was rung; and, waiter in hand, she stood ready to attend the family.
A bright, young face appeared at the open window.
"I hope, Aunt Fanny, you have a nice breakfast. You have no idea what
an appetite my walk has given me."
"Now, Miss Mary, ain't my cooking always nice?"
"Indeed, it is. Your coffee would not disgrace a pasha's table; and
your rolls are
'The whitest, the lightest, that ever were seen.'"
She disappeared from the window, and entered the room just as Mr.
Hamilton came in, followed by Florence.
"My dear uncle, have you forgotten the old adage of 'early to bed, and
early to rise?'"
"I am not sure that I ever learned it, Mary;" he dryly replied,
seating himself at the table.
"One would suppose you had taken a draught from the 'Elixir of Life;'"
said Florence, glancing affectionately at her beaming face.
"I have discovered the fountain of perpetual youth, so vainly sought
in South America!"
"Indeed! Is it located in this vicinity?"
"Yes; and if you will rise to-morrow with Aurora, when 'she sprinkles
with rosy light the dewy lawn,' I will promise to conduct you to it."
"Thank you; but, Mary, what induced you to ramble so early?"
"I have been nearly two miles for some roots Mrs. Carlton expressed a
wish for. See, Florry, how I have dyed my hands pulling them up!"
"Were you alone, Mary?" asked Mr. Hamilton.
"I was, most of the time. As I came back, Dr. Bryant overtook me.
He spent the night at San Jose mission, with a sick Mexican, and was
returning. But where is Aunt Lizzy?" continued Mary, with an inquiring
glance round the room.
"She went to mass this morning," replied her cousin.
"Oh, yes! It is St. ----'s day. I heard the bells at daybreak."
"It is a savage, heathenish custom they have adopted here, of tearing
up and down the streets from morning till night. I wish, by Jove! they
would ride over their canting Padre! I think he would find some other
mode of celebrating the festival!"
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