es, at the same time urging our car along. No
accident happened, however, fortunately, and we presently beheld, with
no small satisfaction, a cluster of houses in the fields at some little
distance from the road. To the principal one I made my way, followed by
the rest of the poor womankind, and, entering the house without further
ceremony, ushered them into a large species of wooden room, where blazed
a huge pine-wood fire. By this welcome light we descried, sitting in the
corner of the vast chimney, an old, ruddy-faced man, with silver hair,
and a good-humored countenance, who, welcoming us with ready
hospitality, announced himself as Colonel ----, and invited us to draw
near the fire.

The worthy colonel seemed in no way dismayed at this sudden inbreak of
distressed women, which was very soon followed by the arrival of the
gentlemen, to whom he repeated the same courteous reception he had given
us, replying to their rather hesitating demands for something to eat, by
ordering to the right and left a tribe of staring negroes, who bustled
about preparing supper, under the active superintendence of the
hospitable colonel. His residence (considering his rank) was quite the
most primitive imaginable,--a rough brick-and-plank chamber, of
considerable dimensions, not even whitewashed, with the great beams and
rafters by which it was supported displaying the skeleton of the
building, to the complete satisfaction of any one who might be curious
in architecture. The windows could close neither at the top, bottom,
sides, nor middle, and were, besides, broken so as to admit several
delightful currents of air, which might be received as purely
accidental. In one corner of this primitive apartment stood a
clean-looking bed, with coarse furniture; whilst in the opposite one, an
old case-clock was ticking away its time and its master's with cheerful
monotony. The rush-bottomed chairs were of as many different shapes and
sizes as those in a modern fine lady's drawing-room, and the walls were
hung all round with a curious miscellany, consisting principally of
physic vials, turkey-feather fans, bunches of dried herbs, and the
colonel's arsenal, in the shape of one or two old guns, etc.

According to the worthy man's hearty invitation, I proceeded to make
myself and my companions at home, pinning, skewering, and otherwise
suspending our cloaks and shawls across the various intentional and
unintentional air-gaps, thereby increasing both