em tongues o' fire was put in the body of a man, that'd
be Henry Clay.' Says he, 'He stands up and runs his eye over the
crowd, and from that minute he's got every man there right in the
holler of his hand, and he does jest what he pleases with 'em; and if
he looks any particular man in the face, that man'll feel like he's in
the presence of his Maker.'

"Father never got over Clay not bein' President; and whenever
anybody'd talk about it, he'd shake his head and say, 'There's
somethin' wrong with the times when a man like Henry Clay can't git
the Presidency.'

"Now, here I am, child, 'way back in Henry Clay's time, when I set out
to tell you about my visit to Henrietta's. That wanderin' o' the mind
is a pretty good sign of old age, I reckon, but I 'most always manage
to ricollect where I started from and where I'm goin' to.

"Well, as soon as I got to feelin' at home Henrietta says, 'Now,
grandma, I'm goin' to give you a reception and introduce you to my
friends.' And I says: 'Honey, you'd better not do that. You know I'm
jest a old-fashioned woman, and maybe I wouldn't know how to behave at
a reception.' And Henrietta laughed, and says she, 'All in the world
you have to do, grandma, is to shake hands with the people and be glad
to see 'em.'

"And, sure enough, it was jest that way. Everybody was smilin' and
sayin' they was glad to see me, and that reception was pretty much
like shakin' hands with your neighbors after prayer-meetin' and
church, only there was more of 'em.

"I started to wear my black alpaca to the reception, but Henrietta
says, 'No, grandma, I've had a dress made especially for you.' Jest
wait a minute, honey, and I'll get that dress."

And when she appeared a moment later her face wore the radiant look of
a girl who displays her first party costume, or a bride her
wedding-gown. Over her arm hung the reception gown of soft, black
China silk, with plain full skirt and shirred waist. There were
ruffles of point lace in the full sleeves, and she held up the
point-lace cap and fichu that completed the costume.

"To think o' me wearin' such clothes," said Aunt Jane exultingly. "And
the curious part of it was, child, that I hadn't had these things on
five minutes, till I felt like they belonged to me, and it seemed as
if I'd been wearin' lace and silk all my life. And Henrietta stood off
and looked at me, and says she, 'Grandma, you look exactly like a
family portrait.' And when Archibald come home