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OUR MOTHER'S ROOM. 



It was a marvel how that room, by no means large, 

 held all that was in it, and yet left space for people to 

 move, — yes, and for children to romp ! 



There was a cupboard in the corner by the door 

 wherein was stored many choice " bits " that came out 

 at opportune moments as rewards or compensations. 

 An act of childish self-denial is marked in recollection 

 by a cluster of raisins from that cupboard, and a scalded 

 arm was not a little comforted by sundry cakes and 

 sweets from the same place. When the " calabash " 

 (a wooden box of foreign manufactory, quaintly carved 

 and shaped) was lifted from its place in the cupboard, 

 small persons had pleasurable anticipations. 



The window-seat was a long, low, mysterious chest, 

 covered with sealskin and ornamented with brass nails. 

 The hair was much worn from the skin, and the hide 

 itself hung in flaps at the sides. The nails on the 

 lid, marking the initials of some long-gone ancestor, 

 had many gaps in their lines. The box suggested to 

 a reflective mind thoughts of coffins that have lain for 

 centuries on vault-ledges ! Although the children loved 

 to play upon it, they yet held the " sealskin box " in 

 respect, for none of them had ever seen it opened. Our 



