102 © o s t e I s i a 



and two o'clock. Dinner was much like 

 the breakfast, with the addition of a 

 usually delicious, strangely concocted 

 soup and a dessert. About eight in the 

 evening we were served cake and tea 

 in our rooms, or in the drawing room, 

 wherever we might be. The general 

 cooking at this house was done by two 

 or three old witch-like negresses over 

 an open fire in a dark cavern in a 

 precipice forming the boundary wall to 

 one side of our yard. 



Our room was small and crowded 

 with "missus' things," which were not 

 removed for our accommodation. A 

 large bed with one starched sheet and 

 an indescribably hard mattress, a big 

 wardrobe, a bureau, a washstand and 

 our two large trunks so rilled the room 

 that one could scarcely stand between 

 the bed and surrounding furniture. All 

 the drawers and various boxes under 



