158 
RURAL HOURS. 
polish and oak color. Before the windows hung colored paper 
blinds. Between the windows was a table, and over it hung a 
small looking-glass, and a green and yellow drawing in water- 
colors, the gift of a friend. On one side stood a cherry bureau ; 
upon this lay the Holy Bible, and that its sacred pages had been 
well studied, our friend's daily life could testify. Near the Bible 
lay a volume of religious character from the Methodist press, and 
the Life of General Marion. The mantel-piece was ornamented 
-with peacocks' feathers, and brass candlesticks, bright as gold ; 
in the fireplace were fresh sprigs of asparagus. An open cup- 
board stood on one side, containing the cups and saucers, in neat 
array, a pretty salt-cellar, with several pieces of cracked and 
broken crockery, of a superior quality, preserved for ornament 
more than use. 
Such Avas the " square room," as it was called. It opened into 
the kitchen, and as our dear hostess was coming and going, di- 
viding her time between her biscuits and her guests, very impar- 
tially, at last we asked permission to follow her, and sit by her 
while she was at work, admiring the kitchen quite as much as we 
did the rest of her neat dwelling. The largest room in the house, 
and the one most used, it was just as neat as every other corner 
under the roof. The chimney was very large, according to the 
approved old custom, and it was garnished all about with flat- 
irons, brooms, brushes, holders, and cooking utensils, each in its 
proper place. In winter, they used a stove for cooking, and in 
the very coldest weather, they kept two fires burning, one in the 
chimney, another in the stove. The walls were whitewashed. 
There was a ffreat deal of wood- work about the room — wainscot- 
ing, dressers, and even tlie ceihng being of wood — and all was 
