The house was of stone, long, low, and with a small wing
at each extremity. A piazza, extending along the front,
with neatly turned pillars of wood, together with the good
order and preservation of the fences and outbuildings, gave
the place an air altogether superior to the common farm-
houses of the country. After leading his horse behind an
angle of the wall, where it was in some degree protected
from the wind and rain, the traveller threw his valise over
his arm, and knocked loudly at the entrance of the building
for admission. An aged black soon appeared; and without
seeming to think it necessary, under the circumstances, to
consult his superiors — first taking one prying look at the
applicant, by the light of the candle in his hand — he acceded
to the request for accommodations. The traveller was
shown into an extremely neat parlor, where a fire had been
lighted to cheer the dulness of an easterly storm and an
October evening. After giving the valise into the keeping
of his civil attendant, and politely repeating his request to
the old gentleman, who arose to receive him, and paying his
compliments to the three ladies who were seated at work
with their needles, the stranger commenced laying aside
some of the outer garments which he had worn in his ride.
