UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

" waiters
" there
" and
but
stilla
women
'
'
LIFE
AMONG
THE LOWLY. 63
" "
Mercy on us, child, what a way !"
shoved. Here,"he added to a driver who stood
"
It was a very easy way, aunty,"said Eva. behind him, " take these things."
" "
It 's a dreadful shiftlessone," said aunty. I '11 go and see to his putting them in,"said
"Why, aunty, what '11 you
do now?" said Miss Ophelia.
" "
Eva ; that trunk is too full to be shut down."
0 pshaw, cousin,what 's the use?" said St.
" It must shut down," said aunty, with the air Clare.
of a general, as she squeezed the "
thingsin,and Well,at any rate, I '11 carry this,and this,
sprung upon the lid "
; little gap remained and this,"said Miss Opheliașingling out three
about the mouth of the trunk.
boxes and a small carpet-bag.
"
Get up here,Eva !" said Miss Ophelia, courageously
"
My dear Miss Vermont, positively, you
' '
; what has been done can be done must n't come the Green Mountains over us that
again. This trunk has got to be shut and locked way. You must adopt at least a pieceof a southern
are no two ways about it."
principle, and not walk out under all that
And the trunk,intimidated, doubtless,by this load. They '11take you for a waiting-maid ; give
resolute statement, gave in. The hasp snappedthem to this fellow ; he '11 put them down as if
sharply in its hole,and Miss Opheliaturned the they were eggs, now."
key, and pocketed it in triumph.
Miss Ophelia looked despairingly, as her
"
Now we 're ready. Where. 's your papa
? I cousin took all her treasures from her,and rejoiced
think it time this baggagewas set out. Do look
to find herself once more in the carriage
out,Eva, and see if you
see your papa."
with them, in a state of preservation.
"
"0, yes,
he 's down the other end of the gentleman's
Where 's Tom?" said Eva.
cabin,eating an orange."
"
0, he 's on the outside,Pussy. I'm going
"He can't know, how near we are coming," to take Tom up to mother for a peace-offering, to
said aur.ty; " had n't you better run and speakmake up for that drunken fellow that upset the
to him?"
carriage."
"
Papa never is in a hurry about "
anything," 0, Tom will nake a,șplendid driver, I know,"
eaii Eva, "' "
and wo have n't come to the landing. said Eva ; he '11 never get drunk."
Do stop on the guards,aunty. Look! there's The carriagestoppedin front of an ancient
our house, up that street!"
mansion, built in that odd mixture of Spanish
The boat now began,with heavygroans, like and French style, of which there are specimens in
some vast, tired monster, to pftpare to push
some
up partsof New Orleans. It was built in tho
among the multipliedsteamers at the levee. Eva Moorish fashion, -f-a square building enclosing a
joyouslypointed out the various spires,domes, court-yard, into which the carriagedrove through
and way -marks,by which she recognized her native
an arched gateway. The court,in the inside,had
city.
evidently been arranged to gratify a picturesque
"
Yes, yes, dear ; very fine,"said Miss Ophelia. and voluptuous ideality Ẉide galleries ran all
" But mercy
on us ! the boat has stopped ! where around the four sides,whose Moorish arches,
is your father!"
slender pillars, and arabesque ornaments, carried
And now ensued the usual turmoil of landingthe mind back,as in a dream, to the reignof
runningtwenty
at "
once men
ways
oriental romance in Spain. In the middle of tha
tuggingtrunks,carpet-bags, boxes "
anxiously
court,a fountain threw high its silverywater,
calling to their children,and everybodyfalling
a never-ceasing spray into a marble
crowdingin a dense mass to the planktowards basin,fringed with a deepborder of fragrantviolets.
the landing.
The water in the fountain,pellucidas
Miss Ophelia seated herself resolutely on the crystal, was alive with myriads of goldand silver
latelyvanquishedtrunk,and marshalling all her jfishes,twinkling
and dartingthroughit like so
goods and chattels in fine military order șeemed many livingjewels. Around the fountain ran a
resolved to defend them to the last.
walk,paved with a mosaic of pebbles, laid in
"
Shall I take "
your trunk,ma'am'!" Shall I ;
various fanciful patterns; and this,again,was
take your baggage?" "Let me 'tend to your surrounded as
byturfșmooth green velvet,while
baggage,Missis!'' "Shan't I carry out these j
a carriage drive enclosed the whole. Two large
yer, Missis!" rained down upon her unheeded. orange-trees, now fragrantwith blossoms,threw
She sat with grim determination, upright j
as a a deliciousshade ; and, range 1 in a ciicle round
darning-needle stuck in a board,holdingon her | upon the turf,were marble vases 'of arabesque
bundle of umbrella and parasols, and replyingsculpture,
containing the choicest flowering plants
with a determination that was enough to strike: of the
dismay even into a hackman,wondering to Eva, ! tropics.Huge pomegranatetrees with
their glossy leaves and flame-coloredflowers,darkleaved
Arabian jessamines with their silvery
in each interval, " what upon earth her papa'
could be thinkingof; he couldn't have fallen stars,geraniums, luxuriant roses bendingbeneath
"
over, now, something must have happened;"
their heavy abundance of flowers,goldenjessamines,
just as she had begun to work' lemon-scented verbenum, all united their
herself into real distress, die came
up, with his bloom and fragrance, while here and there a mystic
usuallysarelessmotion,and giving Eva a quarter old aloe,with its strange, massive leaves,sat
of the oi mgo he was
e.iting, said,
looking like some hoary old enchanter,sittingin
"
Well,Cousin Vermont,I suppose you
are all weird grandeuramong the more perishable bloom
ready."
and fragrance around it.
"
I 've been ready,waiting, nearlyan hour," The galleries that surrounded the court wens
said Miss Ophelia; " I began to be really concerned
festooned with a curtain of some kind of Moorish
about you."
stuffțhat could be drawn down at pleasure, to
"That's a clever fellow,now," said ho. exclude the beams of the sun. On the whole,
"Well, the carriage is waiting, and the crowd; the appearance of the placewas luxurious and
are now off șc that one can walk out in a decent romantic.
and Christian manner, and not be pushed and I x\.sthe carriagedrove in,Eva seemed like a bird