Then the twilight fell, and the slaves went homeward
singing, while the logs on the brass andirons lit up the windows of the
mansion, and every negro cabin was luminous, so that in the night the
homestead looked like a village. Then the moon rose above the woods,
making the lawn frosty, and shining upon the long porch, where his
mother came out to welcome him, attended by the two house-dogs, which
barked so loudly in their glee that all the hen-coops were alarmed, and
the peacocks in the trees held their tails to the stars and trilled.
"Come in, my son," said the mother, looking proudly upon the tall,
straight shape and glossy locks; "the supper is smoking upon the table;
here is your familiar julep, without which you have no appetite; the
Maryland biscuit are unusually good this evening, and there is the
yellow pone in the corner, with Sukey, your old nurse, behind it. Do you
like much cream in your coffee, as you used to? Bless me! the partridge
is plump as a duck; but here is your napkin, embroidered with your name;
let us ask a blessing before we eat!"
While all this is going on, the cat, which has been purring by the fire,
takes a wicked notion to frighten the canary bird, but the high old
clock in the corner, imported from England before the celebrated
Revolutionary war, impresses the cat as a very formidable object with
its stately stride-stride-stride--so that the cat regarding it a moment,
forgets the canary bird, and mews for a small portion of cream in a
saucer.
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