The plantation's "big house," as the negroes called the owner's home,
was the largest house Sylvia had ever entered. Its high piazza with the
tall pillars was covered by a tangle of jessamine vines and climbing
roses. The front hall led straight through the house to another piazza,
which looked out over beautiful gardens and a tiny lake. Behind a thick
hedge of privet were the cabins of the house servants. The negroes who
did the work on the plantation, caring for the horses and cows, and
working in the cotton fields, lived at some distance from the "big"
house.
Mrs. Hayes came out on the piazza to welcome the party. She had come
down from Charleston on the previous day. It seemed to Sylvia she had
never seen so many negroes before in all her life. Neat colored maids
were flitting about the house, colored men were at work in the garden,
and colored children peered smilingly around the corner of the house.
A colored maid was told to look after Grace and Sylvia, and she led the
way up the beautiful spiral staircase to a pleasant chamber overlooking
the garden. There were two small white beds, with a little mahogany
light-stand between them. On this stand stood a tall brass candlestick.
There were two dressing-tables, and two small bureaus, and a number of
comfortable chintz-covered chairs. The floor was of dark, shining wood,
and beside each bed was a long, soft white rug.
Sylvia and Grace knew that this room had been arranged especially for
any of Flora's young friends whom she might entertain, and they both
thought it was one of the nicest rooms that anyone could imagine.
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