"Oh, I used to," replied Flora, "but since I began school at Miss
Patten's I don't seem to care about dolls."
"Flora can play on the harp," announced Grace.
"Oh, only just a little," responded Flora quickly.
"I think Flora can do more things than any girl I ever knew," declared
Sylvia admiringly; "and I was just thinking that the servants did
everything in the world."
Flora laughed. "You never lived on a plantation, or you couldn't think
that. Why, my mother works more than Mammy ever did. She has to tell all
the house darkies what to do, and see that all the hands have clothes,
and that the fruits are preserved. Why, she's always busy," replied
Flora. "And of course ladies have to know how to do things," she
concluded.
When Grace and Sylvia went to their own room Flora went with them. "I'll
show you where that secret staircase is," she said, and opening the
closet door pressed on a broad panel which moved slowly.
"There," and Flora drew Sylvia near so she could look down a dark narrow
stairway.
"But that isn't seeing a ghost," Grace said laughingly.
It was rather late when Mrs. Hayes led the way back to the house, and
Grace declared that she was almost too sleepy to walk up-stairs. But
Sylvia was not at all sleepy. After the colored girl had helped them
prepare for bed, blown out the candle, and left the room, she lay
watching the shadows of the moving vines on the wall. She wished she was
at home, for who knew but that Estralla's master might sell her before
she returned.
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