So it was settled that Charley should go with her, and his presence made her far less impatient than she would otherwise have been, when, owing to some accident, they were delayed so long that the Cleveland train was gone, and there was no alternative but to wait in Buffalo. At Cincinnati there was another detention, and it was not until the very day appointed for the wedding that, with Charlie still beside her, Anna entered the carriage hired at Lexington, and started for Spring Bank, whither for a little we will precede her, taking up the narrative prior to this day, and about the time when ’Lina first returned home from New York, laden with arrogance and airs. CHAPTER XXXI. MATTERS AT STRING BANK. It had been a bright, pleasant day in March, when ’Lina was expected home, and in honor of her arrival the house at Spring Bank wore its most cheery aspect; not that any one was particularly pleased because she was coming, unless it were the mother; but it was still an event of some importance, and so the negroes cleaned and scrubbed and scoured, wondering if “Miss ’Lina done fotch ’em anything,” while Alice arranged and re-arranged the plainly-furnished rooms, feeling beforehand how the contrast between them and the elegancies to which ’Lina had recently been accustomed, would affect her. Hugh had thought of the same thing, and much as it hurt him to do it, he sold one of his pet colts, and giving the proceeds to Alice, bade her use it as she saw fit. It was astonishing how far Alice made the hundred dollars go. Hugh had no idea it would buy so much, and in blissful ignorance that Alice herself had supplied many articles from her own funds, he assisted in nailing down carpets and oil-cloths, and putting up curtains, while he even ventured to try his hand at painting, succeeding admirably, but spoiling an entire suit of clothes, and leaving more than one mark of his brush on Alice’s black dress. Spring Bank had never looked one-half so well before, and the negroes were positive there was no where to be found so handsome a room as the large airy parlor, with its new Brussels carpet and curtains of worsted brocatelle. Even Hugh was somewhat of the same opinion, but then he only looked at the room with Alice standing in its centre, so it is not strange that he should judge it favorably. Ad would be pleased, he knew, and he gave orders that the carriage and harness should be thoroughly cleaned, and the horses well groomed, for he would make a good impression upon his sister.