Gusty placed the sedate infant in her mother’s care, and seemed very well pleased to be relieved from the burden, and at liberty to devote his whole care to the “loving darling” in his arms. And so the party set out over the brilliant snow, under the glorious sunshine. They reached the old Hall in twenty minutes’ ride. Agatha had fallen asleep on her mother’s bosom. They entered through the broken gate, and Hagar rode quite up to the piazza, and handing the sleeping babe to Tarquinius, she sprang from her saddle, took back the child, and entering the doorway, stood one moment in silent prayer, and passed on into the parlor, where stood old Cumbo leaning on her stick, with a red handkerchief on her head, tied under her chin, and forming a brilliant red frame around a face, black, wrinkled, and shining as a dried prune. Awed by the memory of Hagar’s pride and hardness, the old woman did not advance to welcome her, but when Hagar approached and spoke to her gently and kindly, she fell to crying and calling her dear “piccaninni.” Hagar looked around upon the scene; it appeared to her strange that everything had remained unchanged during the long century that her two years’ absence seemed to be. It was the same old parlor papered with the martyrs—with the shadows of the same poplar trees intercepting the sun at the windows that looked out upon the piazza. A good hickory fire was burning on the ample hearth, and a good breakfast smoking on the table. Hagar set her child down upon the carpet, and began to take off her travelling dress, just as Gusty entered, followed by Tarquinius, bearing a dish of fine white perch, fried, which he had just brought from the kitchen, and now set upon the table. They sat down to breakfast. “These are very nice, Tarquin—did you catch them?” asked Gusty, placing a perch upon the plate before him. “Yes, sir! I did, sir; I most in general confuses my ledger hours by angulating in the bay, whenever the perdition of the hemisphere commits.” “Ah, that’s right; has my mother—has Mrs. Buncombe been over at the Hall to give any directions?” “No, sor, but de reverend gen’lem’n, sir, he come ober, and dejected us to have ebery ting impaired, and all the molestic confairs deranged for Mrs. Widders, an’ so we have conveyed his ardors to de best of our debility.” “Thank you—you are a valuable agent!—Hagar!” “Well?” “I shall have to take leave of you immediately after breakfast; I must see my mother—she is uneasy, I know—perhaps sick. Say, are they all well over to the Grove, Tarquin?” “Yes, sir, de reveren gen’lem’n, he has got over his room-atism, and goes all over the house; but he is inflicted with a dog-matism in his ear, owing to Mr. Green’s big dog, Silver, jumpin’ up and bitin’ him.” “Oh!” “Speaking of dogs, will you tell me, Gusty, how Starlight, and Remus, and Romulus came here?” “Came here? Why, they have been here all the time; did not you know it?” “No, indeed; tell me about it.”