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board was. There was a sideboard at Spring Valea beautiful thing, made of dark mahogany, all full of veins. It had a broad top, on which the silver urns and trays were spread out. It held three closets, where grandmamma kept all the nicest cake, and the sweet sirups that she gave her friends in the hot summer days. Underneath it were three tall inlaid boxes, that grandmamma called "liquor cases," and spoke of as things that had gone quite out of use. When they were opened, there were beautiful cut glass bottles in them, with bright gold stars sprinkled all over. But the bottles were all empty.

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The sideboard that Patty saw now was not in the least like this. It was a table about five feet in length, and half as wide. Garlands of beautifully-carved leaves ran round the frame, and drooped over the upper part of the legs. It was made of black walnut, in England, for Laurence Washington, and was nearly as old as the old lantern in the hall.

"What was it for?" said Patty.

"All the dishes of meat were set upon it and carved there," said her mother, "and then the

servants handed them to the guests.

When Washington had friends from England and France staying with him, he took his frugal breakfast of hoe-cakes and milk at his usual hour, and then rode over his farm; but on this sideboard cold meats and bread, butter, cheese, and milk, and hot coffee, stood all through the morning, until the guests had been served."

"Mamma," said Patty, "I thought all old furniture was made of mahogany."

"This was made before the time of mahogany," said her mother. "Laurence Washington fought for the English, under Admiral Vernon, in 1741. He named his place after his old friend; but the first mahogany went to England about 1730, and before that time all English furniture was made of oak or walnut. After a while, fine mahogany became scarce, and now we have had to go back to black walnut; but it is not as hard or as handsome as the mahogany."

There was nothing more to see at Arlington, and Tony waited for orders before he put Mrs. Gray into the wagon.

"We will go and see Owen,” said Mrs. Gray; "but that we will do last. Take us to see

Isaac, Tony, and I will tell Patty about him afterward."

So they trotted along Garrison Avenue until they found a house that looked a little better than the rest. It was cleaner than most, and a white-haired old man, who seemed to be blind, was sunning himself in the doorway.

Mrs. Gray sat in the carriage, and Tony darted into the house. Then Patty heard the sharp cry of a child, and Tony came out, showing all his white teeth, and followed by a noblelooking negro, taller than himself.

"You see the chillens won't let him go,” said Tony, excusing his friend to Mrs. Gray.

Mrs. Gray put out her hand cordially. "We are all children, when it comes to that. I have heard so much of you, Isaac, that it seems as if you were an old friend. What are you doing here?"

"I came to Washington, madam," answered Isaac, with the air and tone of a gentleman, "to see after some of our rights; and I heard of old friends over here, and now it is hard to get away. But I shall go to-morrow.”

"I hope you are getting all you want," said

Mrs. Gray; "we ought all of us to help you if you are not. A colored man who is trying to lift up his own people is doing something that we cannot do as well."

"Thank you, madam," answered the man, with gentle pride; "Mr. Durant will secure all that I need;" and then, after a few friendly words, Tony jogged on.

"What a handsome man!" said Patty.

"Yes," said her mother; "I wanted you to see how handsome a pure black man can be. Isaac was born in Kentucky, and had a wife and children there. He had contrived to learn how to read and write by watching his master's younger children. When his master found it out, he sold him into Louisiana, for fear he would make his other slaves discontented. Isaac knew very well why he was sent away; so he did not let anybody know in his new home that he could read and write. During the war he made his knowledge useful; but he had a kind and noble nature, and after he was set free, he worked two years for his master, because he thought he meant to be a good friend to the colored people. But in the winter of 1867 Isaac

found he was just as poor as when he started; so he persuaded nine other men to join him, and they hired an island in the river near New Orleans. They meant to raise corn and cotton, and they thought they could build themselves some log-houses.

"They went to a friendly white man, who lived near, and borrowed his boat to row over. to their island. They had nothing in the world but one bale of cotton, and a few chairs and kettles. They brought these things down to the bank, and lay in the boat that night, so as to be ready for an early start; but that very night the bank caved in, and, although they kept their boat, the cotton and the furniture went down the river."

"Why, mamma," said Patty, "didn't they have any wharves? What made the bank cave in?"

"The banks of the Mississippi are of soft mud," said her mother; "and only the great cities are rich enough to build great stone boxes, which they call quays, to keep the mud from washing away.

"But these poor men were not discouraged.

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