CHAPTER XII.

OUT UNDER THE TREES.

HERE was no piazza on the west side of

THE

the house. There was a square porch,

but it was not there in the General's time.

In

his day, there was only the plainest of plain doors, without even a pent-house over it to ward off the falling drops; without the smallest finish to give a little air to the entrance, at which the grandest visitor must step out of his carriage. As Patty stood there looking out, Mrs. Gray sat down on the step, and drew a roll of paper out of her pocket.

Patty sat down beside her, and Minnie stood a few steps from them, on the circular walk, with the warm sun falling on her uncovered head, as colored people like to feel it. Then mamma showed Patty an exact copy of the plan by which George Washington once laid out his grounds.

First came the round grass plat, which lay just under their feet. The arched walks curved round it, and ended in the kitchen and the laundry, which were exactly opposite each other. Opposite the end of each of these two was a house for the servants to sleep in, and a road ran between, now called "the road to the tomb." Beyond the circular plat, the ground sloped away to the old entrances, through one of which Tony had driven when Patty came.

Just where the houses of the servants stood, two winding paths started, and led down to the queer old yellow lodges. These paths were bordered with trees; and against each treemark on the plan Washington had written the name of the tree to be planted. He knew exactly what tree he wanted in each place; no other would do quite as well.

Half way down each of these winding paths, a gate opened: that on the right opened into the flower garden; that on the left, into the vegetable garden. At the corners of these two gardens were little ornamental and eight-sided buildings, very pretty to look at, but meant to hold tools, garden seeds, and other useful things. The

foundations of these little houses were of brick, and the upper parts were of plank, finished to look like stone. Washington sent to England for his tools, and they were so good that many of them are still in use. Round both of the gardens heavy brick walls were built, and these were so strong that they are now in perfect order. On the north side of the garden were the large green-houses in which Washington took a great deal of pride, and for which the captains of the little sloops which came to carry his tobacco and wheat to the West Indies, used to bring all sorts of tropical plants.

Mrs. Gray told Patty, that when she first came to Mount Vernon there was quite a little grove of lemon trees, a century plant, and a sago palm, which Washington had planted; but these were only protected in some rude way in winter, and most of them were now dead. The green-house was destroyed by fire, one dreadfully cold night in December, 1835, and the servants' houses on that side, also. The greenhouse has never been rebuilt. The ruins form a part of the garden wall; and as they are overgrown by a great tangle of vines and bushes,

Patty thought they would be the prettiest part, if it were not for two great ugly chimneys that they could see where they sat. These seemed to be too tall for the vines to conquer. Patty could hardly believe her mother, when she told her that the lawn between the two winding paths was half as large as Boston Common. was nearly a mile to Minnie's cottage.

It

In the middle of the grass plat was a sun-dial, and great box hedges were still green along the alleys of both the gardens.

"Mamma," said Patty, "why did they have the kitchen so far away? You could never go out there to see about dinner, if it rained; and I should think the things would be ever so cold, coming all that long way."

"The kitchens at the South are generally a long way from the house," said Mrs. Gray. "This was partly to avoid the smell of the cooking, the heat of the fire, and the noise of the servants; and partly because ladies never did go to the kitchen to look after their dinners. You may be sure Mrs. Washington never ran through those alleys in the rain. As to the rest, I never tasted a dish very hot, at the South. I

suppose they don't care about it. Tea and coffee are always made upon the table."

"It's not a pretty kitchen," said Patty.

"It is new," said Mrs. Gray. "That which was standing in Washington's time was prettier, and looked more as if it belonged to the house. The doors and windows were arched."

"It's been fixed up a bit," said Minnie, who was listening; "I reckon that's all. At any rate, that's the very kitchen where the Marquis's big dog stole the ham. My mother always told me so, and she heard it from her mother, who was waiting at the table, and saw Lady Washington turn white, she was so angry."

"What is the story, Minnie?" said Mrs. Gray, for Patty's eyes had opened wide.

"Well, lady, it was just about the time the grand mantel-piece came, and was set up in the North Room. The Marquis of Lafayette sent the General some splendid hounds. Before the war, there was a big kennel down by the river. There was a paling all round it, and a sweet spring of water there. And the Chief had pretty names for his dogs -Sweet-lips,' and 'Ringwood,' and 'True-love,' I've heard tell of,