Chapter 6

O! It is great for our country to die, where ranks are contending;
Bright is the wreath of our fame; Glory awaits us for aye--
Glory, that never is dim, shining on with light never ending--
Glory, that never shall fade, never, O! never away.

Percival.

Notwithstanding the startling intelligence that had so unexpectedly
reached it, and the warm polemical conflict that had been carried on
within its walls, the night passed peacefully over the roof of the
Hutted Knoll. At the return of dawn, the two Plinys, both the Smashes,
and all the menials were again afoot; and, ere long, Mike, Saucy Nick
Joel, and the rest were seen astir, in the open fields, or in the
margin of the woods. Cattle were fed, cows milked fires lighted, and
everything pursued its course, in the order of May. The three wenches,
as female negroes were then termed, _ex officio_, in America,
opened their throats, as was usual at that hour, and were heard singing
at their labours, in a way nearly to deaden the morning carols of the
tenants of the forest. _Mari'_ in particular, would have drowned
the roar of Niagara. The captain used to call her his clarion.

In due time, the superiors of the household made their appearance. Mrs.
Willoughby was the first out of her room, as was ever the case when
there was anything to be done. On the present occasion, the "fatted
calf" was to be killed, not in honour of the return of a prodigal son,
however, but in behalf of one who was the pride of her eyes, and the
joy of her heart. The breakfast that she ordered was just the sort of
breakfast, that one must visit America to witness. France can set forth
a very scientific _déjeuner à la fourchette,_ and England has
laboured-and ponderous imitations; but, for the spontaneous,
superabundant, unsophisticated, natural, all-sufficing and all-subduing
morning's meal, take America, in a better-class house, in the country,
and you reach the _ne plus ultra_, in that sort of thing. Tea,
coffee, and chocolate, of which the first and last were excellent, and
the second respectable; ham, fish, eggs, toast, cakes, rolls,
marmalades, &c. &c. &c., were thrown together in noble confusion;
frequently occasioning the guest, as Mr. Woods naively confessed, an
utter confusion of mind, as to which he was to attack, when all were
inviting and each would be welcome.

Leaving Mrs. Willoughby in deep consultation with Mari' on the subject
of this feast, we will next look after the two sweet girls whom we so
abruptly deserted in the last chapter. When Maud's glowing cheeks were
first visible that morning, signs of tears might have been discovered
on them, as the traces of the dew are found on the leaf of the rose;
but they completely