At this season the room needed no warming,
and feathery asparagus crowned the huge back-log, and nodded between the
iron fire-dogs. Ah! it was a pleasant room, the kitchen at Hartley
Farm,--wide and roomy, with deep-seated windows facing the south and
west; with a floor of dark oak, which shone with more than a century of
scrubbing. The fireplace, oven, and cupboards occupied one whole side of
the room. Along the other ran a high dresser, whose shelves held a
goodly array of polished pewter and brass, shining glass, and curious
old china and crockery. Overhead were dark, heavy rafters, relieved by
the gleam of yellow "crook-neck" squashes, bunches of golden corn, and
long festoons of dried apples. In one window stood the good dame's
rocking-chair, with its gay patchwork cushion; and her Bible,
spectacles, and work-basket lay on the window-seat beside it. In
another was a huge leather arm-chair, which Hilda rightly supposed to be
the farmer's, and a wonderful piece of furniture, half desk, half chest
of drawers, with twisted legs and cupboards and pigeon-holes and tiny
drawers, and I don't know what else. The third window Hilda thought was
the prettiest of all. It faced the west, and the full glory of sunset
was now pouring through the clustering vines which partly shaded it. The
sash was open, and a white rose was leaning in and nodding in a friendly
way, as if greeting the new-comer. A low chair and a little work-table,
both of quaint and graceful fashion, stood in the recess; and on the
window-seat stood some flowering-plants in pretty blue and white pots.
Pages:
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44