Descending the great spiral staircase with its slender mahogany
balusters,--here and there a break,--I caught sight of the entrance
hall below with its hanging glass lantern, quaint haircloth sofas
lining the white walls, and half-oval tables heaped with flowers, and
so on through the wide-open door leading out upon a vine-covered porch.
This had high pillars and low railings against which stood some broad
settles--all white.
[Illustration]
The colonel, Fitz, and the English agent were still in their
rooms,--three pairs of polished shoes outside their several doors
bearing silent witness to the fact,--and the only person stirring was
a pleasant-faced negro woman with white apron and gay-colored bandana,
who was polishing the parlor floor with a long brush, her little
pickaninny astraddle on the broom end for weight.
I pushed aside the hanging vines, sat down on one of the wooden benches,
and looked about me. This, then, was Carter Hall!
The house itself bore evidence of having once been a stately home.
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