He might as well have provided them for a squirrel or a
magpie. The more drawers and closets there were, the more hiding-holes
could Dinah make for the accommodation of old rags, hair-combs, old
shoes, ribbons, cast-off artificial flowers, and other articles of
_vertu_, wherein her soul delighted.
When Miss Ophelia entered the kitchen, Dinah did not rise, but smoked on
in sublime tranquillity, regarding her movements obliquely out of the
corner of her eye, but apparently intent only on the operations around
her.
Miss Ophelia commenced opening a set of drawers.
"What is this drawer for, Dinah?" she said.
"It's handy for 'most anything, missis," said Dinah. So it appeared to
be. From the variety it contained Miss Ophelia pulled out first a fine
damask table-cloth stained with blood, having evidently been used to
envelop some raw meat.
"What's this, Dinah? You don't wrap up meat in your mistress's best
table-cloth?"
"Oh, Lor', missis, no; the towels was all a-missin', so I just did it. I
laid it out to wash that ar; that's why I put it thar."
"Shir'less!" said Miss Ophelia to herself, proceeding to tumble over the
drawer, where she found a nutmeg-grater and two or three nutmegs, a
Methodist hymn-book, a couple of soiled Madras handkerchiefs, some yarn
and knitting-work, a paper of tobacco and a pipe, a few crackers, one or
two gilded china saucers with some pomade in them, one or two thin old
shoes, a piece of flannel carefully pinned up enclosing some small white
onions, several damask table-napkins, some coarse crash towels, some
twine and darning-needles, and several broken papers, from which sundry
sweet herbs were sifting into the drawer.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140