THE GENERAL'S. 27

Hush! hush! Lucy,” said her mother.

Lucy, therefore, said no more, but went in.
She found herself in a large room, with a very
large fireplace in one side of it. There were
a great many strange things,—that is, things
strange to Lucy, —— all about the room. There
was a long wooden seat, with a very high back
to it, by the wall, upon one side of the fire.
There was a round-faced, happy-looking girl,
sitting on this seat, about as big as Joanna. She
was knitting. There was, also, a young man sit-
ting by a window ; this was Joseph; and he got
up and went out when the party came in, in
order to go to the barn, and help take care of
the horse. ‘The General and his wife put some
chairs before the fire, for Lucy and her father
and mother to sit down and warm themselves.
Lucy sat down with the rest, but she was so
much amazed at the strange things before her, —
the great hearth, made of monstrous flat stones,
the black iron andirons, with the tops turning over
in a curl, and the bright, blazing fire, —that she
did not think much about warming herself.

Then Lucy began to look about the room.
The light shone brightly upon the floor, and un-
der the tables. Under one table there was a
large black dog stretched out straight, with his