LEAVING HOME. 73

and fear and expectation filled my bosom! Often have
I kept awake during the night, wondering how it would
all seem in my future residence; planning how I should
get there, and who would meet me, and what kind of
a man my new master would be. The October frosts
became more frequent. The leaves already began to
‘cover the ground, and my preparations must be hurried
forward, for I had engaged to be there by the 5th of
November.

With what interest do I look back upon that last
month at home, where, every evening, our little family
assembled round the kitchen fire, happy in each other's
love, and busy for the one who was soon to leave it!
At one corner‘sat my father in his great arm-chair, his
pipe on the oven-shelf beside him, and Cuff sleeping at
his feet. Stoves had not then come into general use ;
but we beheld the dancing flame and the bright coals
in the capacious fireplace. And there, too, were the
crane and hooks, and the tea-kettle ever hanging on its
own long hook, and the old iron tongs, too, with which

my father diverted himself in laying and relaying the