. Highways and byways of the South. but it stoodas isolated and lonely amid the trees as did the one of these houses I found lodging — and howgood it was to be welcomed out of the strange forestglooms into that friendly family circle to share itslight and shelter and food ! Adjoining the house was a smaller building knownas the lodge, and in that 1 spent the night. Itsinterior resembled a barn, for it was a single apartmentwith timbers exposed, and open above to the roofThe walls were whitewashed, and the apartment wasroughly furnished for a combination chamber and The Cotton Patch i
. Highways and byways of the South. but it stoodas isolated and lonely amid the trees as did the one of these houses I found lodging — and howgood it was to be welcomed out of the strange forestglooms into that friendly family circle to share itslight and shelter and food ! Adjoining the house was a smaller building knownas the lodge, and in that 1 spent the night. Itsinterior resembled a barn, for it was a single apartmentwith timbers exposed, and open above to the roofThe walls were whitewashed, and the apartment wasroughly furnished for a combination chamber and The Cotton Patch in Harvest Time 271 schoolroom. My sleep was intermittent. I did notmind the blur of insect minstrelsy that filled the air,but I was disturbed by a cow lowing somewhere near,by the barking of dogs, by a horse stamping and snort-ing in the yard, by a man who late in the night wentyo-ho-ing and whistling along the road and wakenedall the woodland echoes, and by a mysterious tickingin the shingles of the roof—was it death watches ?. The Plantation Porch Shortly after daylight a little negro boy walked inat my door — the doors were not made to lock — andannounced, Mr. Lemair say dey have breakfas sevenoclock, sah. Then he stepped behind a calico screenand filled a bath-tub with water and departed. 272 Highways and Byways of the South It still lacked something of the hour named when Icame forth from the lodge, and I spent the interveningtime rambling about the premises. My hosts housewas a broad, low building, painted white. A wideporch extended the full length of the south home yard included several acres and was fencedwith high palings. Far back toward the rear of theyard was a little barn, a shed for the hens, and a negrocabin occupied by a family that did the work at thebig house. The morning was sunny and quiet. The atmos-phere was dim with a gauzy mist, the grass and leaveswet and shining with dew. I could hear the clatter of awoodpecker, the cawing of crows, a
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1904
