The cabin of Maum Winnie with a
few of the servants' houses were still standing, but deserted and
desolate. Doors, log fireplaces, etc., had been torn down for
firewood, and in many places patches of charred wood, or dead embers,
showed where camp-fires had been lighted. The little garden in front
of Maum Winnie's cabin, made and carefully tended by "de ole man," was
a wilderness of weeds among which flowers of rank growth still
struggled for a place. Where the chimneys of the "house" still stood,
and all over the half-burned trunks of once beautiful trees crept and
clung sickly-looking vines, springing from the roots which had once
nourished a luxuriant growth and were not wholly dead.
As Mr. Grey surveyed the scene, a deep groan burst from his lips; but
the wife laid her hand upon his shoulder, saying, "Courage, dear, we
will make a home even here." Maum Winnie here stepped to the front,
briskly leading the way to the little cabin, followed by Nelly, who,
child-like, entered readily into any plan that promised to be novel
and exciting. Everything of value had been carried off, but a few
chairs and a bed with a shuck mattress remained, together with a few
pots and pans.
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