Stranica 52 [52]
OCR
KO DRE: TAMES "RIVER ELANTATJON :BELT zt — tm — — -- ae — For dessert, pound cake, mince pie, lemon pudding, raspberry puffs, jelly, amber-colored and purple with sylabubs, blanc mange, one couleur de rose, like the light of Aurora’s cheek, the other typical of innocence and in Russia of morning, snow white. Champagne, sparkling like wit, in cranelike glasses. A contemplative mind will observe light, volatile particles ascending with accelerative velocity. Ambitious, evanescent aspirants, they hasten to the top only to expire. Madeira and Malaga also revolve in their proper orbits; cloth removed. ‘Third course: Apples, red and green—the red grow at Tedington. Almonds, raisins, olives (de gustibus non disputandum ), sweetmeats, brandy peaches, and cheese (old English). “The sun now sinking in the west, it grows dim crepuscular; candles are lit, healths drunk, easy slipshod dialogues, an occasional cross-fire of puns and concerts, ‘a moment there and gone forever, interspersed with diagonal glances across the table, a sweet, surreptitious meeting of the eyes.’ A pretty picture of those good old days! In 1852, [edington again changed hands, becoming the property of Colonel Richard Baylor, of Essex County. About this time the plantation was considered one of the very finest on James River, and contained about its original five thousand acres of land with a river front of nearly three miles. Hundreds of slaves tilled the broad, fertile fields. It is said that during harvest nearly three hundred men would be at work in the wheat fields. A hundred or more dusky “cradlers’” cut a swath of yellow, heavy-headed, breast-high wheat. A binder followed each “‘cradler,” gathering up the wheat into sheaves, a crowd of young darkies stacked the wheat, and were followed by a long line of the older men (shockers) who gathered the heavy, golden sheaves, and built them into substantial shocks, in straight lines across the fields. ‘The overseer rode along, giving orders, or speaking words of encouragement to the harvest gang. The plantation owner was on horseback or in the carriage, perhaps, with some visitor or, maybe, some [33]
