to touch the basket of old
communion-plate which she had hung on her arm.

The house was a large brick edifice, with a pyramidal roof, covered with
moss, small windows, porticos with pillars somewhat out of repair, a
big, high hall, and a staircase wide enough to drive a gig up it if it
could have turned the corners. A grove of great forest oaks and poplars
densely shaded it, and made it look rather gloomy; and the garden, with
the old graveyard covered with periwinkle at one end, was almost in
front, while the side of the wood--a primeval forest, from which
the place took its name--came up so close as to form a strong,
dark background. During the war the place, like most others in that
neighborhood, suffered greatly, and only a sudden exhibition of spirit
on Cousin Fanny's part saved it from a worse fate. After the war it went
down; the fields were poor, and grew up in briers and sassafras, and the
house was too large and out of repair to keep from decay, the ownership
of it being divided between Cousin Fanny and other members of the
family. Cousin Fanny had no means whatever, so that it soon was in a bad
condition. The rest of the family, as they grew up, went off, compelled
by necessity to seek some means of livelihood, and would have taken
Cousin Fanny too if she would have gone; but she would not go. They did
all they could for her, but she preferred to hang around the old place,
and to do what she could with her "mammy", and "old Stephen", her
mammy's husband, who alone remained in the quarters. She lived in a part
of the house, locking up the rest, and from time to time visited among
her friends and relatives, who always received her hospitably. She had
an old piece of a mare (which I think she had bought from Stephen), with
one eye, three legs, and no mane or tail to speak of, and on which she
lavished, without the least perceptible result, care enough to have
kept a stable in condition. In a freak of humor she named this animal
"Fashion", after a noted racer of the old times, which had been raised
in the county, and had beaten the famous Boston in a great race. She
always spoke of "Fash" with a tone of real tenderness in her voice,
and looked after her, and discussed her ailments, which were always
numerous, as if she had been a delicate child. Mounted on this beast,
with her bags and bundles, and shawls and umbrella, and a long stick or
pole, she used occasionally to make the tour of the neighborhood, and
was