tefulness and enjoyment.

A special feature of a Christmas on the plantation, especially "before
the war," was the row of shining, happy black faces that swarmed up to
the great house in the morning light, with their mellow outcry of "Merry
Christmas, massa!" "Merry Christmas, missis!" and their hopeful looks
and eyes bulging with expectation. Joyful was the time when their gifts
were handed out,--useful articles of clothing, household goods, and the
like, all gladly and hilariously received, with a joy as childlike as
that of the little ones with their stockings. Off they tripped merrily
through the snow with their burdens, laughing and joking, to their
cabins, where dinners awaited them which were humble copies of that
preparing for the guests at the master's table. Turkey was not wanting,
varied here and there by that rare dish of raccoon or "'possum" which
the Southern darky so highly enjoys.

The great event of the mansion house was the dinner. All day till the
dinner-hour the kitchen was full of busy preparation for this crowning
culmination of the festival. Cooks there were in plenty, and the din of
their busy labor and the perfume of their culinary triumphs seemed to
pervade the whole house.

When the dinner was served, it was a sight to behold. The solid old
mahogany table groaned with the weight laid upon it. In the place of
honor was the big gobbler, brown as a berry and done to a turn. For
those who preferred other meat there was a huge round of venison and an
artistically ornamented ham. These formed the backbone of the feast, but
with and around them were every vegetable and delicacy that a Southern
garden could provide, and tasteful dishes which it took all the
ingenuity of a trained mistress of the kitchen to prepare. This was the
season to test the genius of the dusky Southern cooks, and they had
exhausted their art and skill for that day's feast. On the ample
sideboard, shining with glass, was the abundant dessert, the cakes,
pies, puddings, and other aids to a failing appetite that had been
devised the day before.

That this dinner was done honor to need scarcely be said. The journey
the day before and the outdoor exercise in that day's frosty air had
given every one an excellent appetite, and the appearance of the table
at the end of the feast showed that the skill of Aunt Dinah and her
assistants had been amply appreciated. After dinner came apple-toddy and
eggnog, and the great ovation to the C