Supper was hastily dispatched, by the children, who were eager and
impatient for the coming of Aunt Judy.

"O mother! _do_ you think she will come?" asked Alfred, as his mother
arose from the table to look at the weather.

"Well, indeed, Alfred, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I think there
is little probability of seeing Judy to-night."

"Why, no, mother, I thought that as soon as I saw what a stormy night it
was; and although it will disappoint us very much, I hope she will not
come," said little Cornelia.

"Why, how you talk, sis! _Not come_, indeed! Humph! I hope she _will_,
then. This little snow wouldn't hurt me, so it wouldn't hurt her," said
the impetuous Alfred.

"You must remember, my son, that Judy is old and infirm, and subject, as
she says, to a 'touch of the rheumatiz.' But I am sorry that she has not
come to-night. She may be sick; I think I will call down and see her
to-morrow," said Mrs. Ford, drawing out the table and arranging the
shade on the lamp, so that the light fell on the table and the faces of
those around it. They were cheerful, happy faces, and everything around
them wore the same look; and from the aspect of things, it seemed as if
they were going to spend a pleasant and profitable evening.

"Dear papa, tell us a story with a poor slave in it, won't you? and I
will give you as many kisses as you please," said Cornelia, twining her
arms around her father's neck.

"No, no, papa, not about the slave, but the poor Indian, who has been
far worse treated than the slave was or ever will be. Only to think of
the white people coming here, plundering their villages, and building on
their hunting grounds, just as if it belonged to them, when all the
while it was the Indians'. Now, if they had bought it and paid for it,
honorably, as William Penn did, it would have been a different thing;
but they got it meanly, and I'm ashamed of them for it," said Alfred,
his eyes flashing and his cheeks glowing with indignation.

"All that you have said is true, my son, but the Indians were also
guilty of great cruelty toward the white people," said Mr. Ford.

"But, papa, don't you think the Indians had good cause for their hatred
to the whites?" asked Harry.

"Why, Harry, they had no reason sufficient to justify them in their
cruel and vindictive course; but they did no more than was to be
expected from an entirely barbarous nation, and I am sure they had no
good example in the conduct of the white