nd the chickens
having been mainly disposed of, Mr. Graeme went down and brought the old
mammy on.

He had written the old woman to come by a certain train to Washington
where he would meet her, and true to his appointment he met that train.
But in the motley throng that filed through the gate was no Mam' Lyddy,
and inquiring of the train men showed that no one answering to her
description could have been on the train.

Just as Graeme was turning away to go to the telegraph desk, one of
the gray-clad colored porters, a stout, middle-aged man with a pleasant
voice, and the address of a gentleman, approached him,

"Were you looking for some one, sir?"

"Yes, for an old colored woman, my wife's old mammy."

"Well, I think you may find her in the inner waiting-room. There is an
old lady in there, who has been waiting there all day. She came in on
the morning train, and said she was expecting you. If you will come with
me, I will show you."

"She 's been there all day," the porter said, with a laugh, as they
walked along. "I asked who she was waiting for; but she wouldn't tell
me. She said it was none of my business."

"I fancy that 's she," said Graeme.

"Yes, sir, that 's she, sure."

Graeme thanked him. With a chuckle he led the way to where ensconced
in a corner, surrounded by bundles and baskets and clad in the deepest
black, and with a flaming red bow at her throat, sat Mammy Lyddy.

"Here 's the gentleman you were looking for," said the porter kindly.

At sight of Graeme she rose so hastily that many of her bundles rolled
on the floor.

"Why, Mammy! Why did n't you come on the train I wrote you to come on?"
enquired Graeme.

"Well, you tole me to come to-day, and I thought I would like to be on
time, so I came this morning."

"Now, if you will let me have your tickets, I will attend to everything
for you," said the porter to Graeme.

The old woman gave him a swift glance, and then seeing Graeme hand him
his ticket, she turned her back, and began to fish in some mysterious
recess in her garments, and after a long exploration brought out a small
bag containing her ticket.

"Is he one of your servants!" she asked Graeme in an undertone.

Graeme smiled. "Well, I think he is--he is everybody's servant and
friend."

"I did n't know. He comes roun' inquirin' 'bout my business so officious
I thought sure he was one o' dese Gov'ment folks, and I done had 'nough
to do wid dat kind."

"Like Amos Brown,