He thinks that in the meantime I should see Renfield, as hitherto he has been a sort of index to the coming and going of the CountI hardly see this yet, but when I get at the dates I suppose I shallWhat a good thing that MrsHarker put my cylinders into type! We never could have found the dates otherwise I found Renfield sitting placidly in his room with his hands folded, smiling benignlyAt the moment he seemed as sane as any one I ever sawI sat down and talked with him on a lot of subjects, all of which he treated naturallyHe then, of his own accord, spoke of going home, a subject he has never mentioned to my knowledge during his sojourn hereIn fact, he spoke quite confidently of getting his discharge at onceI believe that, had I not had the chat with Harker and read the letters and the dates of his outbursts, I should have been prepared to sign for him after a brief time of observationAs it is, I am darkly suspiciousAll those out-breaks were in some way linked with the proximity of the CountWhat then does this absolute content mean? Can it be that his instinct is satisfied as to the vampire's ultimate triumph? StayHe is himself zoophagous, and in his wild ravings outside the chapel door of the deserted house he always spoke of 'master'This all seems confirmation of our ideaHowever, after a while I came awayMy friend is just a little too sane at present to make it safe to probe him too deep with questionsHe might begin to think, and then? So I came awayI mistrust these quiet moods of his, so I have given the attendant a hint to look closely after him, and to have a strait waistcoat ready in case of need JOHNATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 29 September, in train to LondonBillington's courteous message that he would give me any information in his power I thought it best to go down to Whitby and make, on the spot, such inquiries as I wantedIt was now my object to trace that horrid cargo of the Count's to its place in LondonLater, we may be able to deal with itBillington junior, a nice lad, met me at the station, and brought me to his father's house, where they had decided that I must spend the nightThey are hospitable, with true Yorkshire hospitality, give a guest everything and leave him to do as he likesThey all knew that I was busy, and that my stay was short, and MrBillington had ready in his office all the papers concerning the consignment of boxesIt gave me almost a turn to see again one of the letters which I had seen on the Count's table before I knew of his diabolical plansEverything had been carefully thought out, and done systematically and with precisionHe seemed to have been prepared for every obstacle which might be placed by accident in the way of his intentions being carried outTo use an Americanism, he had 'taken no chances', and the absolute accuracy with which his instructions were fulfilled was simply the logical result of his careI saw the invoice, and took note of it'Fifty cases of common earth, to be used for experimental purposes'Also the copy of the letter to Carter Paterson, and their replyOf both these I got copiesThis was all the information MrBillington could give me, so I went down to the port and saw the coastguards, the Customs Officers and the harbour master, who kindly put me in communication with the men who had actually received the boxesTheir tally was exact with the list, and they had nothing to add to the simple description 'fifty cases of common earth', except that the boxes were 'main and mortal heavy', and that shifting them was dry workOne of them added that it was hard lines that there wasn't any gentleman 'such like as like yourself, squire', to show some sort of appreciation of their efforts in a liquid formAnother put in a rider that the thirst then generated was such that even the time which had elapsed had not completely allayed shop it

It was a superb moonlight night, and the shadows of the graceful China trees lay minutely pencilled on the turf below, and there was that transparent stillness in the air which it seems almost unholy to disturbLegree was a little distance from the quarters, when he heard the voice of some one singingIt was not a usual sound there, and he paused to listenA musical tenor voice sang, ?When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I?ll bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes ?Should earth against my soul engage, And hellish darts be hurled, Then I can smile at Satan?s rage, And face a frowning world ?Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall, May I but safely reach my home, My god, my Heaven, my All2 ?So ho!? said Legree to himself, ?he thinks so, does he? How I hate these cursed Methodist hymns! Here, you nigger,? said he, coming suddenly out upon Tom, and raising his riding-whip, ?how dare you be gettin? up this yer row, when you ought to be in bed? Shut yer old black gash, and get along in with you!? ?Yes, Mas?r,? said Tom, with ready cheerfulness, as he rose to to in Legree was provoked beyond measure by Tom?s evident happiness; and riding up to him, belabored him over his head and shoulders ?There, you dog,? he said, ?see if you?ll feel so comfortable, after that!? But the blows fell now only on the outer man, and not, as before, on the heartTom stood perfectly submissive; and yet Legree could not hide from himself that his power over his bond thrall was somehow goneAnd, as Tom disappeared in his cabin, and he wheeled his horse suddenly round, there passed through his mind one of those vivid flashes that often send the lightning of conscience across the dark and wicked soulHe understood full well that it was God who was standing between him and his victim, and he blasphemed himThat submissive and silent man, whom taunts, nor threats, nor stripes, nor cruelties, could disturb, roused a voice within him, such as of old his Master roused in the demoniac soul, saying, ?What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth??art thou come to torment us before the time?? Tom?s whole soul overflowed with compassion and sympathy for the poor wretches by whom he was surroundedTo him it seemed as if his life-sorrows were now over, and as if, out of that strange treasury of peace and joy, with which he had been endowed from above, he longed to pour out something for the relief of their woesIt is true, opportunities were scanty; but, on the way to the fields, and back again, and during the hours of labor, chances fell in his way of extending a helping-hand to the weary, the disheartened and discouragedThe poor, worn-down, brutalized creatures, at first, could scarce comprehend this; but, when it was continued week after week, and month after month, it began to awaken long-silent chords in their benumbed heartsGradually and imperceptibly the strange, silent, patient man, who was ready to bear every one?s burden, and sought help from none,?who stood aside for all, and came last, and took least, yet was foremost to share his little all with any who needed,?the man who, in cold nights, would give up his tattered blanket to add to the comfort of some woman who shivered with sickness, and who filled the baskets of the weaker ones in the field, at the terrible risk of coming short in his own measure,?and who, though pursued with unrelenting cruelty by their common tyrant, never joined in uttering a word of reviling or cursing,?this man, at last, began to have a strange power over them; and, when the more pressing season was past, and they were allowed again their Sundays for their own use, many would gather together to hear from him of JesusThey would gladly have met to hear, and pray, and sing, in some place, together; but Legree would not permit it, and more than once broke up such attempts, with oaths and brutal execrations,?so that the blessed news had to circulate from individual to individualYet who can speak the simple joy with which some of those poor outcasts, to whom life was a joyless journey to a dark unknown, heard of a compassionate Redeemer and a heavenly home? It is the statement of missionaries, that, of all races of the earth, none have received the Gospel with such eager docility as the AfricanThe principle of reliance and unquestioning faith, which is its foundation, is more a native element in this race than any other; and it has often been found among them, that a stray seed of truth, borne on some breeze of accident into hearts the most ignorant, has sprung up into fruit, whose abundance has shamed that of higher and more skilful culture The poor mulatto woman, whose simple faith had been well-nigh crushed and overwhelmed, by the avalanche of cruelty and wrong which had fallen upon her, felt her soul raised up by the hymns and passages of Holy Writ, which this lowly missionary breathed into her ear in intervals, as they were going to and returning from work; and even the half-crazed and wandering mind of Cassy was soothed and calmed by his simple and unobtrusive influences Stung to madness and despair by the crushing agonies of a life, Cassy had often resolved in her soul an hour of retribution, when her hand should avenge on her oppressor all the injustice and cruelty to which she had been witness, or which she had in her own person suffered One night, after all in Tom?s cabin were sunk in sleep, he was suddenly aroused by seeing her face at the hole between the logs, that served for a windowShe made a silent gesture for him to come out Tom came out the doorIt was between one and two o?clock at night,?broad, calm, still moonlightTom remarked, as the light of the moon fell upon Cassy?s large, black eyes, that there was a wild and peculiar glare in them, unlike their wonted fixed despair ?Come here, Father Tom,? she said, laying her small hand on his wrist, and drawing him forward with a force as if the hand were of steel; ?come here,?I?ve news for you ?What, Misse Cassy?? said Tom, anxiously ?Tom, wouldn?t you like your liberty?? ?I shall have it, Misse, in God?s time,? said Tom?Ay, but you may have it tonight,? said Cassy, with a flash of sudden energy ?Come!? said she, in a whisper, fixing her black eyes on him?Come along! He?s asleep?soundI put enough into his brandy to keep him soI wish I?d had more,?I shouldn?t have wanted youBut come, the back door is unlocked; there?s an axe there, I put it there,?his room door is open; I?ll show you the way I?d a done it myself, only my arms are so weakCome along!? ?Not for ten thousand worlds, Misse!? said Tom, firmly, stopping and holding her back, as she was pressing forward ?But think of all these poor creatures,? said Cassy?We might set them all free, and go somewhere in the swamps, and find an island, and live by ourselves; I?ve heard of its being doneAny life is better than shop this

Lord, I?ll reel it off to make ?em stare!? It must be observed that one of Sam?s especial delights had been to ride in attendance on his master to all kinds of political gatherings, where, roosted on some rail fence, or perched aloft in some tree, he would sit watching the orators, with the greatest apparent gusto, and then, descending among the various brethren of his own color, assembled on the same errand, he would edify and delight them with the most ludicrous burlesques and imitations, all delivered with the most imperturbable earnestness and solemnity; and though the auditors immediately about him were generally of his own color, it not unfrequently happened that they were fringed pretty deeply with those of a fairer complexion, who listened, laughing and winking, to Sam?s great self-congratulationIn fact, Sam considered oratory as his vocation, and never let slip an opportunity of magnifying his office Now, between Sam and Aunt Chloe there had existed, from ancient times, a sort of chronic feud, or rather a decided coolness; but, as Sam was meditating something in the provision department, as the necessary and obvious foundation of his operations, he determined, on the present occasion, to be eminently conciliatory; for he well knew that although ?Missis? orders? would undoubtedly be followed to the letter, yet he should gain a considerable deal by enlisting the spirit alsoHe therefore appeared before Aunt Chloe with a touchingly subdued, resigned expression, like one who has suffered immeasurable hardships in behalf of a persecuted fellow-creature,?enlarged upon the fact that Missis had directed him to come to Aunt Chloe for whatever might be wanting to make up the balance in his solids and fluids,?and thus unequivocally acknowledged her right and supremacy in the cooking department, and all thereto pertaining The thing took accordinglyNo poor, simple, virtuous body was ever cajoled by the attentions of an electioneering politician with more ease than Aunt Chloe was won over by Master Sam?s suavities; and if he had been the prodigal son himself, he could not have been overwhelmed with more maternal bountifulness; and he soon found himself seated, happy and glorious, over a large tin pan, containing a sort of olla podrida of all that had appeared on the table for two or three days pastSavory morsels of ham, golden blocks of corn-cake, fragments of pie of every conceivable mathematical figure, chicken wings, gizzards, and drumsticks, all appeared in picturesque confusion; and Sam, as monarch of all he surveyed, sat with his palm-leaf cocked rejoicingly to one side, and patronizing Andy at his right hand The kitchen was full of all his compeers, who had hurried and crowded in, from the various cabins, to hear the termination of the day?s exploitsNow was Sam?s hour of gloryThe story of the day was rehearsed, with all kinds of ornament and varnishing which might be necessary to heighten its effect; for Sam, like some of our fashionable dilettanti, never allowed a story to lose any of its gilding by passing through his handsRoars of laughter attended the narration, and were taken up and prolonged by all the smaller fry, who were lying, in any quantity, about on the floor, or perched in every cornerIn the height of the uproar and laughter, Sam, however, preserved an immovable gravity, only from time to time rolling his eyes up, and giving his auditors divers inexpressibly droll glances, without departing from the sententious elevation of his oratory ?Yer see, fellow-countrymen,? said Sam, elevating a turkey?s leg, with energy, ?yer see, now what dis yer chile ?s up ter, for fendin? yer all,?yes, all on yerFor him as tries to get one o? our people is as good as tryin? to get all; yer see the principle ?s de same,?dat ar?s clarAnd any one o? these yer drivers that comes smelling round arter any our people, why, he?s got me in his way; I?m the feller he?s got to set in with,?I?m the feller for yer all to come to, bredren,?I?ll stand up for yer rights,?I?ll fend ?em to the last breath!? ?Why, but Sam, yer telled me, only this mornin?, that you?d help this yer Mas?r to cotch Lizy; seems to me yer talk don?t hang together,? said Andy ?I tell you now, Andy,? said Sam, with awful superiority, ?don?t yer be a talkin? ?bout what yer don?t know nothin? on; boys like you, Andy, means well, but they can?t be spected to collusitate the great principles of action Andy looked rebuked, particularly by the hard word collusitate, which most of the youngerly members of the company seemed to consider as a settler in the case, while Sam proceeded ?Dat ar was conscience, Andy; when I thought of gwine arter Lizy, I railly spected Mas?r was sot dat wayWhen I found Missis was sot the contrar, dat ar was conscience more yet,?cause fellers allers gets more by stickin? to Missis? side,?so yer see I ?s persistent either way, and sticks up to conscience, and holds on to principlesYes, principles,? said Sam, giving an enthusiastic toss to a chicken?s neck,??what?s principles good for, if we isn?t persistent, I wanter know? Thar, Andy, you may have dat ar bone,?tan?t picked quite clean Sam?s audience hanging on his words with open mouth, he could not but proceed ?Dis yer matter ?bout persistence, feller-niggers,? said Sam, with the air of one entering into an abstruse subject, ?dis yer ?sistency ?s a thing what an?t seed into very clar, by most anybodyNow, yer see, when a feller stands up for a thing one day and night, de contrar de next, folks ses (and nat?rally enough dey ses), why he an?t persistent,?hand me dat ar bit o? corn-cake, AndyBut let?s look inter itI hope the gen?lmen and der fair sex will scuse my usin? an or?nary sort o? ?parisonHere! I?m a trying to get top o? der hayWal, I puts up my larder dis yer side; ?tan?t no go;?den, cause I don?t try dere no more, but puts my larder right de contrar side, an?t I persistent? I?m persistent in wantin? to get up which ary side my larder is; don?t you see, all on yer?? ?It?s the only thing ye ever was persistent in, Lord knows!? muttered Aunt Chloe, who was getting rather restive; the merriment of the evening being to her somewhat after the Scripture comparison,?like ?vinegar upon nitre ?Yes, indeed!? said Sam, rising, full of supper and glory, for a closing effort?Yes, my feller-citizens and ladies of de other sex in general, I has principles,?I?m proud to ?oon ?em,?they ?s perquisite to dese yer times, and ter all timesI has principles, and I sticks to ?em like forty,?jest anything that I thinks is principle, I goes in to ?t;?I wouldn?t mind if dey burnt me ?live,?I?d walk right up to de stake, I would, and say, here I comes to shed my last blood fur my principles, fur my country, fur de gen?l interests of society ?Well,? said Aunt Chloe, ?one o? yer principles will have to be to get to bed some time tonight, and not be a keepin? everybody up till mornin?; now, every one of you young uns that don?t want to be cracked, had better be scase, mighty sudden ?Niggers! all on yer,? said Sam, waving his palm-leaf with benignity, ?I give yer my blessin?; go to bed now, and be good boys And, with this pathetic benediction, the assembly dispersed Chapter 9 In Which It Appears That a Senator Is But a Man The light of the cheerful fire shone on the rug and carpet of a cosey parlor, and glittered on the sides of the tea-cups and well-brightened tea-pot, as Senator Bird was drawing off his boots, preparatory to inserting his feet in a pair of new handsome slippers, which his wife had been working for him while away on his senatorial tourBird, looking the very picture of delight, was superintending the arrangements of the table, ever and anon mingling admonitory remarks to a number of frolicsome juveniles, who were effervescing in all those modes of untold gambol and mischief that have astonished mothers ever since the flood ?Tom, let the door-knob alone,?there?s a man! Mary! Mary! don?t pull the cat?s tail,?poor pussy! Jim, you mustn?t climb on that table,?no, no!?You don?t know, my dear, what a surprise it is to us all, to see you here tonight!? said she, at last, when she found a space to say something to her husband ?Yes, yes, I thought I?d just make a run down, spend the night, and have a little comfort at homeI?m tired to death, and my head aches!? MrsBird cast a glance at a camphor-bottle, which stood in the half-open closet, and appeared to meditate an approach to it, but her husband interposed ?No, no, Mary, no doctoring! a cup of your good hot tea, and some of our good home living, is what I shop want

South as well as north, there are women who have an extraordinary talent for command, and tact in educatingSuch are enabled, with apparent ease, and without severity, to subject to their will, and bring into harmonious and systematic order, the various members of their small estate,?to regulate their peculiarities, and so balance and compensate the deficiencies of one by the excess of another, as to produce a harmonious and orderly system Such a housekeeper was MrsShelby, whom we have already described; and such our readers may remember to have met withIf they are not common at the South, it is because they are not common in the worldThey are to be found there as often as anywhere; and, when existing, find in that peculiar state of society a brilliant opportunity to exhibit their domestic talent Such a housekeeper Marie StClare was not, nor her mother before herIndolent and childish, unsystematic and improvident, it was not to be expected that servants trained under her care should not be so likewise; and she had very justly described to Miss Ophelia the state of confusion she would find in the family, though she had not ascribed it to the proper cause The first morning of her regency, Miss Ophelia was up at four o?clock; and having attended to all the adjustments of her own chamber, as she had done ever since she came there, to the great amazement of the chambermaid, she prepared for a vigorous onslaught on the cupboards and closets of the establishment of which she had the keys The store-room, the linen-presses, the china-closet, the kitchen and cellar, that day, all went under an awful reviewHidden things of darkness were brought to light to an extent that alarmed all the principalities and powers of kitchen and chamber, and caused many wonderings and murmurings about ?dese yer northern ladies? from the domestic cabinet Old Dinah, the head cook, and principal of all rule and authority in the kitchen department, was filled with wrath at what she considered an invasion of privilegeNo feudal baron in Magna Charta times could have more thoroughly resented some incursion of the crown Dinah was a character in her own way, and it would be injustice to her memory not to give the reader a little idea of herShe was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,?cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race; but Chloe was a trained and methodical one, who moved in an orderly domestic harness, while Dinah was a self-taught genius, and, like geniuses in general, was positive, opinionated and erratic, to the last degree Like a certain class of modern philosophers, Dinah perfectly scorned logic and reason in every shape, and always took refuge in intuitive certainty; and here she was perfectly impregnableNo possible amount of talent, or authority, or explanation, could ever make her believe that any other way was better than her own, or that the course she had pursued in the smallest matter could be in the least modifiedThis had been a conceded point with her old mistress, Marie?s mother; and ?Miss Marie,? as Dinah always called her young mistress, even after her marriage, found it easier to submit than contend; and so Dinah had ruled supremeThis was the easier, in that she was perfect mistress of that diplomatic art which unites the utmost subservience of manner with the utmost inflexibility as to measure Dinah was mistress of the whole art and mystery of excuse-making, in all its branchesIndeed, it was an axiom with her that the cook can do no wrong; and a cook in a Southern kitchen finds abundance of heads and shoulders on which to lay off every sin and frailty, so as to maintain her own immaculateness entireIf any part of the dinner was a failure, there were fifty indisputably good reasons for it; and it was the fault undeniably of fifty other people, whom Dinah berated with unsparing zeal But it was very seldom that there was any failure in Dinah?s last resultsThough her mode of doing everything was peculiarly meandering and circuitous, and without any sort of calculation as to time and place,?though her kitchen generally looked as if it had been arranged by a hurricane blowing through it, and she had about as many places for each cooking utensil as there were days in the year,?yet, if one would have patience to wait her own good time, up would come her dinner in perfect order, and in a style of preparation with which an epicure could find no fault It was now the season of incipient preparation for dinnerDinah, who required large intervals of reflection and repose, and was studious of ease in all her arrangements, was seated on the kitchen floor, smoking a short, stumpy pipe, to which she was much addicted, and which she always kindled up, as a sort of censer, whenever she felt the need of an inspiration in her arrangementsIt was Dinah?s mode of invoking the domestic Muses Seated around her were various members of that rising race with which a Southern household abounds, engaged in shelling peas, peeling potatoes, picking pin-feathers out of fowls, and other preparatory arrangements,?Dinah every once in a while interrupting her meditations to give a poke, or a rap on the head, to some of the young operators, with the pudding-stick that lay by her sideIn fact, Dinah ruled over the woolly heads of the younger members with a rod of iron, and seemed to consider them born for no earthly purpose but to ?save her steps,? as she phrased itIt was the spirit of the system under which she had grown up, and she carried it out to its full extent Miss Ophelia, after passing on her reformatory tour through all the other parts of the establishment, now entered the kitchenDinah had heard, from various sources, what was going on, and resolved to stand on defensive and conservative ground,?mentally determined to oppose and ignore every new measure, without any actual observable contest The kitchen was a large brick-floored apartment, with a great old-fashioned fireplace stretching along one side of it,?an arrangement which StClare had vainly tried to persuade Dinah to exchange for the convenience of a modern cook-stoveNo Puseyite,1 or conservative of any school, was ever more inflexibly attached to time-honored inconveniences than DinahClare had first returned from the north, impressed with the system and order of his uncle?s kitchen arrangements, he had largely provided his own with an array of cupboards, drawers, and various apparatus, to induce systematic regulation, under the sanguine illusion that it would be of any possible assistance to Dinah in her arrangementsHe might as well have provided them for a squirrel or a magpieThe more drawers and closets there were, the more hiding-holes could Dinah make for the accommodation of old rags, hair-combs, old shoes, ribbons, cast-off artificial flowers, and other articles of vertu, wherein her soul delighted When Miss Ophelia entered the kitchen Dinah did not rise, but smoked on in sublime tranquillity, regarding her movements obliquely out of the corner of her eye, but apparently intent only on the operations around shop her

South as well as north, there are women who have an extraordinary talent for command, and tact in educatingSuch are enabled, with apparent ease, and without severity, to subject to their will, and bring into harmonious and systematic order, the various members of their small estate,?to regulate their peculiarities, and so balance and compensate the deficiencies of one by the excess of another, as to produce a harmonious and orderly system Such a housekeeper was MrsShelby, whom we have already described; and such our readers may remember to have met withIf they are not common at the South, it is because they are not common in the worldThey are to be found there as often as anywhere; and, when existing, find in that peculiar state of society a brilliant opportunity to exhibit their domestic talent Such a housekeeper Marie StClare was not, nor her mother before herIndolent and childish, unsystematic and improvident, it was not to be expected that servants trained under her care should not be so likewise; and she had very justly described to Miss Ophelia the state of confusion she would find in the family, though she had not ascribed it to the proper cause The first morning of her regency, Miss Ophelia was up at four o?clock; and having attended to all the adjustments of her own chamber, as she had done ever since she came there, to the great amazement of the chambermaid, she prepared for a vigorous onslaught on the cupboards and closets of the establishment of which she had the keys The store-room, the linen-presses, the china-closet, the kitchen and cellar, that day, all went under an awful reviewHidden things of darkness were brought to light to an extent that alarmed all the principalities and powers of kitchen and chamber, and caused many wonderings and murmurings about ?dese yer northern ladies? from the domestic cabinet Old Dinah, the head cook, and principal of all rule and authority in the kitchen department, was filled with wrath at what she considered an invasion of privilegeNo feudal baron in Magna Charta times could have more thoroughly resented some incursion of the crown Dinah was a character in her own way, and it would be injustice to her memory not to give the reader a little idea of herShe was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,?cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race; but Chloe was a trained and methodical one, who moved in an orderly domestic harness, while Dinah was a self-taught genius, and, like geniuses in general, was positive, opinionated and erratic, to the last degree Like a certain class of modern philosophers, Dinah perfectly scorned logic and reason in every shape, and always took refuge in intuitive certainty; and here she was perfectly impregnableNo possible amount of talent, or authority, or explanation, could ever make her believe that any other way was better than her own, or that the course she had pursued in the smallest matter could be in the least modifiedThis had been a conceded point with her old mistress, Marie?s mother; and ?Miss Marie,? as Dinah always called her young mistress, even after her marriage, found it easier to submit than contend; and so Dinah had ruled supremeThis was the easier, in that she was perfect mistress of that diplomatic art which unites the utmost subservience of manner with the utmost inflexibility as to measure Dinah was mistress of the whole art and mystery of excuse-making, in all its branchesIndeed, it was an axiom with her that the cook can do no wrong; and a cook in a Southern kitchen finds abundance of heads and shoulders on which to lay off every sin and frailty, so as to maintain her own immaculateness entireIf any part of the dinner was a failure, there were fifty indisputably good reasons for it; and it was the fault undeniably of fifty other people, whom Dinah berated with unsparing zeal But it was very seldom that there was any failure in Dinah?s last resultsThough her mode of doing everything was peculiarly meandering and circuitous, and without any sort of calculation as to time and place,?though her kitchen generally looked as if it had been arranged by a hurricane blowing through it, and she had about as many places for each cooking utensil as there were days in the year,?yet, if one would have patience to wait her own good time, up would come her dinner in perfect order, and in a style of preparation with which an epicure could find no fault It was now the season of incipient preparation for dinnerDinah, who required large intervals of reflection and repose, and was studious of ease in all her arrangements, was seated on the kitchen floor, smoking a short, stumpy pipe, to which she was much addicted, and which she always kindled up, as a sort of censer, whenever she felt the need of an inspiration in her arrangementsIt was Dinah?s mode of invoking the domestic Muses Seated around her were various members of that rising race with which a Southern household abounds, engaged in shelling peas, peeling potatoes, picking pin-feathers out of fowls, and other preparatory arrangements,?Dinah every once in a while interrupting her meditations to give a poke, or a rap on the head, to some of the young operators, with the pudding-stick that lay by her sideIn fact, Dinah ruled over the woolly heads of the younger members with a rod of iron, and seemed to consider them born for no earthly purpose but to ?save her steps,? as she phrased itIt was the spirit of the system under which she had grown up, and she carried it out to its full extent Miss Ophelia, after passing on her reformatory tour through all the other parts of the establishment, now entered the kitchenDinah had heard, from various sources, what was going on, and resolved to stand on defensive and conservative ground,?mentally determined to oppose and ignore every new measure, without any actual observable contest The kitchen was a large brick-floored apartment, with a great old-fashioned fireplace stretching along one side of it,?an arrangement which StClare had vainly tried to persuade Dinah to exchange for the convenience of a modern cook-stoveNo Puseyite,1 or conservative of any school, was ever more inflexibly attached to time-honored inconveniences than DinahClare had first returned from the north, impressed with the system and order of his uncle?s kitchen arrangements, he had largely provided his own with an array of cupboards, drawers, and various apparatus, to induce systematic regulation, under the sanguine illusion that it would be of any possible assistance to Dinah in her arrangementsHe might as well have provided them for a squirrel or a magpieThe more drawers and closets there were, the more hiding-holes could Dinah make for the accommodation of old rags, hair-combs, old shoes, ribbons, cast-off artificial flowers, and other articles of vertu, wherein her soul delighted When Miss Ophelia entered the kitchen Dinah did not rise, but smoked on in sublime tranquillity, regarding her movements obliquely out of the corner of her eye, but apparently intent only on the operations around shop her