The interior of the cottage was neatly furnished, though with none of
the gaudy trappings of fashion. Everything was plain and useful. On the
side fronting the stream, which served the inmates as a highway, were
two rooms,--a library, which was also the sitting-room, and a sleeping
apartment. The library was far the most substantial and
comfortable-looking room in the house, inasmuch as it was abundantly
supplied with modern and classical lore. In the middle was a large
writing-desk, upon which lay sundry manuscripts, apparently the last
labor of the occupant. The books and papers were all arranged with
scrupulous neatness and method.
The two rooms in the rear were the dining-room and another sleeping
apartment, while the attic was occupied by the old negro and his
wife,--the property of the proprietor, and his only attendants upon the
island. Back of the house, as is the custom of the South, was a small
building used as a kitchen. Near it was another building, appropriated
to the use of the cow aforesaid.
In the stream in front of the cottage, fastened to a tree on the bank,
was a beautifully-modelled sail-boat, which was worthy to rank with the
miniature yachts of our large cities.
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