Page:Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House.djvu/109

Rh salute. Not a bit staggered with the homage, Willie drew himself up to his full height, took off his little cap with graceful self-possession, and bowed down formally to the ground, like a little ambassador. They drove past, and he went on unconcernedly with his play: the impromptu readiness and good judgment being clearly a part of his nature. His genial and open expression of countenance was none the less ingenuous and fearless for a certain tincture of fun; and it was in this mingling of qualities that he so faithfully resembled his father. "With all the splendor that was around this little fellow* in his new home, he was so bravely and beautifully himself—and that only. A wild flower transplanted from the prairie to the hothouse, he retained his prairie habits, unalterably pure and simple, till he died. His leading trait, seemed to be a fearless and kindly frankness, willing that everything should be as different as it pleased, but resting unmoved in his own