Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/83

 other people's eyes, a most highly attractive being. I remarked in particular the charm of her voice, and her movement, and how, without asking any questions, she could, even with ladies, set a conversation afloat, and keep it up with animation.

Mr. H., the father, took me out with him to visit various small farmers of the district, so that I might see something of their circumstances. At two of the houses we arrived just at dinner-time, and I saw the tables abundantly supplied with meat and cakes of Indian meal, vegetables, and fruit, as well as with the most beautiful white bread. The houses were for the most part “frame-houses,” that is to say, a sort of neatly-built wooden house; the rooms had large windows, which were light and clean. It was a real pleasure to me to converse with Mr. H., who is well acquainted with the country, and a warm friend of its free institutions, the excellence of which he has had an opportunity of testing during a long official life.

The day was beautiful, but a little cool in the wind—not a “well-mingled air,” as you are accustomed to call it. And the air here has something so keen, so penetrating, that I am affected by it as I never was in Sweden.

There was a whole crowd of strangers to dinner, among whom was Washington Irving, a man of about sixty, with large beautiful eyes, a large well-formed nose, a countenance still handsome, in which youthful little dimples and smiles bear witness to a youthfully fresh and humorous disposition and soul. He must be a man of an usually happy temperament, and of the most excellent heart. He has surrounded himself with a number of nieces (he says he cannot conceive of what use boys are in the world), whom he makes happy, and who make him so by their affection. He says he has the peculiar faculty of liking everything which he possesses,