James Parton, The life of Horace Greeley

[428] its usual place at the bottom of the hat-stand. Therefore I knew that the wearer of these articles was not at home, before the “girl” told me so; but, upon her informing me that he was expected in a few minutes, I concluded to go in and wait. The entrance-hall is exceedingly narrow, and the stairs, narrower still, begin at a few feet from the door, affording room only for the hat-stand and a chair. The carpet on the stairs and hall was common in pattern, coarse in texture. A lady, the very picture of a prosperous farmer's wife, with her clean delaine dress and long, wide, white apron, stood at the head of the stairs, and came down to meet me. She lighted the gas in the parlors, and then, summoned by the crying of a child up stairs, left me to my observations.

Neither I nor anybody else ever saw parlors so curiously furnished. There are three of them, and the inventory of the furniture would read thus:—One small mahogany table at the head of the front parlor; one lounge in ditto; eleven light cane-chairs in front and back parlors; one book-case of carved black-walnut in the small apartment behind the back parlor; and, except the carpets, not another article of furniture in either room. But the walls were almost covered with paintings; the mantelpieces were densely peopled with statuettes, busts, and medallions; in a corner on a pedestal stood a beautiful copy of (I believe) Powers' Proserpine in marble; and various other works of art were disposed about the floor or leaned against the walls. Of the quality of the pictures I could not, in that light, form an opinion. The subjects of more than half of them were religious, such as, the Virgin rapt; Peter, lovest thou me? Christ crowned with thorns; Mary, Joseph, and Child; Virgin and Child; a woman praying before an image in a cathedral; Mary praying; Hermit and Skull; and others. There were some books upon the table, among them a few annuals containing contributions by Horace Greeley, volumes of Burns, Byron, and Hawthorne, Downing's Rural Essays, West's complete Analysis of the Holy Bible, and Ballou's Voice of Universalism.

I waited an hour. There came a double and decided ring at the bell. No one answered the summons. Another and most tremendous ring brought the servant to the door, and in a moment, the face of the master of the house beamed into the room. He apologized thus:— “I ought to have been here sooner, but I could n't.”