Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The rich man who " lives at home at ease," and goes irritated and fretting through the country because he misses at the taverns the luxuries of his own house—who finds the tea bad and coffee worse —the food ill cooked and table ill served—no mattresses, no silver forks—who is obliged to endure the vulgarity of a common parlour—and, in spite of the inward chafing, give a civil answer to whatever questions may be put to him, cannot conceive of the luxuries our travellers enjoyed at the simplest inn. Uncle Phil found out the Jittle histories of all the wayfarers he met, and frankly told his own. Charlotte's Dale sweet face attracted general sympathy. Country people have time for little by-the-way kindnesses ; and the landlady, and her daughters, and her domestics inquired into Charlotte's malady, suggested remedies, and described similar cases. The open-hearted communicativeness of our people is often laughed at; but is it not a sign of a blameless life and social spirit ? CHAPTER V. Charlotte's Return. On the very day she had appointed before leaving home, Charlotte, by dint of arranging for her father, giving him now a hint and now an impulse, returned there. Susan had opened, swept, and D garnished the house with plenty of laurels and roses, and Mrs. Aikin and some other kind matrons had sent in a store of provisions, so that Susan spread her tea-table with the abundance and variety that characterize the evening meal in New- England. Fresh biscuit and cookies, cherry-pie, smoked beef, stewed currants, peppergrass, cheese, and radishes, were on the table—the tea-kettle hissing a welcome over the fire, and Susan and Harry standing at the door and gazing at a turn in the road, where, between two branching elms that im- bowered it,appeared Uncle Phil's wagon, and Ch...