doughnuts made ready the day before, as a treat to them.

To my great surprise and annoyance, only a moderate share of the cakes,
the frying of which had been intrusted to Louisa, were brought up to be
placed in the "Davis."

"Where are the rest of the cakes, Louisa?"

"That great fellow, Hancock, came in with the fatigue-party to fill the
water-barrels, and while I had just stepped into the store-room to get
some more flour, he carried off all I had got cooked."

And Louisa made a face and whined, as if she had not herself treated
every soldier who had set his foot in the premises.

At an early hour the next morning I had quite a levee of the
Ho-tshung-rah matrons. They seated themselves in a circle on the floor,
and I was sorry to observe that the application of a little soap and
water to their blankets had formed no part of their holiday
preparations. There being no one to interpret, I thought I would begin
the conversation in a way intelligible to themselves, so I brought out
of the sideboard a china dish, filled with the nice brown crullers, over
which I had grated, according to custom, a goodly quantity of white
sugar. I handed it to the first of the circle. She took the dish from my
hand, and, deliberately pouring all the cakes into the corner of her
blanket, returned it to me empty. "She must be a meat voracious person,"
thought I; "but I will manage better the next time." I refilled the
dish, and approached the next one, taking care to keep a fast hold of it
as I offered the contents, of which I supposed she would modestly take
one. Not so, however. She scooped out the whole with her two hands, and,