china vessel of water, minus the handle. The apartment was very large;
this part of the house, which was a very extensive one, embracing the
four sides of a quadrangle, having, in a former age, been the hotel of a
nobleman. The magnitude of the chamber made its stinted furniture look
meagre enough.

But in Israel's eyes, the marble mantel (a comparatively recent
addition) and its appurtenances, not only redeemed the rest, but looked
quite magnificent and hospitable in the extreme. Because, in the first
place, the mantel was graced with an enormous old-fashioned square
mirror, of heavy plate glass, set fast, like a tablet, into the wall.
And in this mirror was genially reflected the following delicate
articles:--first, two boquets of flowers inserted in pretty vases of
porcelain; second, one cake of white soap; third, one cake of
rose-colored soap (both cakes very fragrant); fourth, one wax candle;
fifth, one china tinder-box; sixth, one bottle of Eau de Cologne;
seventh, one paper of loaf sugar, nicely broken into sugar-bowl size;
eighth, one silver teaspoon; ninth, one glass tumbler; tenth, one glass
decanter of cool pure water; eleventh, one sealed bottle containing a
richly hued liquid, and marked "Otard."

"I wonder now what O-t-a-r-d is?" soliloquised Israel, slowly spelling
the word. "I have a good mind to step in and ask Dr. Franklin. He knows
everything. Let me smell it. No, it's sealed; smell is locked in. Those
are pretty flowers. Let's smell them: no smell again. Ah, I see--sort of
flowers in women's bonnets--sort of calico flowers. Beautiful soap. This
smells anyhow--regular soap-roses--a white rose and a red one. That
long-necked bottle there looks like a crane. I wonder what's in that?
Hallo! E-a-u--d-e--C-o-l-o-g-n-e. I wonder if Dr. Franklin understands
that? It looks like his white wine. This is nice sugar. Let's taste.