cakes of all sorts and sizes, iced and plain; large bowls of custard and
jelly; and candies, and fruits and nuts.

In the centre of the table was a pyramid, beginning with a large cake at
the bottom and ending with a "snowball" on top.

At the head of the table was the bride-cake, containing the "ring" and
the "dime;" it was handsomely iced, and had a candy Cupid perched over
it, on a holly bough which was stuck in a hole in the middle of the
cake. It was to be cut after a while by each of the bridesmaids and
groomsmen in turns; and whoever should cut the slice containing the ring
would be the next one to get married; but whoever should get the dime
was to be an old maid or an old bachelor.

The supper was enjoyed hugely, particularly a big bowl of eggnog, which
so enlivened them all that the dancing was entered into with renewed
vigor, and kept up till the gray tints in the east warned them that
another day had dawned, and that Christmas was over.

But you may be sure that in all Christendom it had been welcomed in and
ushered out by no merrier, lighter hearts than those of the happy,
contented folks on the old plantation.




CHAPTER III.

MAMMY'S STORY.