most part, with the pieces dating back to the building of the house,
in one of the ugliest eras of the country, both in architecture and
furniture. The ceilings in these rather small square rooms were so
lofty that one was giddy with staring at the elaborate cornices and
the plaster centrepieces. The mantels were all of massively carved
marble, the windows were few and narrow, the doors multitudinous, and
lofty enough for giants. The parlor floor was carpeted with tapestry
in enormous designs of crimson roses, in deliriums of arabesques,
though there were a few very good Eastern rugs. The furniture was
black-walnut, upholstered in crimson plush; the tables had marble
tops; the hangings were lace under heavily fringed crimson
lambrequins dependent from massive gilt mouldings. There were a
bronze clock and a whatnot and a few gilt-framed oil-paintings of the
conventional landscape type, contemporary with the furniture in
American best parlors. Still, there were a few things in the room
which directly excited comment on the part of the visitors. Mrs. Lee
pointed at some bronzes on the shelf.

"Those are theirs, aren't they?" said she.

"Yes, the Ranger girls had some very handsome Royal Worcester vases.
I guess James Ranger saw to it that those weren't left here."

Mrs. Van Dorn eyed the bronzes with outward respect, but she did not
admire them. Banbridge ladies, as a rule, unless they posed, did not
admire bronzes. She also viewed with some disapproval a number of
exquisite little Chinese ivory carvings on the whatnot. "Those are
theirs," said she. "The Ranger girls had some handsome bound books
and a silver card-receiver, and a bust of Clytie on top of the
whatnot. I suppose these are very expensive; I have always heard so.