The other men came in, and all sat on the porch and talked while Betty worked. Getting her mother's whitest cloth and the silver that came from England, she quickly set the table. She brought out a loaf of new bread and a jar of fresh honey. Then she ran to the spring house and got yellow butter and rich milk. She had some fresh eggs that had been laid by her own hens. These she dropped into boiling water. Last of all she cut thin slices of delicious ham.
When everything was ready, Betty went to the porch and invited the strangers in. Her cheeks were now the color of the red rose by the gate.
The visitors ate heartily of all the good things Betty had prepared. As the tall, handsome gentleman rose to go, he leaned over and kissed her. "My pretty little cook," he said, "you may tell your brother Robert that you saw Washington before he did, and that he kissed you, too."
You may believe that Betty did tell it. She told it to her children, and they told it to their children, and I am telling it to you to-day.
—MRS. L.A. McCORKLE.
[ROCK-A-BY, HUSH-A-BY, LITTLE PAPOOSE]
Rock-a-by, hush-a-by, little papoose,
The stars come into the sky,
The whip-poor-will's crying, the daylight is dying,