"Rodney has begun, ladies. Be prepared," said his mother.
Here she emptied the last of the corn into her visitors' plates.
"When I washed for Mrs. Rodman a few months ago she had beautiful lace on her pillow slips."
"Yes, she did, mother," said Rodney. Then, turning to the two women: "You ladies work for her now. You cook, and you wash. She and her daughter, General Bradford's wife, have gone to the springs. Did it take all the pillow-slip lace for your sleeves?"
"Don't be too plain, Rodney," said his mother.
"Mother, that's the dress General Bradford gave his wife. You know she told you about it. Mother, mother, what did you mean when you said that the ladies are patched with the blue and the gray?"
"Mrs. Rodman is of the North. General Bradford is of the South. One means the blue, the other the gray."
"If we are wearing things that belong to the blue and the gray, we are not patched," said one, as she arose from the table and put on her hat.
"No," said the other, "we are ladies when we are dressed so."
"That hat!" said Rodney.