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Show 6 A CHRISTIAN WOMAN, the evening the men and boys sat around the fire and discussed the latest murder, the mother and daughters meanwhile being hard at work. I will not attempt to describe the way in which we were packed away for the night, but my young lady companion and myself found that we were to be " object lessons" in good earnest in the morning, when all the female portion of the household assembled and looked on in open-mouthed wonder while we dressed, evidently amazed at the variety and complexity of our garments, the mother stepping up to rub the material of our clothing between her thumb and forefinger, and inquire the price per yard, after which we were led out to take breakfast on the back porch in the frosty morning air. The cloth from which their garments are made is usually spun and woven by themselves-indeed it is the usual custom among those people for the women to do most of the work out door and in, to care for and harvest the corn and tobacco, to gather wood for the fires, carry water from some distant spring, to prepare the meals, and then stand ready to wait on the men while they eat. We found only one place where the wife and mother sat at the table with the rest. When they go on short journeys, as to visit a neighbor,' attend a meeting, the women walk while the men ride on horse-back and carry the smaller children. The families are almost |