Sam had a great wish to follow in the footsteps of his master and be a poet, and was therefore often heard singing doggerels of his own composition.
But there was one drawback to Sam, and that was his color.

He was one of the blackest of his race.

This he evidently regarded as a great misfortune; but he endeavored to make up for it in dress.

Mr.Wilson kept his house-servants well dressed, and as for Sam, he was seldom seen except in a ruffled shirt.

Indeed, the washerwoman feared him more than any one else in the house.
Agnes had been inaugurated chief of the kitchen department, and had a general supervision of the household affairs.