Too impatient to wait until they could be carried up to the fort, the gentlemen soon furnished themselves with, hammers and hatchets, and fell eagerly to work, opening the boxes to explore the extent of the damage.
Alas for the mahogany! not a piece from which the edges and veneering were not starting.

It had all the appearance of having lain under the Grande Chute for days.

Poor Hamilton was load in his protestations and excuses.
It was the fault of the men, of the weather, of the way the things were packed.

"Confound it! he had taken the best care of the things he possibly could--better than he had ever taken before--it _would_ get done!" There was nothing but to be patient and make the best of it.

And when the pretty sideboard and work-table had been thoroughly rubbed and set up, and all the little knick-knacks arranged on the mantel-piece--when the white curtains were hung at the windows, and the chairs and dining-table each in its proper place in relation to the piano, our parlor was pronounced "magnificent." At least so seemed to think Hamilton, who came to give one admiring look, and to hear the music of the piano, which was a perfect novelty to him.