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MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
2) 60x + 20
A) 4(15x + 5)
B) 20(3x)
C) 5(12x + 4)
D) 20(3x + 1)
Answer: D
3) 16x4 y + 14xy6
A) xy(16x3 + 14y5 )
B) 2y(8x4 + 7xy5 )
C) 2xy(8x3 + 7y5 )
D) 2x(8x3 y + 7y6 )
Answer: C
4) 32p + 8q - 8
A) No common factor
B) 8(4p + q)
C) 8p(4 + q - 1)
D) 8(4p + q - 1)
Answer: D
1
7) 20x8 y9 - 40x6 y7 - 28x4 y5
A) 4(5x8 y9 - 10x6y7 - 7x4y5 )
B) 4x4 (5x4y9 - 10x2 y7 - 7y5 )
C) 4x4 y5 (5x4 y4 - 10x2y2 - 7)
D) -4x4 y5(-5x4y4 - 10x2 y2 + 7)
Answer: C
2
13) 5a(a - b) + (a - b)
A) 5a(a - b)
B) (5a2 + 5b) + (a - b)
C) (a - b)(5a + 1)
D) 6a(a - b)
Answer: C
17) m 2 (n - 4) - (n - 4)
A) (m 2 n - 4m 2) - (n - 4)
B) (n - 4)(m 2 + 1)
C) (n - 4)(m 2 - 1)
D) m 2 (n - 4)
Answer: C
Factor by grouping.
18) 3x + 15 + xy + 5y
A) (x + 5y)(3 + y)
B) (y + 5)(3x + y)
C) (y + 5)(x + 3)
D) (x + 5)(3 + y)
Answer: D
3
19) xy + 11x - 8y - 88
A) (y - 11)(x + 8)
B) (x - 11)(y + 8)
C) (x + 11)(y - 8)
D) (y + 11)(x - 8)
Answer: D
20) xy + y + 6x + 6
A) (x + 1)(6y + 6)
B) (x + 1)(y + 6)
C) (6x + 6)(y + 1)
D) (x + 6)(y + 1)
Answer: B
21) 5x - 55 + xy - 11y
A) (x - 11)(5 + y)
B) (y - 11)(5x + y)
C) (y - 11)(x + 5)
D) (x - 11y)(5 + y)
Answer: A
22) 7y - 63 + xy - 9x
A) (y - 9x)(7 + x)
B) (x - 9)(y + 7)
C) (y - 9)(7 + x)
D) (x - 9)(7y + x)
Answer: C
23) x3 + 6x2 + x + 6
A) (x2 + 1)(x + 6)
B) (6x2 + 6)(x + 1)
C) (x2 + 1)(6x + 6)
D) (x2 + 6)(x + 1)
Answer: A
4
26) 15a 3 - 6a2 b - 25ab2 + 10b3
A) (3a2 - 5b)(5a - 2b)
B) (3a2 - 5b2 )(5a - 2b)
C) (15a 2 - 5b2 )(a - 2b)
D) (3a2 + 5b2 )(5a + 2b)
Answer: B
Factor.
31) x2 - x - 30
A) (x + 5)(x - 6)
B) x2 - x - 30
C) (x + 6)(x - 5)
D) (x + 1)(x - 30)
Answer: A
5
32) x2 + 7x - 44
A) x2 + 7x - 44
B) (x - 11)(x + 1)
C) (x + 11)(x - 4)
D) (x - 11)(x + 4)
Answer: C
33) x2 + 4x - 5
A) (x + 1)(x + 1)
B) x2 + 4x - 5
C) (x + 1)(x + 5)
D) (x - 1)(x + 5)
Answer: D
34) x2 + 10x + 9
A) (x + 1)(x + 9)
B) (x - 1)(x - 9)
C) (x + 1)(x - 9)
D) (x - 1)(x + 9)
Answer: A
35) x2 - 11x + 28
A) (x - 4)(x + 7)
B) (x + 4)(x + 7)
C) (x + 4)(x - 7)
D) (x - 4)(x - 7)
Answer: D
36) x2 + 4x - 12
A) (x + 6)(x + 2)
B) (x + 6)(x - 2)
C) (x - 6)(x + 2)
D) (x - 6)(x - 2)
Answer: B
37) 9x2 - 9x - 54
A) 9(x - 2)(x + 3)
B) (9x + 18)(x - 3)
C) 9x2 - 9x - 54
D) 9(x + 2)(x - 3)
Answer: D
6
39) x3 - x2 - 42x
A) (x2 + 1)(x - 42)
B) x3 - x2 - 42
C) x(x + 7)(x - 6)
D) x(x + 6)(x - 7)
Answer: D
20
22
A) (20 + x)(22 - x)
B) (20 - x)(22 + x)
C) (20 + x)2
D) (20 + x)(22 + x)
Answer: B
7
44) 20x2 + 31x + 12
A) (4x + 3)(5x + 4)
B) (20x - 3)(x - 4)
C) (4x - 3)(5x - 4)
D) (20x + 3)(x + 4)
Answer: A
45) 6x2 - 5x - 6
A) (3x - 2)(2x + 3)
B) (3x + 2)(2x - 3)
C) (6x + 2)(x - 3)
D) (6x - 2)(x + 3)
Answer: B
46) 12x2 - 7x - 12
A) (3x - 4)(4x + 3)
B) (12x - 4)(x + 3)
C) (3x + 4)(4x - 3)
D) (12x + 4)(x - 3)
Answer: A
Factor by grouping.
47) 16x2 + 24x + 9
A) 16x2 + 24x + 9
B) (4x - 3)(4x - 3)
C) (16x + 3)(x + 3)
D) (4x + 3)(4x + 3)
Answer: D
49) 6z2 + 5z - 6
A) (2z + 3)(3z - 2)
B) (6z + 3)(z - 2)
C) (2z - 3)(3z + 2)
D) 6z2 + 5z - 6
Answer: A
50) 6z2 + 5z - 6
A) (6z - 2)(z + 3)
B) 6z2 + 5z - 6
C) (3z + 2)(2z - 3)
D) (3z - 2)(2z + 3)
Answer: D
8
51) 7x2 + 11x - 6
A) (7x + 2)(x - 3)
B) (7x + 3)(x - 2)
C) (7x - 2)(x + 3)
D) (7x - 3)(x + 2)
Answer: D
52) 4x2 - x - 3
A) (4x - 1)(x + 3)
B) (4x + 1)(x - 3)
C) (4x - 3)(x + 1)
D) (4x + 3)(x - 1)
Answer: D
If possible, factor the polynomial completely. If a polynomial cannot be factored, state that it is prime.
55) 12x2 - 52x - 40
A) 4(3x - 2)(x + 5)
B) (12x + 8)(x - 5)
C) 12x2 - 52x - 40
D) 4(3x + 2)(x - 5)
Answer: D
9
58) 45x3 - 21x2 - 6x
A) 3(3x2 - 2)(5x + 1)
B) 3x(3x - 2)(5x + 1)
C) x(9x - 6)(5x + 1)
D) x(3x - 2)(15x + 3)
Answer: B
10
Factor.
64) 64x2 - 49
A) (8x + 7)2
B) (8x + 7)(8x - 7)
C) 64x2 - 49
D) (8x - 7)2
Answer: B
66) z 2 - 121
A) z 2 - 121
B) (z + 11)2
C) (z + 11)(z - 11)
D) (z - 11)2
Answer: C
67) 81 - w2
A) (9 + w)2
B) 81 - w2
C) (9 - w)2
D) (9 - w)(9 + w)
Answer: D
69) 16x2 - 25
A) (4x - 5)2
B) (4x + 5)(4x - 5)
C) 16x2 - 25
D) (4x + 5)2
Answer: B
11
70) 16 - 9x2
A) (4 + 3x)(4 - 3x)
B) (4 - 3x)2
C) 16 - 9x2
D) (4 + 3x)2
Answer: A
71) a 2x2 - 1
A) (ax - 1)2
B) a 2x2 - 1
C) (ax + 1)2
D) (ax + 1)(ax - 1)
Answer: D
72) 49 - x2 y2
A) (7 - xy)(7 + xy)
B) (7 - xy)2
C) (7 + xy)2
D) 49 - x2 y2
Answer: A
73) x2 + 8x + 16
A) (x + 4)(x - 4)
B) (x + 4)2
C) (x - 4)2
D) x2 + 8x + 16
Answer: B
75) r2 + 10r + 25
A) (r + 10)(r - 10)
B) (r - 5)2
C) (r + 5)2
D) (r + 5)(r - 5)
Answer: C
12
76) z 2 - 14z + 49
A) (z + 7)2
B) (z - 7)(z + 7)
C) (z - 7)2
D) (z - 14)(z + 14)
Answer: C
80) x2 - 12x + 36
A) (x - 6)(x + 6)
B) (x - 12)(x + 12)
C) (x + 6)2
D) (x - 6)2
Answer: D
13
82) 25x2 + 20xy + 4y2
A) (25x + y)(x + 4y)
B) (5x + 2y) 2
C) (5x - 2y) 2
D) (5x + 2y)(5x - 2y)
Answer: B
If possible, factor the polynomial completely. If a polynomial cannot be factored, state that it is prime.
83) 147a 4 - 27b2
A) 3(7a 2 - 3b) 2
B) 3(7a 2 + 3b)(7a2 - 3b)
C) 147a 4 - 27b2
D) 3(7a 2 + 3b) 2
Answer: B
85) ab4 - 9a 3 b2
A) ab4 - 9a 3 b2
B) ab2 (b - 3a)2
C) ab2 (b + 3a)(b - 3a)
D) a(b2 + 3ab)(b2 - 3ab)
Answer: C
14
88) 75x2 + 60x + 12
A) 3(5x + 2)2
B) 3(5x - 2)2
C) 3(25x + 4)2
D) 3(5x + 2)(5x - 2)
Answer: A
89) 98x2 - 2
A) 2(7x + 1)(7x - 1)
B) 4(7x + 1)(7x - 1)
C) 2(7x + 1)2
D) 2(7x - 1)2
Answer: A
Factor.
90) x4 + 8x2 + 16
2
A) (x2 - 4)
2
B) (x2 + 4)
C) (x2 + 4)(x2 - 4)
D) (x2 + 8)(x2 - 8)
Answer: B
91) x4 - 1
A) (x2 + 1)(x + 1)(x - 1)
B) prime
C) (x2 + 1)(x2 + 1)
D) (x2 - 1)(x2 - 1)
Answer: A
15
94) x2 + 19x + 20
A) (x + 20)(x - 1)
B) (x - 10)(x + 2)
C) Prime
D) (x + 10)(x - 2)
Answer: C
95) x2 - 6x + 36
A) (x + 6)2
B) (x + 6)(x - 6)
C) Prime
D) (x - 6)2
Answer: C
97) x4 + 3x2 - 4
A) (x + 1)(x - 1)(x2 + 4)
B) (x - 1)2(x2 + 4)
C) (x2 - 1)(x2 + 4)
D) (x + 1)(x - 1)(x + 2)(x - 2)
Answer: A
16
100) 25 - (x + 5y) 2
A) (5 + x + y)(5 - x - y)
B) (5 + x + 5y)(5 - x - 5y)
C) (5 + 5xy)(5 - 5xy)
D) (5 + x - 5y)(5 - x - 5y)
Answer: B
103) x2 - x - 54
A) (x - 54)(x + 1)
B) Prime
C) (x + 6)(x - 9)
D) (x - 6)(x + 9)
Answer: B
104) 25x2 + 36
A) (5x + 6)(5x - 6)
B) (5x - 6)2
C) Prime
D) (5x + 6)2
Answer: C
106) x2 + 7x - 30 = 0
A) x = 10, -3
B) x = -10, 3
C) x = 10, 3
D) x = -10, 1
Answer: B
17
107) 3x2 - 5x - 8 = 0
3
A) x = , 0
8
8
B) x = , -1
3
3
C) x = ,1
8
3
D) x = , -1
8
Answer: B
109) x2 - 49 = 48x
A) x = -7, -7
B) x = -1, 49
C) x = 1, -49
D) x = -7, 7
Answer: B
18
112) 8n 2 + 10n = 0
A) n = 0
5
B) n = - , 10
4
5
C) n = -
4
5
D) n = - ,0
4
Answer: D
113) 4x2 = 9
5
A) x =
6
5
B) x =
36
3 3
C) x = ,-
4 4
3 3
D) x = ,-
2 2
Answer: D
114) 16d2 - 7d = 0
16
A) d = - ,0
7
16
B) d = ,0
7
7
C) d = ,0
16
7
D) d = - ,0
16
Answer: C
115) 4x2 = 3x + 7
7
A) x = , x = -1
4
4
B) x = ,x=1
7
4
C) x = ,x=0
7
4
D) x = , x = -1
7
Answer: A
19
116) x2 = 4x
A) x = 0, x = -4
B) x = 0, x = 4
C) x = 4
D) x = -4
Answer: B
117) x2 + 6x - 52 = 3(x - 8)
A) x = -7, 4
B) x = -8, 4
C) x = -6, 5
D) x = -7, -4
Answer: A
x2
118) - 5 + x = -5
9
A) x = -9
B) x = 0, -9
C) x = 0, 9
D) x = 9, -9
Answer: B
x2 + 7x
119) = -5
2
A) x = -5, -2
B) x = -6, 2
C) x = 5, -2
D) x = 5, 2
Answer: A
20
121) The width of a rectangle is 6 kilometers less than twice its length. If its area is 56 square kilometers, find the
dimensions of the rectangle.
A) length = 7 km, width = 8 km
56
B) length = 3 km, width = km
3
C) length = 4 km, width = 2 km
D) width = 7 km, length = 8 km
Answer: A
122) The side of a square equals the length of a rectangle. The width of the rectangle is 4 centimeters longer than its
length. The sum of the areas of the square and the rectangle is 198 square centimeters. Find the side of the
square.
A) 11 cm
B) 9 cm
C) 81 cm
D) 2 cm
Answer: B
123) If the sides of a square are increased by 2 meters, the area becomes 64 square meters. Find the length of a side of
the original square.
A) 2 m
B) 10 m
C) 6 m
D) 8 m
Answer: C
124) The area of a square is 25 square miles. Find the length of a side of the square.
A) 5 mi
B) -5 mi
C) 12.5mi
D) 6.25 mi
Answer: A
125) The area of a circle is 81π square meters. Find its radius.
A) 40.5 m
B) 9 m
C) 18 m
D) 8 m
Answer: B
126) An object is thrown upward from the top of a 160-foot building with an initial velocity of 48 feet per second.
The height h of the object after t seconds is given by the quadratic equation h = -16t2 + 48t + 160. When will the
object hit the ground?
A) 5 sec
B) 2 sec
C) 160 sec
D) -2 sec
Answer: A
21
127) A window washer accidentally drops a bucket from the top of a 144-foot building. The height h of the bucket
after t seconds is given by h = -16t2 + 144. When will the bucket hit the ground?
A) 9 sec
B) 3 sec
C) 48 sec
D) -3 sec
Answer: B
128) If the cost, C(x), for manufacturing x units of a certain product is given by C(x) = x2 - 10x + 7200, find the
number of units manufactured at a cost of $7800.
A) 90 units
B) 30 units
C) 80 units
D) 20 units
Answer: B
129) The force in newtons needed to stretch a certain spring x centimeters from its resting position is given by the
polynomial function f(x) = 3x2 where 3 is the spring constant. Find the force needed to stretch the spring 4
centimeters.
A) 48 newtons
B) 24 newtons
C) 16 newtons
D) 12 newtons
Answer: A
130) The sum of a number and its square is 72. Find the number.
A) -8 or -9
B) -8 or 9
C) 8 or -9
D) 8 or 9
Answer: C
131) The sum of two numbers is 17, and the sum of their squares is 157. Find the numbers.
A) 6 and 11
B) 4 and 13
C) 3 and 14
D) 5 and 12
Answer: A
132) The length of a rectangular storage room is 6 feet longer than its width. If the area of the room is 112 square feet,
find its dimensions.
A) w = 9 ft, l = 15 ft
B) w = 7 ft, l = 13 ft
C) w = 8 ft, l = 14 ft
D) w = 7 ft, l = 15 ft
Answer: C
22
133) A machine produces open boxes using square sheets of plastic. The machine cuts equal-sized squares
measuring 3 inches on a side from each corner of the sheet, and then shapes the plastic into an open box by
turning up the sides. If each box must have a volume of 675 cubic inches, find the length of one side of the open
box.
A) 21 in.
B) 18 in.
C) 15 in.
D) 14 in.
Answer: C
134) Each cycle of a screen saver program generates and then erases numbers of little animated figures called
froobies. The formula P = - 2x2 + 96x - 271 models the population, P, of froobies after x minutes within a cycle.
How many minutes into a cycle will the froobie population first reach 159?
A) 4 minutes
B) 7 minutes
C) 5 minutes
D) 10 minutes
Answer: C
1
135) The equation D = n(n-3) gives the number of diagonals, D, for a polygon with n sides. Find the number of
2
sides n for a polygon that has 27 diagonals.
A) 9 sides
B) 6 sides
C) 10 sides
D) 3 sides
Answer: A
If possible, factor the polynomial completely. If a polynomial cannot be factored, state that it is prime.
136) x2 + 2x - 15
A) (x - 5)(x + 3)
B) (x + 5)(x - 3)
C) (x - 5)(x + 1)
D) Prime
Answer: B
137) 9x2 - 4
A) (3x - 2)2
B) (3x + 2)2
C) (3x + 2)(3x - 2)
D) Prime
Answer: C
23
139) 9a2 - 48a + 64
A) (3a - 8)2
B) (3a - 8)(3a + 8)
C) (3a + 8)2
D) (9a + 1)(a + 64)
Answer: A
144) 64a 2 - 25
A) Prime
B) (8a - 5)2
C) (8a + 5)(8a - 5)
D) (8a + 5)2
Answer: C
24
146) 12x2 - 27
A) 3(2x - 3) 2
B) (6x + 9)(2x - 3)
C) 3(2x + 3)(2x - 3)
D) 3(2x + 3)2
Answer: C
147) 64x2 + 81
A) Prime
B) (8x + 9)2
C) (8x - 9)2
D) (8x + 9)(8x - 9)
Answer: A
150) 9x2 - 1
A) (3x - 1)2
B) (3x + 1)2
C) Prime
D) (3x + 1)(3x - 1)
Answer: D
151) x4 - 16
A) Prime
B) (x2 + 4)(x2 + 4)
C) (x2 + 4)(x + 2)(x - 2)
D) (x2 - 4)(x2 - 4)
Answer: C
25
152) 18ax - 30a + 15x - 25
A) (18x - 5)(x + 5)
B) (6x - 5)(3x + 5)
C) (6a + 5)(3x - 5)
D) (18x + 5)(x - 5)
Answer: C
Solve.
156) x2 + 7x - 60 = 0
A) x = 5, x = 12
B) x = -12, x = -5
C) x = -12, x = 5
D) x = -5, x = 12
Answer: C
26
158) 5x2 - 9x - 2 = 0
1
A) x = - , x = 2
5
B) x = -5, x = 2
1
C) x = - , x = 5
5
1 1
D) x = ,x=-
9 5
Answer: A
159) x2 - 10x + 24 = 0
A) x = -4, x = -6
B) x = 24, x = 0
C) x = 4, x = 6
D) x = -4, x = 6
Answer: C
27
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visit, was destroyed by fire, and the debonair ladies, prancing steeds
and all went up in one great holocaust.
The new house that rose over the ashes was aptly called
Whitehall. It was all white, inside and out, broad, dead white walls,
grand balconies all around the mansion dead white; white steps led
to the lawn, and the trees surrounding had their trunks whitewashed
as high as could be reached by a long pole and a brush. All the old
portraits and some awful prints (it was long before the chromo era)
were fished out of closets and other hiding places and hung about on
the white walls. One old man with a tremendously long neck and a
stiff black stock to help hold up his head, and a fierce look, had a
pair of eyes that looked like great daubs of ink. His portrait decorated
the parlor. I was warned not to handle the gilt-edged books and little
trinkets on the marble-top center-table, “for your Cousin Christopher
will see you; notice, whichever way you turn his eyes will follow you.”
I was mortally afraid of that old spook till little black Comfort told me,
“Laws! if dem eyes could hurt we’d all be’n daid in dis house.”
At “The Oaks,” Dr. Patrick’s plantation, the wall paper illustrated
scenes from China, in colors not gorgeous, like the last mentioned,
neither was the house so pretentious. There was no broad, high
ceilinged hall to ornament with startling figures that seemed to jump
at you. The orderly processions of pigtailed Chinamen in sepia tints
could not by any possibility get on one’s nerves. Whole processions
wended their way to impossible temples, wedding processions,
palanquins, and all that; funeral processions dwindled away to a
mere point in the distance, all becomingly solemn, until some of the
irrepressible Patrick children, with black pencil, or charcoal, or ink,
put pipes into all the mouths and clouds of smoke therefrom spotted
the landscape. Moral suasion was the discipline of the Patrick
children, so that freak was not probably followed by after-claps, but
the Chinese were promptly marched off, and the inevitable white
walls were the result.
Family portraits came forth to brighten the room. One notable one
that superseded the Chinese wall paper was a full-length portrait of
Gov. Poindexter’s (everybody knows “Old Poins” was the first
Governor of the State of Mississippi) first wife, who was a sister of
Mrs. Patrick. She was a vision of beauty, in full evening dress.
Facing her was the glum, “sandy complected” Governor, not one bit
fascinated by the sight of his wife’s smiling face.
The fashionable portrait painter of the time was Moïse; it was he
who painted the author’s portrait shortly after her marriage. He was a
dashing, improvident genius, and many of his portraits were
executed to cancel debts. At one time he designed and had made for
my husband, in settlement for a loan, a handsome silver lidded bowl
with alcohol lamp beneath. It was known as a pousse café and was
used to serve hot punch to after-dinner parties. I am glad to say it
has survived all the family vicissitudes, and is an honored heirloom,
in company with a repoussé silver pitcher, which we won as a prize
for cattle at the Louisiana State Fair, described in a later chapter.
At John C. Miller’s place the house was only one story, but it
spread over what seemed to be a half acre of land. A square hall,
which was a favorite lounging place for everybody, had wall paper
delineating scenes from India. Women walked toward the Ganges
river, smilingly tripping along with huge water jars on their shoulders,
in full view of another woman descending the steps of a temple, with
a naked baby, poised aloft, to be thrown into the sacred Ganges. A
crocodile ruffled the blue (very blue) waters, with jaws distended,
ready to complete the sacrifice. That sacred river seemed to course
all around the hall, for on another side were a number of bathers,
who appeared to be utterly oblivious of their vicinity to the mother
and babe, not to mention the awful crocodile.
The culmination of landscape wall paper must have been reached
in the Minor plantation dwelling in Ascension parish. Mrs. Minor had
received this plantation as a legacy, and she was so loyal to the
donor that the entreaties of her children to “cover that wall” did not
prevail. It was after that style of mural decoration was of the past,
that I visited the Minors. The hall was broad and long, adorned with
real jungle scenes from India. A great tiger jumped out of dense
thickets toward savages, who were fleeing in terror. Tall trees
reached to the ceiling, with gaudily striped boa constrictors wound
around their trunks; hissing snakes peered out of jungles; birds of
gay plumage, paroquets, parrots, peacocks everywhere, some way
up, almost out of sight in the greenery; monkeys swung from limb to
limb; ourang-outangs, and lots of almost naked, dark-skinned natives
wandered about. To cap the climax, right close to the steps one had
to mount to the story above was a lair of ferocious lions!
I spent hours studying that astonishing wall paper, and I
applauded Mrs. Minor’s decision, “The old man put it there; it shall
stay; he liked it, so do I.” It was in 1849 I made that never-to-be-
forgotten trip to jungle land. The house may still be there; I don’t
know; but I warrant that decorated hall has been “done over,”
especially if little children ever came to invade the premises. Upon
the departure of landscape wall paper, the pendulum swung to
depressing simplicity of dead white walls or else “pillared and
paneled,” which is scarcely one degree better.
Old portraits and any kind of inartistic picture or print were brought
forth to gratify the eye unaccustomed to such monotony. Only a few
years ago I asked: “What became of that military epauletted portrait
of old Major Messiah that always hung in your mother’s hall when we
were children?” “Oh, it was hanging twenty or more years ago in the
office of a hardware concern down town. Don’t know where it is
now.”
After the war, inquiring for a lot of portraits of various degrees of
merit and demerit that disappeared when the Yankees left, we heard
that some were in negro cabins in West Feliciana. So they come and
are appreciated, those images of loved ones. So they often go, and
are despised by those who follow us, and who, perchance, never
knew the original. Now the questions arise, will landscape wall
papers really return? And in their pristine splendor? Surely the scope
in brilliancy and variety could not be excelled. The limit was reached
almost seventy years ago, and naturally (I was a child then) comes
as vividly to my mind as the counterfeit face of my ancestor with
eyes following me all around the room. The tigers and ourang-
outangs, even the den of lions and the crocodile of the Ganges,
never made my little soul quake like the searching eyes of “my
Cousin Christopher.”
XI
THOUGHTS OF OLD
We missed the train! and here we were in the old Bayou Sara
Hotel, looking for some kind of locomotion. We had eighteen miles to
make, and if the Belle Creole had made the run we would have been
all right, but the Belle Creole was not a flier; it had no time for arrivals
or departures; it just jogged along at its own good will, answering
every call, running all sorts of antics up and down the river. Dick
started out to see what he could do.
I sat on the dirty porch, looking through November china trees
towards the river. Is there anything more depressing than a view of
china trees in November? The pretty, fragrant, blue flowers long
gone, and the mocking birds (nobody ever heard of English sparrows
then!) that had drunk their fill of intoxicating liquor from the scattering
china berries were gone too. The train we had missed, the dear old
Belle Creole always missed, was a kind of private affair. The whole
outfit, about twenty miles of track, the lumbering cars, the antiquated
engines, and I think, too, the scattering woods that supplied the fuel
were all the private property of the McGehees. The McGehees had a
cotton factory in the neighborhood of Woodville, twenty miles from
the river. They had one train, cheap and dirty, that made one trip a
day, going with freight very early in the morning, returning later, with
freight and one small passenger car for the owner’s use. This
concern stopped for wood and water and nothing else, and was the
only means of transport for “casuals” like ourselves from the river to
Woodville. Ladies going back and forth and gentlemen of leisure
used their own conveyance, a turtle-back affair that was entered by a
row of steps. The dear Belle Creole was too much of a convenience
to have a time table, so it was useless to construct a time table and
plan to “connect” with that equally free and easy train. Some
disgruntled chap chalked on an unused car, left on the rails as a
depot, “We belong to the McGehees, and go when we please.”
Well, to make the matter short, though it was long to me, on that
dirty porch by the china trees, Dick found a man with a turtle-top
coach, and a harness mended by cords and stakes and bits of
rawhide. The man had a mended look, too, but he was sober, and for
a good, round sum agreed to take us to Laurel Hill. Laurel Hill, where
we proposed to go, was a post office station, about ten miles from
Woodville and four miles across country. We meandered along, tired
and out of all patience. At the date of this tramp I was a little girl and
not given to moralizing. When we arrived at Laurel Hill we were told,
“Creek is up; been a big rain somewhere; not even a horseman has
crossed all day.” There was no accommodation for man or beast at
the queer little depot, no place to sit and nothing to sit on. It was long
after dark, and there was no one to tell us the story of the high water
but a negro man, who was shutting up the one door of the building.
There was nothing left us but to go to the nearest plantation house
and ask for lodgings.
I was so tired I felt we had gone ten miles further when we
reached Major Dick Haile’s, though it really was only a few miles.
The tired horses and the sleepy driver made slow work. There was a
gate and an opening, but the house was pitch dark, every door
closed and everybody apparently asleep. The nags were willing to
stand, unhitched, beside the fence; not an automobile or flying
machine could have scared them; they were asleep, too.
After much knocking and calling at what seemed to be the door of
entrance, an old gentleman, candle in hand and very scantily
dressed, demanded to know what was wanted. My brother called
that we were on our way to the General’s, and we could not cross
the creek, so we begged the privilege of a lodging for the night.
“General’s for the wedding? Come right in.” A brighter light was
procured, and before we were seated in the reception room we
heard the hospitable voice, “Put your carriage under the shed, give
those horses a good feed, then come to the kitchen and get a bite for
yourself.” The two young daughters came in, hurriedly dressed
(people did not have bathrobes and wrappers seventy years ago). I
was awfully tired and awfully sleepy, and I began to think our
lodgings were to be parlor chairs, long before the dining room door
was opened, and the genial old gentleman, in night shirt and
trousers, led the way to the table. We had fried chicken, hot
cornbread, coffee, cakes, and I don’t know what else. It would take
me back forty years to see a cook roused at midnight, to prepare
such a meal. I presume she even took herself to the roost and
caught her young chicken by the legs and wrung its neck before she
reached the newly-made fire. Major Haile knew we had not broken
our fast at the town hotel.
It was late the following day when we all assembled to just as fine
a breakfast, and heard the major say, “Your ‘turnout’ is gone. I sent
to see about the condition of the creek; it goes down about as fast as
it rises. When you are rested my carriage is at your disposal. Your
driver was not used to these roads, but mine knows every crossing
in the creek.”
It was a four-mile drive, even after we had crossed the waters. The
wedding house we found in commotion. There were no caterers or
experts even in New Orleans in 1846. The wedding supper was in
process of preparation, under the superintendence of a noted old
cakemaker from Woodville, nine miles off. Everybody was busy; only
General McCausland, the dear old master of the house, was quietly
seated by his parlor window, a very old man, but a soldier withal,
who could rise to emergencies when required. I drew up a chair and
explained our delay, and told him how grandly hospitable his
neighbor was. The two old men were the last remaining ones of their
company of the battle of New Orleans. Their homes were in payment
from the Government for their services. The dear old gentlemen said
they were neither general nor major; they were simple soldiers who
had discharged their services and accepted their pay. Both the men
were Irish, both poor boys. They worked hard, soon exhausted the
old red soil of their neighborhood.
Later the General moved his workmen to the river bottoms, so
that, while living for health’s sake in the old home, the house of
which he originally helped to build, his income came from Bayou
Fordoche, many miles away.
Time flew; neighbors had arrived, the table was spread in the long
back porch. The guests, many of them, lived miles and miles away,
in common country roads, often through dense woods—a long drive
under best circumstances, a perilous one at night, everybody
waiting, everybody in a hurry, everybody getting tired and fretful. It
was long after the appointed time, and the New Orleans preacher
had missed the train! Old Dilsey in the kitchen was mad because her
pig was getting too brown; Elfey in the porch worrying that her ice
cream was waiting too long; ladies in the parlor trying to kill time;
men wandering around the front yard in restless groups. Carriages
had been to the depot; no appearance of Mr. Jahleel Woodbridge,
the New Orleans minister. He was endeared to the family, had been
for years their minister at Woodville. Bride, in all her regal attire,
upstairs in tears; no Presbyterian preacher nearer than ten miles
away. So we waited and waited. At last the General sent for his
especial groom, ordered him to take the buggy and go four miles
through the woods, where there was a Methodist itinerant, and tell
him to come without delay to marry the couple.
The accommodating preacher came, just as he was. He had been
plowing his field, and his wife, off to see a sick child, had carried the
keys with her. He could not even get a clean handkerchief, but he
came in his workaday suit. The company hastily assembled. He
performed the ceremony, gave them his blessings, and
congratulated her on her “escape from the quicksands and shoals of
celibacy.” Recognizing his own condition at the time, he begged to
be excused from refreshments, and took a rapid and hurried
departure. The kindly man was scarce gone when Mr. Jahleel
Woodbridge arrived in a coach, most astonishingly like the one we
had used the previous day. Only a year or two later the hospitable
Major passed away; shortly after the General followed him, and the
dear old homes have passed away also from the face of the earth.
XIV
THE BELLES AND BEAUX OF FORTY