Grandemont was among them, the busiest there.  To the safe conveyance of certain large hampers eloquent with printed cautions to delicate handling he gave his superintendence, for they contained the fragile china and glassware.  The dropping of one of those hampers would have cost him more than he could have saved in a year.

The last article unloaded, the River Belle backed off and continued her course down stream.  In less than an hour everything had been conveyed to the house.  And came then Absalom’s task, directing the placing of the furniture and wares.  There was plenty of help, for that day was always a holiday at Charleroi, and the Negroes did not suffer the old traditions to lapse.  Almost the entire population of the quarters volunteered their aid.  A score of piccaninnies were sweeping at the leaves in the yard.  In the big kitchen at the rear Andre was lording it with his old-time magnificence over his numerous sub-cooks and scullions.  Shutters were flung wide; dust spun in clouds; the house echoed to voices and the tread of busy feet.  The prince had come again, and Charleroi woke from its long sleep.

The full moon, as she rose across the river that night and peeped above the levee saw a sight that had long been missing from her orbit.  The old plantation house shed a soft and alluring radiance from every window.  Of its two-score rooms only four had been refurnished—­the larger reception chamber, the dining hall, and two smaller rooms for the convenience of the expected guests.  But lighted wax candles were set in the windows of every room.

The dining-hall was the chef d’oeuvre.  The long table, set with twenty-five covers, sparkled like a winter landscape with its snowy napery and china and the icy gleam of crystal.  The chaste beauty of the room had required small adornment.  The polished floor burned to a glowing ruby with the reflection of candle light.  The rich wainscoting reached half way to the ceiling.  Along and above this had been set the relieving lightness of a few water-colour sketches of fruit and flower.

The reception chamber was fitted in a simple but elegant style.  Its arrangement suggested nothing of the fact that on the morrow the room would again be cleared and abandoned to the dust and the spider.  The entrance hall was imposing with palms and ferns and the light of an immense candelabrum.

At seven o’clock Grandemont, in evening dress, with pearls—­a family passion—­in his spotless linen, emerged from somewhere.  The invitations had specified eight as the dining hour.  He drew an armchair upon the porch, and sat there, smoking cigarettes and half dreaming.