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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Shawl-Straps
+       A Second Series of Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag
+
+Author: Louisa M. Alcott
+
+Release Date: July 9, 2007 [EBook #22022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAWL-STRAPS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SHAWL-STRAPS.
+
+A Second Series
+
+OF
+
+AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG.
+
+BY
+
+LOUISA M. ALCOTT,
+
+AUTHOR OF
+'LITTLE WOMEN,' 'AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,' 'LITTLE MEN,'
+'HOSPITAL SKETCHES.'
+
+LONDON:
+SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
+_LIMITED_,
+St. Dunstan's House,
+FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
+
+1895.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+
+_LOW'S STANDARD SERIES OF BOOKS BY POPULAR WRITERS._
+
+Small crown 8vo. cloth gilt, 2_s._; gilt edges, 2_s._ 6_d._ each
+
+ 1.  ALCOTT, L. M. Little Men.
+ 2.  WHITNEY, Mrs. Hitherto.
+ 3.  SAMUELS. Forecastle to Cabin. Illustrated.
+ 4.  ROBINSON, P. In my Indian Garden.
+ 5.  ALCOTT, L. M. Little Women and Little Women Wedded.
+ 6.  WHITNEY, Mrs. We Girls.
+ 7.  ---- The other Girls: a Sequel.
+ 8.  ALDEN, W. L. Jimmy Brown.
+ 9.  ALCOTT, L. M. Under the Lilacs. Illustrated.
+10.  ---- Jimmy's Cruise.
+11.  ROBINSON, PHIL. Under the Punkah.
+12.  ALCOTT, L. M. An Old-Fashioned Girl.
+13.  ---- A Rose in Bloom.
+14.  ---- Eight Cousins. Illustrated.
+15.  ---- Jack and Jill.
+16.  ---- Lulu's Library. Illustrated.
+17.  ---- Silver Pitchers.
+18.  ---- Work and Beginning Again.
+19.  WHITNEY, Mrs. Leslie Goldthwaite.
+20.  ---- Faith Gartney's Girlhood.
+21.  ---- Real Folks.
+22.  STOWE, Mrs. Dred.
+23.  ---- My Wife and I.
+24.  DE WITT, Madame. An Only Sister.
+25.  ALCOTT, L. M. Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag.
+26.  ---- Shawl Straps.
+27.  STOWE, Mrs. Ghost in the Mill.
+28.  BUNYAN, JOHN. Pilgrim's Progress (Extra volume), gilt, 2_s._
+29.  STOWE, Mrs. We and Our Neighbours.
+30.  SAINTINE. Picciola.
+31.  HOLM, SAXE. Draxy Miller's Dowry.
+32.  SANDEAU, JULES. Seagull Rock.
+33.  WARNER, C. D. In the Wilderness.
+34.  ---- My Summer in a Garden.
+35.  ALCOTT, L. M. Spinning-wheel Stories.
+36.  ALDEN, W. L. Trying to find Europe.
+37.  WHITNEY, Mrs. The Gayworthys.
+38.  TOOLEY, Mrs. Life of Mrs. Stowe.
+39.  ROE, E. P. Nature's Serial Story.
+40.  ALCOTT. Recollections.
+41.  STOWE, H. B. Minister's Wooing.
+
+* *
+ *  A New Illustrated List of Books for Boys and Girls,
+with Portraits of Celebrated Authors, sent post free on application.
+
+
+London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, LTD.,
+St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+There is a sort of fate about writing books of travel which it is
+impossible to escape. It is vain to declare that no inducement will
+bribe one to do it, that there is nothing new to tell, and that nobody
+wants to read the worn-out story: sooner or later the deed is done, and
+not till the book is safely shelved does peace descend upon the victim
+of this mysterious doom.
+
+The only way in which this affliction may be lightened to a
+long-suffering public is to make the work as cheerful and as short as
+possible. With this hope the undersigned bore has abstained from giving
+the dimensions of any church, the population of any city, or description
+of famous places, as far as in her lay; but confined herself to the
+personal haps and mishaps, adventures and experiences, of her wanderers.
+
+To explain the undue prominence given to Miss Lavinia, it should be
+stated that she is an old and intimate friend of the compiler of this
+frivolous work; and therefore her views on all subjects, though less
+valuable, were easier to obtain than those of the younger and more
+interesting shawl-strappists.
+
+                                                       L. M. A.
+_November 1872._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                       PAGE
+  I.  OFF                 1
+
+ II.  BRITTANY           24
+
+III.  FRANCE             92
+
+ IV.  SWITZERLAND       175
+
+  V.  ITALY             205
+
+ VI.  LONDON            265
+
+
+
+
+SHAWL-STRAPS.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+_OFF._
+
+
+'On the first day of February we three will sail from Boston for
+Messina, in the little fruit-ship "Wasp." We shall probably be a month
+going, unless we cross in a gale as I did, splitting sails every night,
+and standing on our heads most of the way,' said Amanda, folding up her
+maps with an air of calm decision.
+
+'Hurrah! what fun!' cried Matilda, waving a half-finished dressing-case
+over her head.
+
+But Lavinia, with one sepulchral groan, fell flat upon her bed, and lay
+there, dumb with the horrors of such a voyage.
+
+'Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think of the balmy airs of
+Sicily, the oranges, the flowers. Then a delicious month or two at
+Sorrento, with no east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be
+as merry as grigs, and get as buxom as dairy-maids in a month,' said the
+sprightly Amanda.
+
+'You promised to go, and if you back out we are lost, for we _must_ have
+a duenna. You can lie round in Europe just as well as here, and I have
+no doubt it will do you a world of good,' added Matilda.
+
+'I shall keep my word; but you will bury me in the Atlantic, so make up
+your minds to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used-up old invalid,
+who can't look at a sail-boat without a qualm, can survive thirty days
+of standing on my head, and thirty nights of sail-splitting, as we go
+slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans?' demanded
+Lavinia, with the energy of despair.
+
+Before anyone could reply, Amanda's little Mercury appeared with a note.
+
+'The "Wasp" will _not_ take passengers, and no other fruit-ship sails
+this spring,' read Amanda.
+
+'Oh dear!' sighed Matilda.
+
+'Saved!' cried Lavinia.
+
+'Be calm: we shall go, sooner or later, if I buy a ship and sail her
+myself;' with which indomitable remark Amanda went forth to grapple with
+and conquer untoward circumstances.
+
+A month of plans, vicissitudes, and suspense followed, during which
+Amanda strove manfully; Matilda suffered agonies of hope and fear; and
+Lavinia remained a passive shuttlecock, waiting to be tossed wherever
+Fate's battledore chose to send her.
+
+'Exactly two weeks from to-day, we sail with a party of friends in the
+French steamer "Lafayette," from New York for Brest. Will you be ready?'
+demanded Amanda, after a protracted wrestle with aforesaid adverse
+circumstances.
+
+'But that is exactly what we didn't mean to do. It's expensive and
+fashionable; France and not Italy, north and not south.'
+
+'That's because I'm in the party. If you take a Jonah nothing will go
+well. Leave me behind, and you will have a charming trip,' said Lavinia,
+who had an oyster-like objection to being torn from her bed.
+
+'No matter, we are going, live or die, sink or swim; and I shall expect
+to meet you, all booted and spurred and fit for the fight, April
+first,' said the unwavering Amanda.
+
+'A most appropriate day for three lone women to start off on a
+wild-goose chase after health and pleasure,' groaned Lavinia from among
+her pillows.
+
+'Very well, then; I leave you now, and shall expect to meet on the
+appointed day?'
+
+'If I'm spared,' answered the sufferer.
+
+'I'll bring her, never fear,' added the sanguine Mat, as she rattled the
+trays out of an immense trunk.
+
+How they ever did it no one knows; but in a week everything was ready,
+and the sisters had nothing left to do but to sit and receive the
+presents that showered upon them from all quarters. How kind everyone
+was, to be sure! Six fine dressing-cases arrived, and were hung upon the
+walls; four smelling-bottles--one for each nostril; bed-socks,
+rigolettes, afghans, lunch-baskets, pocket-flasks, guide-books,
+needle-cases, bouquets in stacks, and a great cake with their names on
+top in red and blue letters three inches long.
+
+Friendly fingers sewed for them; even the gentlemen of the house--and
+there were eight--had a 'bee,' and hemmed handkerchiefs for Mat, marked
+towels; and one noble being actually took off his coat and packed the
+trunks in layers of mosaic-work wonderful to behold. A supper celebrated
+the last evening; and even the doleful Lavinia, touched by such
+kindness, emerged from her slough of despond and electrified the ball by
+dancing a jig with great spirit and grace.
+
+Devoted beings were up at dawn to share the early breakfast, lug trunks,
+fly up and down with last messages, cheer heartily as the carriage
+drove off, and then adjourn _en masse_ to the station, there to shake
+hands all round once more, and wave and wring handkerchiefs as the train
+at last bore the jocund Mat and the resigned Lavinia toward the
+trysting-place and Amanda.
+
+All along the route more friends kept bursting into the cars as they
+stopped at different places; more gifts, more hand-shakes and kisses,
+more good wishes and kind prophecies, till at last in a chaos of smiles,
+tears, smelling-bottles, luncheon, cloaks, books, and foot-warmers, the
+travellers left the last friendly face behind and steamed away to New
+York.
+
+'How de-licious this is!' cried the untravelled Matilda, as they stepped
+upon the deck of the 'Lafayette,' and she sniffed the shippy fragrance
+that caused Lavinia to gasp and answer darkly,--
+
+'Wait till to-morrow.'
+
+While Mat surveyed the steamer under the care of Devoted Being No. 10,
+who appeared to see them off, Lavinia arranged the stateroom, stowing
+away all useless gear and laying forth dressing-gowns, slippers,
+pocket-handkerchiefs, with an anguished smile. _She_ had crossed the
+ocean twice, and was a wiser, sadder woman for it. At eight she turned
+in, and ten minutes later Amanda came aboard with a flock of gay
+friends. But no temptations of the flesh could lure the wary spinster
+from her den; for the night was rough and cold, and the steamer a Babel
+of confusion.
+
+'It's perfectly delightful! I wish you'd been there, Livy. We had
+supper, and songs, and funny stories, and all sorts of larks. There are
+quantities of nice people aboard, and we shall have a perfectly splendid
+trip. I shall be up bright and early, put on my scarlet stockings, my
+new boots, and pretty sea-suit, and go in for a jolly day,' said the
+ardent Matilda, as she came skipping down at midnight and fell asleep
+full of rosy visions of the joys of a
+
+
+     Life on the ocean wave.
+
+
+'Deluded child!' sighed Lavinia, closing her dizzy eyes upon the swaying
+garments on the wall, and feebly wishing she had hung herself along with
+them.
+
+In the gray dawn she was awakened by sounds of woe, and peering forth
+beheld the festive Matilda with one red stocking on and one off, her
+blonde locks wildly dishevelled, her face of a pale green, and her hands
+clasping lemons, cologne, and salts, as she lay with her brow upon the
+cool marble of the toilet-table.
+
+'How do you like it, dear?' asked the unfeeling Lavinia.
+
+'Oh, what is it? I feel as if I was dying. If somebody would only stop
+the swing _one_ minute. Is it sea-sickness? It's awful, but it will do
+me good. Oh, yes! I hope so. I've tried everything, and feel worse and
+worse. Hold me! save me! Oh, I wish I hadn't come!'
+
+'Shipmates ahoy! how are you, my loves?' and Amanda appeared, rosy,
+calm, and gay, with her pea-jacket on, skirts close reefed, hat well to
+windward, and everything taut and ship-shape; for she was a fine sailor,
+and never missed a meal.
+
+Wails greeted her, and faint inquiries as to the state of things in the
+upper world.
+
+'Blowing a gale; rain, hail, and snow,--very dirty weather; and we are
+flying off the coast in fine style,' was the cheerful reply.
+
+'Have we split any sails?' asked Lavinia, not daring to open her eyes.
+
+'Dozens, I dare say. Shipping seas every five minutes. All the
+passengers ill but me, and every prospect of a north-easter all the way
+over,' continued the lively Amanda, lurching briskly about the passage
+with her hands in her pockets.
+
+Matilda dropped her lemons and her bottles to wring her hands, and
+Lavinia softly murmured--
+
+
+     'Lord, what fools we mortals be,
+     That we ever go to sea!'
+
+
+'Breakfast, ladies?' cried the pretty French stewardess, prancing in
+with tea-cups, bowls of gruel, and piles of toast balanced in some
+miraculous manner all over her arms.
+
+'Oh, take it away! I shall never eat again,' moaned Matilda, clinging
+frantically to the marble, as the water-pitcher went down the middle
+with a hair-brush, and all the boots and shoes had a grand promenade
+round the room.
+
+'Don't speak to me; don't look at me; don't even _think_ of me for three
+days at least. Go and enjoy yourself, and leave us to our doom;' with
+which tragical remark Lavinia drew her curtains, and was seen no more.
+
+Great heavens, what a week that was! Rain, wind, fog; creak, pitch,
+toss; noise, smells, cold. Broken sleep by day, woe in every variety by
+night; food and drink a delusion and a snare; society an affliction;
+life a burden; death a far-off blessing not to be had at any price.
+Slowly, slowly the victims emerge from the lower depths of gloom, feebly
+smile, faintly joke, pick fearfully but wistfully at once-rejected
+dishes; talk about getting up, but don't do it; read a little, look at
+their sallow countenances in hand-glasses, and speculate upon the good
+effects of travel upon the constitution. Then they suddenly become
+daring, gay, and social; rise, adorn themselves, pervade the cabins,
+sniff the odours of engine and kitchen without qualms, play games, go to
+table; and, just as the voyage is over, begin to enjoy it.
+
+Alas for poor Lavinia! no such resurrection was possible for her. Long
+after Mat had bravely donned the scarlet hose, cocked up her beaver and
+gone forth to festive scenes, her shipmate remained below in chrysalis
+state, fed by faithful Marie, visited by the ever-cheerful Amanda, and
+enlivened by notes and messages from fellow-sufferers in far-off cells.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walmars, jun., called, and had private theatricals in
+the passage. Dried-ginger parties were held about the invalid's berth,
+poems were composed, and conundrums circulated. A little newspaper was
+concocted, replete with wit and spirit, by these secluded ladies, and
+called the 'Sherald,' to distinguish it from the 'Herald,' got up by
+sundry gentlemen whose shining hours were devoted to flirtation, cards,
+and wine.
+
+'Perfect gentlemen, I assure you, my dear; for, drunk or sober, they
+wear yellow kids from morning till night, smoke the best cigars, and
+dance divinely,' as Mrs. Twaddle said, sitting erect in the saloon,
+shrouded in fur and velvet, with five diamond-rings well displayed, as
+she recounted the diseases she had enjoyed, and did the honours of a
+remarkable work-basket, containing eight different sorts of scissors.
+
+'We shall be in to-morrow, so you'd better be digging up the treasures
+you have buried, you old magpie,' said Mat, appearing to the pensive
+Livy on the eleventh day.
+
+'The sun is out; come on deck, and help us get up the last edition of
+our paper. How will this do? Query--If steamers are named the "Asia,"
+the "Russia," and the "Scotia," why not call one the "Nausea?"' added
+Amanda, popping her head into the den. Lavinia threw a pillow at her,
+but the undaunted joker continued--
+
+'Also this: Financial--This being a feminine paper, gold is no longer at
+Pa, but at Ma.'
+
+'Good! Add this: Argument in favour of the Superiority of Women--The
+sluggard was _not_ told to go to his uncle.'
+
+'Thank you,' and Amanda departed to twine with her forty-third bosom
+friend, while Lavinia disinterred, from holes and corners of her berth,
+money, nuts, and raisins; books, biscuits, and literary efforts much the
+worse for deluges of soap and daubs of butter.
+
+The cry of 'Land!' on the morrow caused passengers unseen before to
+appear like worms after a shower; all heroically did up their back hair,
+put on their best suits, and walked forth with the delusive hope that no
+one would know how ill they had been.
+
+A French Marquis, with a sickly little son, whose diet of fried potatoes
+and sour wine accounted for his having the temper of a young fiend,
+appeared, and were made much of by dear, title-loving Americans.
+
+A Spanish opera-singer, stout, saffron-coloured, and imperious, likewise
+emerged from obscurity, with a meek little husband, who waited on her
+like a servant, and a big bald parrot, who swore like a trooper.
+
+Several nuns languished in corners of the saloon, surveying the
+vanities of life with interest, and telling their beads devoutly when
+they saw anyone looking at them.
+
+A mysterious lady in green velvet with many diamonds, and a shabby,
+speechless companion, sailed about the ship, regardless of the rumours
+told of her--deserted husbands, stolen jewellery, lovers waiting on the
+other side, and many equally pleasant little tales.
+
+The gentlemen with orange gloves and copper-coloured noses got
+themselves up in the most superb style, though few were going to land at
+Brest, and took tender farewells of such ladies as did, each professing
+desolation and despair at the termination of a twelve days' flirtation.
+
+'I am not fond of dirt, but I could kneel down and kiss this mud, so
+grateful am I to feel solid ground under my feet, after leading the
+life of a fly for so long,' said Lavinia with emotion, as the three
+trudged up the wharf at Brest into a sort of barn which served for a
+custom-house.
+
+'Now let each sit upon her luggage and clamour till some one comes and
+examines it, else it will get whisked away heaven only knows where,'
+ordered Amanda, who was the leader in right of her knowledge of tongues.
+
+Each perched accordingly on her one big trunk, and tried to 'clamour.'
+But nothing came of it save loss of time and temper, for no one paid the
+slightest heed to them; and it was maddening to see trunk after trunk
+passed and sent off, followed by its rejoicing owner. Especially hard to
+bear was the sight of the green-velvet sinner, who, with a smile or two,
+won the sternest official to pass her five trunks without turning a
+key, and sailed away with a scornful glance at the virtuous Three
+planted on their property and feebly beckoning for help.
+
+'I shall bear this no longer. Mat, sit there and guard the small things,
+while you and I, Livy, charge boldly among these imbeciles and drag them
+to their duty;' and Amanda marched away to clutch a cockaded victim by
+the shoulder with an awe-inspiring countenance.
+
+Lavinia picked out a feeble, gray officer, and dogged him like an
+Indian, smiling affably, and pointing to her luggage with a persistent
+mildness that nearly drove the poor man mad.
+
+No matter where he went, or what he did; no matter how thick the crowd
+about him, or how loud the din; still, like a relentless ghost, that
+mild old lady was ever at his side, mutely pointing and affably
+smiling. Of course he gave in, lifted one tray, saw much flannel, nearly
+blew his venerable nose off sniffing at one suspicious bottle, and
+slamming down the lid, scrawled a mysterious cross, bowed and fled.
+
+Proudly returning to Amanda, the victorious one found her friend in a
+high state of indignation; for no officer there would touch her trunk
+because some American Express had put little leaden stamps here and
+there for some unknown purpose. Not even in her best French could the
+irate lady make the thick-headed men understand that it was not a high
+crime against the nation to undo a strap till some superior officer
+arrived to take the responsibility of so rash a step.
+
+If they had comprehended the dire threats, the personal remarks, and
+unmitigated scorn of those three fair travellers, the blue-coated
+imbeciles would have been reduced to submission. Fortunately the great
+man came in time to save them from utter rout; for the ladies were just
+trying to decide whether to go and leave the luggage to its fate, or to
+haul it forth and depart _vi et armis_, when a stout old party came,
+saw, said, 'It is nothing; pass the trunk; a thousand pardons, Madame,'
+and peace was restored.
+
+Instantly the porters, who till then had stood back, eyeing the
+innocent, black ark, as if it was an infernal machine liable to explode
+at a touch, threw themselves upon it, bore it forth, and heaving it atop
+of an omnibus, returned to demand vast sums for having waited so long.
+
+Then was Amanda sublime; then did her comrades for the first time learn
+the magnitude of her powers, and realise the treasure they possessed.
+Stowing Matilda and the smaller traps in the bus, and saying to Lavinia,
+'Stand by me,' this dauntless maid faced one dozen blue-bloused,
+black-bearded, vociferous, demonstrative Frenchmen; and, calmly offering
+the proper sum, refused to add one sou more.
+
+Vainly the drivers perjured themselves in behalf of the porters; vainly
+the guard looked on, with imposing uniforms, and impertinent
+observations; vainly Mat cried imploringly, 'Pay anything, and let us
+get off before there is a mob'--still the indomitable Amanda held forth
+the honest franc; and, when no one would take it, laid it on the post,
+and entering the omnibus, drove calmly away.
+
+'What should we do without you?' sighed Lavinia, with fervent gratitude.
+
+'Be cheated right and left, and never know it, dear,' responded Amanda,
+preparing for another fight with the omnibus-driver.
+
+And she had it; for, unwarned by the fate of the porters, this
+short-sighted man insisted on carrying the ladies to a dirty little
+hotel to dine, though expressly ordered to go at once to the station.
+Nothing would induce them to alight, though the landlord came out in
+person and begged them to do so; and, after a protracted struggle and a
+drive all over the town, they finally reached the depôt.
+
+Here another demand for double fare was promptly quenched by an appeal
+to the _chef de station_, who, finding that Mademoiselle was wide awake,
+crushed the driver and saw justice done.
+
+Exhausted but triumphant, the three at length found themselves rolling
+slowly towards Morlaix through a green and blooming country, so unlike
+the New England they had left behind, that they rejoiced like
+butterflies in the sunshine.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+_BRITTANY._
+
+
+After a late dinner, at which their appetites were pretty effectually
+taken away by seeing dishes of snails passed round and eaten like nuts,
+with large pins to pick out the squirming meat; a night's rest somewhat
+disturbed by the incessant clatter of _sabots_ in the market-place, and
+a breakfast rendered merry by being served by a _garçon_ whom Dickens
+would have immortalised, our travellers went on to Caulnes-Dinan.
+
+Here began their adventures, properly speaking. They were obliged to
+drive fourteen miles to Dinan in a ram-shackle carriage drawn by three
+fierce little horses, with their tails done up in braided chignons, and
+driven by a humpback. This elegant equipage was likewise occupied by a
+sleepy old priest, who smoked his pipe without stopping the whole way;
+also by a large, loquacious, beery man, who talked incessantly,
+informing the company that he was a friend of Victor Hugo, a child of
+nature aged sixty, and obliged to drink much ale because it went to his
+head and gave him commercial ideas.
+
+If it had given him no others it would have done well; but, after each
+draught, and he took many, this child of nature became so friendly that
+even the free and easy Americans were abashed. Matilda quailed before
+the languishing glances he gave her, and tied her head up like a bundle
+in a thick veil. The scandalised Lavinia, informing him that she did
+not understand French, assumed the demeanour of a griffin, and glared
+stonily into space, when she was not dislocating her neck trying to see
+if the top-heavy luggage had not tumbled off behind.
+
+Poor Amanda was thus left a prey to the beery one; for, having at first
+courteously responded to his paternal remarks and expressed an interest
+in the state of France, she could not drop the conversation all at once,
+even when the friend of Victor Hugo became so disagreeable that it is to
+be hoped the poet has not many such. He recited poems, he sung songs, he
+made tender confidences, and finished by pressing the hand of
+Mademoiselle to his lips. On being told that such demonstrations were
+not permitted to strangers in America, he beat his breast and cried
+out, 'My God, so beautiful and so cold! You do not comprehend that I am
+but a child. Pardon, and smile again I conjure you.'
+
+But Mademoiselle would not smile; and, folding her hands in her cloak,
+appeared to slumber. Whereat the gray-headed infant groaned
+pathetically, cast his eyes heavenward, and drank more ale, muttering to
+himself, and shaking his head as if his emotions could not be entirely
+suppressed.
+
+These proceedings caused Lavinia to keep her eye on him, being prepared
+for any outbreak, from a bullet all round to proposals to both her
+charges at once.
+
+With this smouldering bomb-shell inside, and the firm conviction that
+one if not all the trunks were lying in the dust some miles behind, it
+may be inferred that duenna Livy did not enjoy that break-neck drive,
+lurching and bumping up hill and down, with nothing between them and
+destruction apparently but the little humpback, who drove recklessly.
+
+In this style they rattled up to the Porte de Brest, feeling that they
+had reached Dinan 'only by the grace of God,' as the beery man expressed
+it, when he bowed and vanished, still oppressed with the gloomy
+discovery that American women did not appreciate him.
+
+While Amanda made inquiries at an office, and Matilda had raptures over
+the massive archway crowned with yellow flowers, Lavinia was edified by
+a new example of woman's right to labour.
+
+Close by was a clean, rosy old woman, whose unusual occupation attracted
+our spinster's attention. Whisking off the wheels of a _diligence_, the
+old lady greased them one by one, and put them on again with the skill
+and speed of a regular blacksmith, and then began to pile many parcels
+into a _char_ apparently waiting for them.
+
+She was a brisk, cheery old soul, with the colour of a winter-apple in
+her face, plenty of fire in her quick black eyes, and a mouthful of fine
+teeth, though she must have been sixty. She was dressed in the costume
+of the place: a linen cap with several sharp gables to it, a gay
+kerchief over her shoulders, a blue woollen gown short enough to display
+a pair of sturdy feet and legs in neat shoes with bunches of ribbons on
+the instep and black hose. A gray apron, with pockets and a bib,
+finished her off; making a very sensible as well as picturesque costume.
+
+She was still hard at it when a big boy appeared, and began to heave the
+trunks into another _char_; but gave out at the second, which was
+large. Instantly the brisk old woman put him aside, hoisted in the big
+boxes without help, and, catching up the shafts of the heavily laden
+cart, trotted away with it at a pace which caused the Americans (who
+prided themselves on their muscle) to stare after her in blank
+amazement.
+
+When next seen she was toiling up a steep street, still ahead of the
+lazy boy, who slowly followed with the lighter load. It did not suit
+Lavinia's ideas of the fitness of things to have an old woman trundle
+three heavy trunks while she herself carried nothing but a parasol, and
+she would certainly have lent a hand if the vigorous creature had not
+gone at such a pace that it was impossible to overtake her till she
+backed her cart up before a door in most scientific style, and with a
+bow, a smile, and a courteous wave of the hand, informed them that
+'here the ladies would behold the excellent Madame C.'
+
+They did behold and also receive a most cordial welcome from the good
+lady, who not only embraced them with effusion, but turned her house
+upside down for their accommodation, merely because they came
+recommended to her hospitality by a former lodger who had won her kind
+old heart.
+
+While she purred over them, the luggage was being bumped upstairs, the
+old woman shouldering trunk after trunk, and trudging up two steep
+flights in the most marvellous way. But best of all was her surprise and
+gratitude on receiving a larger fee than usual, for the ladies were much
+interested in this dear old Hercules in a cap of seven gables.
+
+When she had blessed them all round, and trotted briskly away with her
+carts, Madame C. informed the new-comers that the worthy soul was a
+widow with many children, whom she brought up excellently, supporting
+them by acting as porter at the hotel. Her strength was wonderful, and
+she was very proud of it--finding no work too hard, yet always neat,
+cheery, and active; asking no help, and literally earning her daily
+bread by the sweat of her brow. The ladies often saw her afterward,
+always trotting and tugging, smiling and content, as if some unseen
+hands kept well greased the wheels of her own diligence, which carried
+such a heavy load and never broke down.
+
+Miss Lavinia being interested in Woman's Rights and Wrongs, was much
+impressed by the new revelations of the capabilities of her sex, and
+soon ceased to be surprised at any demonstration of feminine strength,
+skill, and independence, for everywhere the women took the lead.
+
+They not only kept house, reared children, and knit every imaginable
+garment the human frame can wear, but kept the shops and the markets,
+tilled the gardens, cleaned the streets, and bought and sold cattle,
+leaving the men free to enjoy the only pursuits they seemed inclined to
+follow--breaking horses, mending roads, and getting drunk.
+
+The markets seemed entirely in the hands of the women, and lively scenes
+they presented to unaccustomed eyes, especially the pig-market, held
+every week, in the square before Madame C.'s house. At dawn the
+squealing began, and was kept up till sunset. The carts came in from all
+the neighbouring hamlets, with tubs full of infant pigs, over which the
+women watched with maternal care till they were safely deposited among
+the rows of tubs that stood along the walk facing Anne of Bretaigne's
+grey old tower, and the pleasant promenade which was once the _fosse_
+about the city walls.
+
+Here Madame would seat herself and knit briskly till a purchaser
+applied, when she would drop her work, dive among the pink innocents,
+and hold one up by its unhappy leg, undisturbed by its doleful cries,
+while she settled its price with a blue-gowned, white-capped neighbour
+as sharp-witted and shrill-tongued as herself. If the bargain was
+struck, they slapped their hands together in a peculiar way, and the new
+owner clapped her purchase into a meal-bag, slung it over her shoulder,
+and departed with her squirming, squealing treasure as calmly as a
+Boston lady with a satchel full of ribbons and gloves.
+
+More mature pigs came to market on their own legs, and very long,
+feeble legs they were, for a more unsightly beast than a Breton pig was
+never seen out of a toy Noah's ark. Tall, thin, high-backed, and
+sharp-nosed, these porcine victims tottered to their doom, with dismal
+wailings, and not a vestige of spirit till the trials and excitement of
+the day goaded them to rebellion, when their antics furnished fun for
+the public. Miss Livy observed that the women could manage the pigs when
+men failed entirely. The latter hustled, lugged, or lashed, unmercifully
+and unsuccessfully; the former, with that fine tact which helps them to
+lead nobler animals than pigs, would soothe, sympathise, coax, and
+gently beguile the poor beasts, or devise ways of mitigating their
+bewilderment and woe, which did honour to the sex, and triumphantly
+illustrated the power of moral suasion.
+
+One amiable lady, who had purchased two small pigs and a coop full of
+fowls, attempted to carry them all on one donkey. But the piggies
+rebelled lustily in the bags, the ducks remonstrated against their
+unquiet neighbours, and the donkey indignantly refused to stir a step
+till the unseemly uproar was calmed. But the Bretonne was equal to the
+occasion; for, after a pause of meditation, she solved the problem by
+tying the bags round the necks of the pigs, so that they could enjoy the
+prospect. This appeased them at once, and produced a general lull; for
+when the pigs stopped squealing, the ducks stopped quacking, the donkey
+ceased his bray, and the party moved on in dignified silence, with the
+youthful pigs, one black, one white, serenely regarding life from their
+bags.
+
+Another time, a woman leading a newly-bought cow came through the
+square, where the noise alarmed the beast so much that she became
+unruly, and pranced in a most dangerous manner. Miss Livy hung out of
+the window, breathless with interest, and ready to fly with brandy and
+bandages at a minute's notice, for it seemed inevitable that the woman
+would be tossed up among the lindens before the cow was conquered. The
+few men who were lounging about stood with their hands in their pockets,
+watching the struggle without offering to help, till the cow scooped the
+lady up on her horns, ready for a toss. Livy shrieked, but Madame just
+held on, kicking so vigorously that the cow was glad to set her down,
+when, instead of fainting, she coolly informed the men, who, seeing her
+danger, had approached, that she 'could arrange her cow for herself, and
+did not want any help,' which she proved by tying a big blue
+handkerchief over the animal's eyes, producing instant docility, and
+then she was led away by her flushed but triumphant mistress, who calmly
+settled her cap, and took a pinch of snuff to refresh herself, after a
+scuffle which would have annihilated most women.
+
+When Madame C.'s wood was put in, the new-comers were interested in
+watching the job, for it was done in a truly Bretonesque manner. It
+arrived in several odd carts, each drawn by four great horses, with two
+men to each team; and as the carts were clumsy, the horses wild, and the
+men stupid, the square presented a lively spectacle. At one time there
+were three carts, twelve horses, and six men, all in a snarl, while a
+dozen women stood at their doors and gave advice. One was washing a
+lettuce, another dressing her baby, a third twirling her distaff, and a
+fourth with her little bowl of soup, which she ate in public while
+gesticulating so frantically that her _sabots_ clattered on the stones.
+
+The horses had a free fight, and the men swore and shouted in vain, till
+the lady with the baby suddenly went to the rescue. Planting the naked
+cherub on the door-step, this energetic matron charged in among the
+rampant animals, and by some magic touch untangled the teams, quieted
+the most fractious, a big grey brute, prancing like a mad elephant; then
+returned to her baby, who was placidly eating dirt, and with a polite
+'_Voilà, messieurs!_' she whipped little Jean into his shirt, while the
+men sat down to smoke.
+
+It took two deliberate men nearly a week to split the gnarled logs, and
+one brisk woman carried them into the cellar and piled them neatly. The
+men stopped about once an hour to smoke, drink cider, or rest. The
+woman worked steadily from morning till night, only pausing at noon for
+a bit of bread and the soup good Coste sent out to her. The men got two
+francs a day, the woman half a franc; and as nothing was taken out of it
+for wine or tobacco, her ten cents probably went further than their
+forty.
+
+This same capable lady used to come to market with a baby on one arm, a
+basket of fruit on the other, leading a pig, driving a donkey, and
+surrounded by sheep, while her head bore a pannier of vegetables, and
+her hands spun busily with a distaff. How she ever got on with these
+trifling incumbrances was a mystery; but there she was, busy, placid,
+and smiling, in the midst of the crowd, and at night went home with her
+shopping well content.
+
+The washerwomen were among the happiest of these happy souls, and
+nowhere were seen prettier pictures than they made, clustered round the
+fountains or tanks by the way, scrubbing, slapping, singing, and
+gossiping, as they washed or spread their linen on the green hedges and
+daisied grass in the bright spring weather. One envied the cheery faces
+under the queer caps, the stout arms that scrubbed all day, and were not
+too tired to carry home some chubby Jean or little Marie when night
+came; and, most of all, the contented hearts in the broad bosoms under
+the white kerchiefs, for no complaint did one hear from these
+hard-working, happy women. The same brave spirit seems to possess them
+now as that which carried them heroically to their fate in the
+Revolution, when hundreds of mothers and children were shot at Nantes
+and died without a murmur.
+
+But of all the friends the strangers made among them they liked old
+Mère Oudon best--a shrivelled leaf of a woman, who at ninety-two still
+supported her old husband of ninety-eight. He was nearly helpless, and
+lay in bed most of the time, smoking, while she peeled willows at a sou
+a day, trudged up and down with herbs, cresses, or any little thing she
+could find to sell. Very proud was she of her 'master,' his great age,
+his senses still quite perfect, and most of all his strength, for now
+and then the old tyrant left his bed to beat her, which token of
+conjugal regard she seemed to enjoy as a relic of early days, and a
+proof that he would long be spared to her.
+
+She kept him exquisitely neat, and if anyone gave her a plate of food, a
+little snuff, or any small comfort for her patient old age, she took it
+straight to the 'master,' and found a double happiness in giving and
+seeing him enjoy it.
+
+She had but one eye, her amiable husband having put out the other once
+on a time as she was leading him home tipsy from market. The kind soul
+bore no malice, and always made light of it when forced to tell how the
+affliction befell her.
+
+'My Yvon was so gay in his young days, truly, yes, a fine man, and now
+most beautiful to see in his clean bed, with the new pipe that
+Mademoiselle sent him. Come, then, and behold him, my superb master, who
+at ninety-eight has still this strength so wonderful.'
+
+The ladies never cared to see him more than once, but often met the
+truly beautiful old wife as she toiled to and fro, finding her faithful
+love more wonderful than his strength, and feeling sure that when she
+lies at last on her 'clean bed,' some good angel will repay these
+ninety-two hard years with the youth and beauty, happiness and rest,
+which nothing can destroy.
+
+Not only did the women manage the affairs of this world, but had more
+influence than men with the good powers of heaven. A long drought
+parched France that year, and even fertile Brittany suffered. More than
+once processions of women, led by priests, poured through the gates to
+go to the Croix du Saint Esprit and pray for rain.
+
+'Why don't the men go also?' Miss Livy asked.
+
+'Ah! they pray to the Virgin, and she listens best to women,' was the
+answer.
+
+She certainly seemed to do so, for gracious showers soon fell, and the
+little gardens bloomed freshly where the mothers' hard hands had planted
+cabbages, onions, and potatoes to feed the children through the long
+winter.
+
+Nor were these the only tasks the women did. The good ladies had a
+hospital, and a neater, cheerier place was never seen; few invalids, but
+many old people sitting in the sunny gardens, or at work in the clean
+rooms. La Garaye is in ruins now, but the memory of its gentle lady
+still lives, and is preserved in this benevolent institution for the
+sick, the old, and poor.
+
+A school for girls was kept by the good nuns, and the streets at certain
+hours were full of little damsels, with round caps on their braided
+hair, queer long gowns of blue, white aprons and handkerchiefs, who went
+clattering by in their wooden shoes, bobbing little curtsies to their
+friends, and readily answering any questions inquisitive strangers asked
+them. They learned to read, write, sew, and say the catechism. Also to
+sing; for, often as the ladies passed the little chapel of Our Lady, a
+chorus of sweet young voices came to us, making the flowery garden
+behind the church of St. Sauveur a favourite resting-place.
+
+In endeavouring to account for the freedom of the women here, it was
+decided that it was owing to Anne of Brittany, the 'gentle and generous
+Duchesse,' to whom her husband Louis XII. allowed the uncontrolled
+government of the duchy. Relics of the '_fière Bretonne_,' as Louis
+called her, are still treasured everywhere, and it was pleasant to know
+not only that she was an accomplished woman, writing tender letters in
+Latin verse to her husband, but also a wise and just Princess to her
+people, 'showing herself by spirit and independence to be the most
+worthy of all her race to wear the ducal crown.' So three cheers for
+good Duchesse Anne, and long life to the hardy, happy women of Brittany!
+
+While Miss Lavinia was making these observations and moralizing upon
+them, the younger ladies were enjoying discoveries and experiences more
+to their tastes.
+
+They had not been in the house half a day before Madame C. informed them
+that 'Mademoiselle, the so charming miss whom they beheld at dinner, was
+to be married very soon; and they should have the rapture of witnessing
+a wedding the most beautiful.'
+
+They welcomed the prospect with pleasure, for Dinan is not a whirl of
+gaiety at the best of times: and that spring the drought, rumours of
+war, and fears of small-pox, cast a shadow upon the sunny little town.
+So they surveyed Mademoiselle Pelagie with interest, and longed to
+behold the happy man who was to be blessed with the hand of this little,
+yellow-faced girl, with red eyes, dirty hands, and a frizzled crop, so
+like a wig they never could make up their minds that it was not.
+
+Madame, the mamma, a buxom, comely widow, who breakfasted in black
+moire, with a diadem of glossy braids on her sleek head, and many jet
+ornaments rattling and glistening about her person, informed them, with
+voluble affability, of the whole affair.
+
+'My brother, M. le Président, had arranged the marriage. Pelagie was
+twenty, and beautiful, as you behold. It was time to establish her. _Mon
+Dieu!_ yes; though my heart is lacerated to lose my angel, I consent. I
+conduct her to a ball, that she may be seen by the young man whose
+parents desire that he should espouse my infant. He beholds her. He
+says: "Great heavens, I adore her! My father, I consent." He is
+presented to me; we converse. She regards him with the angelic modesty
+of a young girl, but speaks not. I approve, the parents meet, it is
+arranged, and Jules is betrothed to my Pelagie. They have not met since;
+but next week he comes for the marriage, and he will be permitted to
+address her in my presence. Ah, yes! your customs are not as ours, and
+to us seem of a deplorable freedom. Pardon that I say it.'
+
+On inquiring how Pelagie regarded her future lord, they found that she
+thought very little about him, but was absorbed in her _trousseau_,
+which she proudly displayed. To those accustomed to see and hear of
+American outfits, with their lavish profusion and extravagant elegance,
+poor little Pelagie's modest stores were not at all imposing. Half a
+dozen pretty dresses from Paris; several amazing hats, all rosebuds,
+lace, and blue ribbon; a good deal of embroidery; and a few prophetic
+caps,--completed the outfit.
+
+One treasure, however, she was never tired of displaying,--a gift from
+Jules,--a camels'-hair shawl, in a black walnut case, on which was
+carved the Clomadoc arms. A set of pearls were also from the bridegroom;
+but the shawl was her pride, for married women alone could wear such,
+and she seemed to think this right of more importance than any the
+wedding-ring could confer upon her.
+
+To the young ladies, both of whom had known many of the romantic
+experiences which befall comely American girls, the idea of marrying a
+man whom they had only seen twice seemed horrible; and to have but one
+week of courtship, and that in Mamma's presence, was simply an insult
+and a wrong which they would not bear to think of.
+
+But Pelagie seemed quite content, and brooded over her finery like a
+true Frenchwoman, showing very little interest in her Jules, and only
+anxious for the time to come when she could wear her shawl and be
+addressed as Madame.
+
+While waiting for the grand event, the girls amused themselves with
+Gaston, the brother of the bride-elect. He was a languid, good-looking
+youth of three-and-twenty, who assumed _blasé_ airs and attitudinized
+for their benefit. Sometimes he was lost in fits of Byronic gloom, when
+he frowned over his coffee, sighed gustily, and clutched his brow,
+regardless of the curls, usually in ambrosial order. The damsels,
+instead of being impressed by this display of inward agony, only laughed
+at him, and soon rallied him out of his heroics. Then he would try
+another plan, and become all devotion, presenting green tulips, ancient
+coins, early fruit, or sketches of his own, so very small that the
+design was quite obscure. If these delicate attentions failed to touch
+the stony hearts of the blonde Americans, he would air his entire
+wardrobe, appearing before them one day in full Breton costume of white
+cloth, embroidered in gay silks, buckled shoes, and hat adorned with
+streaming ribbons and flowers. Quite Arcadian was Gaston in this attire;
+and very effective on the croquet ground, where sundry English families
+disported themselves on certain afternoons. Another time he would get
+himself up like a Parisian dandy bound for a ride in the Bois de
+Boulogne; and, mounting with much difficulty a rampant horse, he would
+caracole about the Place St. Louis, to the great delight of the natives.
+
+But this proved a failure; for one of the fair but cruel strangers
+donned hat and habit, and entirely eclipsed his glories by galloping
+about the country like an Amazon. The only time Gaston played escort she
+was nearly the death of him, for he seldom did more than amble a mile or
+two, and a hard trot of some six or eight miles reduced our Adonis to
+such a state of exhaustion that he fell into his mother's arms on
+dismounting, and was borne away to bed with much lamentation.
+
+After that he contented himself with coming to show himself in full
+dress whenever he went to a party; and, as that was nearly every other
+evening, they soon got accustomed to hearing a tap at their door, and
+beholding the comely youth in all the bravery of glossy broadcloth, a
+lavish shirt-bosom, miraculous tie, primrose gloves, varnished shoes,
+and curls and moustache anointed and perfumed in the most exquisite
+style. He would bow and say '_Bon soir_,' then stand to be admired, with
+the artless satisfaction of a child; after which he would smile
+complacently, wave his crush hat, and depart with a flourish.
+
+Dear, dandified, vain Gaston! His great desire was to go to Paris, and
+when the war came he had his wish; but found sterner work to do than to
+dress and dance and languish at the feet of ladies. I hope it made a man
+of him, and fancy it did; for the French fight well and suffer bravely
+for the country they love in their melodramatic fashion.
+
+As the day approached for the advent of the bridegroom, great excitement
+prevailed in the quiet household. Madame C. and her handmaid, dear old
+Marie, cackled and bustled like a pair of important hens. Madame F., the
+widow, lived at the milliner's, so to speak, and had several dress
+rehearsals for her own satisfaction. Gaston mounted guard over his
+sister, lest some enamoured man should rend her from them ere her Jules
+could secure the prize. And Pelagie placidly ate and slept, kept her
+hair in crimping-pins from morning till night, wore out her old clothes,
+and whiled away the time munching _bonbons_ and displaying her shawl.
+
+'Mercy on us! I should feel like a lamb being fattened for the sacrifice
+if I were in her place,' cried one of the freeborn American
+citizenesses, with an air of unmitigated scorn for French ways of
+conducting this interesting ceremony.
+
+'I should feel like a galley-slave,' said the other. 'For she can't go
+anywhere without Gaston or Mamma at her elbow. Only yesterday she went
+into a shop alone, while Gaston waited at the door. And when she told it
+at home as a great exploit all the ladies shrieked with horror at the
+idea, and Mamma said, wringing her hands: "_Mon Dieu!_ but they will
+think thou art a married woman, for it is inconceivable that any girl
+should do so bold a thing." And Pelagie wept, and implored them not to
+tell Jules, lest he should discard her.'
+
+Here the Americans all groaned over the pathetic absurdity of the whole
+affair, and wondered with unrighteous glee what the decorous ladies
+below would say to some of their pranks at home. But, fearing that M. le
+Président might feel it his duty to eject them from the town as
+dangerous persons, they shrouded their past sins in the most discreet
+silence, and assumed their primmest demeanour in public.
+
+'He has come! Look quick, girls!' cried Lavinia, as a carriage stopped
+at the door, and a rushing sound, as of many agitated skirts, was heard
+in the hall. Three heads peeped from the window of the blue parlour, and
+three pairs of curious eyes were rewarded by a sight of the bridegroom,
+as he alighted.
+
+Such a little man! Such a fierce moustache! Such a dignified strut! And
+such an imposing uniform as he wore! For Jules Gustave Adolphe Marie
+Clomadoc was a colonel in some regiment stationed at Boulogne. Out he
+skipped; in he marched; and, peeping over the banisters, they saw him
+salute Madame F. with a stately kiss on the hand, then escort her up to
+her _salon_, bowing loftily, and twisting his tawny moustache with an
+air that gave him the effect of being six feet in height, and broad in
+proportion.
+
+How he greeted his _fiancée_ they knew not, but the murmur of voices
+came from the room in steady flow for hours, and Gaston flew in and out
+with an air of immense importance.
+
+At dinner the strangers were proudly presented to M. le Colonel, and
+received affable bows from the little man, who flattered himself that he
+could talk English, and insisted on speaking an unknown tongue,
+evidently wondering at their stupidity in not understanding their own
+language.
+
+He escorted Madame down, sat between her and Pelagie, but talked only to
+her; while the girl sat silent and ate her dinner with an appetite which
+no emotion could diminish. It was very funny to see the small warrior do
+his wooing of the daughter through the mother; and the buxom widow
+played her part so well that an unenlightened observer would have said
+_she_ was the bride-elect. She smiled, she sighed, she discoursed, she
+coquetted, and now and then plucked out her handkerchief and wept at the
+thought of losing the angel, who was placidly gnawing bones and wiping
+up the gravy on her plate with bits of bread.
+
+Jules responded with spirit, talked, jested, quoted poetry, paid
+compliments right and left, and now and then passed the salt, filled a
+glass, or offered a napkin to his _fiancée_ with a French shrug and a
+tender glance.
+
+After dinner Madame F. begged him to recite one of his poems; for it
+appeared this all-accomplished man was beloved of the muse, and twanged
+the lyre as well as wielded the sword. With much persuasion and many
+modest apologies, Jules at length consented, took his place upon the
+rug, thrust one hand into his bosom, turned up his eyes, and, in a
+tremendous voice, declaimed a pensive poem of some twenty stanzas,
+called 'Adieu to my past.'
+
+The poet's friends listened with rapt countenances and frequent bursts
+of emotion or applause; but the Americans suffered agonies, for the
+whole thing was so absurdly melodramatic that it was with great
+difficulty they kept themselves from explosions of laughter. When the
+little man dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, in bidding adieu to
+the lost loves of his youth, tender-hearted old C. sobbed in her napkin;
+while Livy only saved herself from hysterics by drinking a glass of
+water, and Pelagie ate sugar, with her round eyes fixed on her lover's
+face, without the slightest expression whatever.
+
+When the poet mourned his blighted hopes, and asked wildly of all the
+elements if he should live or die, Gaston cast reproachful glances at
+the alien charmer who had nipped his passion in the bud; and when Jules
+gave a sudden start, slapped his brow, and declared that he would live
+for his country, old Marie choked in her coffee, while Madame F. clapped
+her fat hands, and cried: 'It is sublime!'
+
+The poem closed there, and the providential appearance of their donkeys
+gave the ladies an excuse for retiring to their room, where they laughed
+till they could laugh no more.
+
+Each meal was as good as a play, and every glimpse they had of the
+little pair gave fresh food for mirth. Everything was so formal and
+polite, so utterly unlike the free-and-easy customs of their native
+land, that they were kept in alternate states of indignation and
+amusement the whole time. Jules never was alone with his Pelagie for an
+instant; such a breach of etiquette would have shocked the entire town.
+In the walks and drives which the family took together, Madame was
+always at the Colonel's side; while Gaston escorted his sister, looking
+as if he was fast reaching a state of mind when he would give her away
+without a pang. Many guests came and went, much kissing and bowing,
+prancing and rustling, went on, up and down stairs. Stately old
+gentlemen called, papers were signed, fortunes discussed, and gifts
+displayed. Pelagie went much to mass; also to the barber's and the bath.
+Agitated milliners flew in and out. A great load of trunks arrived from
+Nantes, where Madame formerly lived; and the day before the wedding a
+whole carriage full of Clomadocs appeared, and Babel seemed to have come
+again.
+
+A great supper was given that evening, and the Three were banished to
+their own rooms; where, however, they fared sumptuously, for Madame C.
+and good old Marie ate with them, having no place left them but the
+kitchen. Madame C. was much hurt that she had not been asked to the
+wedding. It seemed the least Madame F. could do after taking possession
+of the house, and turning its rightful owner out of every room but the
+attic. Madame C. was a gentlewoman; and though a meek old soul, this
+rudeness hurt her very much. She said nothing; but Marie fumed and
+scolded fiercely, and proposed that the neglected ones should all go
+away on the wedding-day, and make a _fête_ for themselves somewhere. So
+they decided to drive to Dinare, enjoy the fine views of the sea and St.
+Malo, dine, and return at dusk, leaving the house free for the wedding
+festivities.
+
+The day was fine, and the ladies were graciously invited to behold the
+bride before she left for church. She looked as much like a
+fashion-plate as it was possible for a living girl to look; and they
+dutifully kissed her on both cheeks, paid their compliments and retired,
+thanking their stars that they were not in her place.
+
+Mamma was gorgeous to behold, in royal purple and black lace. Gaston was
+so glossy and beruffled and begemmed, that they gazed with awe upon the
+French Adonis. But the bridegroom was a sight for gods and men. In full
+regimentals with a big sword, so many orders that there was hardly room
+for them on his little breast, and a cocked hat, with a forest of
+feathers, in which he extinguished himself at intervals. How his tiny
+boots shone, his tawny moustache bristled with importance, and his
+golden epaulets glittered as he shrugged and pranced! His honoured papa
+and mamma were both tall, portly people, beside whom the manikin looked
+like a child. Livy quite longed to see Madame Clomadoc take little Jules
+on her knee, and amuse him with _bonbons_ when he got impatient at the
+delay of the carriage.
+
+The Three peeped out of windows, and over the banisters, and got fine
+glimpses of the splendours below. Flocks of elegant ladies went sailing
+up the narrow stairs. Gentlemen with orders, dandies wonderful to
+behold, and a few children (to play with the bridegroom, as Livy
+wickedly said), adorned the hall and _salon_. Every one talked at the
+top of his or her voice. Shrieks of rapture, groans of despair, greeted
+a fine toilette or a torn glove. Peals of laughter from the gentlemen,
+and shrill cries from the infants, echoed through the once peaceful
+halls. As Françoise said 'It was truly divine.'
+
+At eleven, every one trooped into the carriages again. How they ever got
+so many full-dressed people into one carriage is a mystery to this day.
+But in they piled, regardless of trains, corpulency, or height; and
+coach after coach lumbered away to the church.
+
+The bride's carriage could not be got very near the door. So she tripped
+out to it, leaning on her uncle's arm, while the devoted Gaston bore her
+train. Mamma sailed after in a purple cloud; and when two young damsels,
+in arsenic green, were packed in, away they went, leaving the bridegroom
+to follow.
+
+Then came the catastrophe! Stout papa and mamma were safely in; a friend
+of Jules, some six feet high, shut himself up like a jack-knife; and
+with a farewell wave of the cocked hat, the small bridegroom skipped in
+after them. The coachman cracked his whip, intending to dash under the
+arched gateway in fine style. But alas! the harness was old, the big
+horses clumsy, and the road half paved. The traces gave way, the beasts
+reared, the big coach lurched, and dismal wails arose. Out burst the
+fierce little hero of the day, and the tall friend followed by
+instalments.
+
+Great was the excitement as the natives gathered about the carriage with
+offers of help, murmurs of sympathy, and unseemly mirth on the part of
+the boys. Jules did the swearing; and never were heard such big oaths as
+fell from the lips of this irate little man. It really seemed as if he
+would explode with wrath. He dashed the impressive cocked hat upon the
+stones, laid his hand upon his sword, tore his hair, and clutched his
+moustache in paroxysms of despair.
+
+His bride was gone, waiting in agitated suspense for him. No other coach
+could be had, as the resources of the town had been exhausted. The
+harness was in a desperate state, the men at their wit's end how to
+mend it, and time flying fast. _Maire_ and priest were waiting, the
+whole effect of the wedding was being ruined by this delay, and 'ten
+thousand devils' seemed to possess the awkward coachman.
+
+During the flurry, Papa Clomadoc appeared to slumber tranquilly in the
+recesses of the carriage. Mamma endeavoured to soothe her boy with cries
+of 'Tranquillize yourself, my cherished son. It is nothing.' 'Come,
+then, and reassure papa.' 'Inhale the odour of my vinaigrette. It will
+compose your lacerated nerves, my angel.'
+
+But the angel wouldn't come, and continued to dance and swear, and slap
+his hat about until the damages were repaired, when he flung himself,
+exhausted, into the carriage, and was borne away to his bride.
+
+'A lively prospect for poor Pelagie.' 'What a little fiend he is!'
+'Spinsters for ever!'
+
+With these remarks, the ladies ordered their own equipage, an infant
+omnibus, much in vogue in Dinan, where retired army officers, English or
+Scotch, drive about with their little families of eighteen or twenty.
+One Colonel Newcome, a grave-looking man, used to come to church in a
+bus of this sort, with nine daughters and four sons, like a patriarch.
+The strangers thought it was a boarding-school, till he presented the
+entire flock, with paternal pride, as 'my treasures.'
+
+Madame C., in a large Leghorn bonnet, trembling with yellow bows, led
+the way with an air of lofty indifference as to what became of her house
+that day. Marie bore a big basket, full of cold fowls, salad, and wines;
+she also was in a new spring hat of purple, which made her rosy old
+face look like a china aster. Lavinia reposed upon the other seat; and
+the infants insisted on sharing the driver's seat, up aloft, that they
+might enjoy the prospect, which freak caused Flabeau's boy to beam and
+blush till his youthful countenance was a deep scarlet.
+
+They had a pleasant day; for good old Madame soon recovered her temper,
+and beguiled the time with lively tales of her mother's trials during
+the Revolution.
+
+Marie concocted spiced drinks, salad that was a thing to dream of, not
+to tell, and produced such edible treasures that her big basket seemed
+bottomless.
+
+The frisky damsels explored ruins, ran races on the hard beach, sniffed
+the salt breezes, and astonished the natives by swarming up and down
+'precipices,' as they called the rocks.
+
+That was a fatal day for Flabeau's boy (they never knew his name); for,
+as if the wedding had flown to his head, he lost his youthful heart to
+one of the lively damsels who invaded his perch. Such tender glances as
+his China-blue eyes cast upon her; such grins of joy as he gave when she
+spoke to him; such feats of agility as he performed, leaping down to
+gather flowers, or hurling himself over thorny hedges, to point out a
+_dolmen_ or a _menhir_ (they never could remember which was which).
+Alas, alas! for Flabeau's boy! Deeply was he wounded that day by the
+unconscious charmer, who would as soon have thought of inspiring love in
+the bosom of the broken-nosed saint by the wayside as in the heart that
+beat under the blue blouse.
+
+I regret to say that 'the infants,' as Madame C. always called Miss
+Livy's charges, behaved themselves with less decorum than could have
+been wished. But the proud consciousness that _they_ never could be
+disposed of as Pelagie had been had such an exhilarating effect upon
+them that they frisked like the lambs in the field.
+
+One drove the bus in a retired spot and astonished the stout horses by
+the way in which she bowled them along the fine, hard road. The other
+sang college songs, to the intense delight of the old ladies, who
+admired the '_chants Amériques_ so gay,' and to the horror of their
+duenna, who knew what they meant. A shower came up, and they _would_
+remain outside; so the boy put up a leathern hood, and they sat inside
+in such a merry mood that the silent youth suddenly caught the
+infection, and burst forth into a Breton melody, which he continued to
+drone till they got home.
+
+The house was a blaze of light when they arrived, and Françoise, the
+maid, came flying out to report sundry breakages and mishaps. How the
+salad had precipitated itself downstairs, dish and all. How Monsieur
+Gaston was so gay, so inconceivably gay, that he could hardly stand, and
+insisted on kissing her clandestinely. That Mademoiselle Pelagie had
+wept much because her veil was torn; and Madame F. had made a fresh
+toilette, ravishing to behold. Would the dear ladies survey the party,
+still at table? Regard them from the little window in the garden, and
+see if it is not truly a spectacle the most superb!
+
+They did regard them, and saw the bride at the head of the table, eating
+steadily through the dessert; the bridegroom reciting poems with
+tremendous effect; Gaston almost invisible behind a barricade of
+bottles; and Madame F., in violet velvet, diamonds, plumes, and lace,
+more sleek and buxom than ever. The ladies all talked at once, and the
+gentlemen drank healths every five minutes. A very French and festive
+scene it was; for the room was small, and twenty mortals were stowed
+therein. One fat lady sat in the fireplace, Papa Clomadoc leaned his
+heavy head upon the sideboard, and the plump shoulders of Madame F. were
+half out of the front window. 'But it was genteel. Oh! I assure you,
+yes,' as Françoise said.
+
+How long they kept it up the weary trio did not wait to see, but retired
+to their beds, and slumbered peacefully, waking only when Gaston was
+borne up to his room, chanting the 'Marseillaise' at the top of his
+voice.
+
+Next day M. and Madame Clomadoc, Jr., made calls, and Pelagie had the
+joy of wearing her shawl. For three days she astonished the natives by
+promenading with her lord in a fresh toilette each day. On the fourth
+they all piled into a big carriage, and went away to make a round of
+visits, before the young people settled down at Boulogne.
+
+The Americans never thought to hear any more of Pelagie; but, as dear
+old Madame C. wrote to them several times after they left, the little
+story may be finished here, though the sequel did not actually come till
+a year later.
+
+Many were the sage predictions of the Three as to the success of this
+marriage--Amanda approving of that style of thing, Matilda objecting
+fiercely to the entire affair, and Lavinia firmly believing in the good
+old doctrine of love as your only firm basis for so solemn a bargain.
+
+Wagers were laid that the fiery little Colonel would shoot some one in a
+jealous fit, or that Pelagie would elope, or both charcoal themselves to
+death, as the best way out of the predicament. But none of them guessed
+how tragically it would really end.
+
+Late in the following spring came a letter from Madame C., telling them
+that Jules had gone to the war, and been shot in his first battle; that
+Pelagie was with her mother again, comforting herself for her loss with
+a still smaller Jules, who never saw his father, and, it is to be hoped,
+did not resemble him. So little Pelagie's brief romance ended; and one
+would fancy that the experiences of that year would make her quite
+content to remain under mamma's wing, with no lord and master but the
+little son, to whom she was a very tender mother.
+
+Pleasant days those were in quaint old Dinan; for spring's soft magic
+glorified earth and sky, and a delicious sense of rest and freedom gave
+a charm to that quiet life. Legends of romance and chivalry hung about
+the ruins of castle and _château_, as green and golden as the ivy and
+bright wall-flowers that tapestried the crumbling walls, and waved like
+banners from the turret tops. Lovely walks into woods, starred with pale
+primroses, and fragrant with wild hyacinths; down green lanes, leading
+to quaint cottages, or over wide meadows full of pink-tipped daisies and
+dear familiar buttercups, the same all the world over.
+
+Sometimes they took gay donkey-drives to visit a solemn dolmen in a
+gloomy pine-wood, with mistletoe hanging from the trees, and the ghosts
+of ancient Druids haunting the spot. The cavalcade on such occasions was
+an imposing spectacle. Matilda being fond of horses likewise affected
+donkeys (or thought she did, till she tried to drive one), and usually
+went first in a small vehicle like a chair on wheels, drawn by an
+animal who looked about the size of a mouse, when the stately Mat in
+full array, yellow parasol, long whip, camp-stool, and sketch-book, sat
+bolt upright on her perch, driving in the most approved manner.
+
+The small beast, after much whipping, would break into a trot, and go
+pattering over the hard, white road, with his long ears wagging, and his
+tiny hoofs raising a great dust for the benefit of the other turnout
+just behind.
+
+In a double chair sat Lavinia, bundled up as usual, and the amiable
+Amanda, both flushed with constant pokings and thrashings of their
+steed. A venerable ass, so like an old whity-brown hair trunk as to his
+body, and Nick Bottom's mask as to his head, that he was a constant
+source of mirth to the ladies. Mild and venerable as he looked, however,
+he was a most incorrigible beast, and it took two immortal souls, and
+four arms, to get the ancient donkey along.
+
+Vain all the appeals to his conscience, pity, or pride: nothing but a
+sharp poke among his ribs, a steady shower of blows on his fuzzy old
+back, and frequent 'yanks' of the reins produced any effect. It was
+impossible to turn out for anything, and the ladies resigned themselves
+to the ignominy of sitting still, in the middle of the road, and letting
+other carriages drive over or round them.
+
+On rare occasions the beast would bolt into the ditch as a vehicle drew
+near; but usually he paused abruptly, put his head down, and apparently
+went to sleep.
+
+Matilda got on better, because little Bernard Du Guesclin, as she named
+her mouse, was so very small, that she could take him up, and turn him
+round bodily, when other means failed, or pull him half into the chair
+if danger threatened in front. He was a sprightly little fellow, and had
+not yet lost all the ardour of youth, or developed the fiendish
+obstinacy of his kind; so he frequently ran little races--now and then
+pranced, and was not quite dead to the emotion of gratitude in return
+for bits of bread.
+
+Truly, yes; the fair Mat with her five feet seven inches, and little
+Bernard, whose longest ear, when most erect, did not reach much above
+her waist, were a sweet pair of friends, and caused her mates great
+amusement.
+
+'I must have some one to play with, for I can't improve my mind _all_
+the time as 'Mandy does, or cuddle and doze like Livy. I've had
+experience with young donkeys of all sorts, and I give you my word
+little Bernie is much better fun than some I've known with shorter ears
+and fewer legs.'
+
+Thus Matilda, regardless of the jeers of her friends, when they
+proposed having the small beast into the _salon_ to beguile the tedium
+of a rainy day.
+
+As the summer came on, picnics were introduced, and gay parties would
+pile into and on to Flabeau's small omnibus, and drive off to Hunandaye,
+Coétquën, La Bellière, Guingamp, or some other unpronounceable but most
+charming spot, for a day of sunshine and merrymaking.
+
+The hospitable English came out strong on these occasions, with ''ampers
+of 'am-sandwiches, bottled porter and so on, don't you know?' all in
+fine style. Even the stout doctor donned his knickerbockers and grey
+hose, unfurled his Japanese umbrella, and, with a pretty niece on either
+arm, disported himself like a boy.
+
+But pleasantest of all were the daily strolls through the little town
+and its environs, getting glimpses of Breton manners and customs.
+
+The houses were usually composed of one room, where, near the open fire,
+and fixed against the wall, stands the bedstead or _lit clos_, of old
+oak, shut in by carved sliding panels, often bearing an inscription or
+some sacred symbol. The mattresses and feather-beds are so piled up,
+that there is hardly room to creep in. Before it is the big chest
+containing the family wardrobe, answering the double purpose of a seat
+and a step by which to ascend the lofty bed. Cupboards on each side
+often have wide shelves, where the children sleep. Settles and a long
+table complete the furniture; the latter often has little wells hollowed
+out in the top to hold the soup instead of plates. Over the table,
+suspended by pulleys, are two indispensable articles in a Breton
+house,--a large round basket to cover the bread, and a wooden frame to
+hold the spoons. Festoons of sausages, hams, candles, onions,
+horse-shoes, harness, and tools, all hang from the ceiling. The floor is
+of beaten earth. One narrow window lets in the light. There are no
+out-houses, and pigs and poultry mingle freely with the family.
+
+The gardens are well kept, and produce quantities of fruit and
+vegetables. The chief food of the poorer class is bread or porridge of
+buckwheat, with cabbage soup, made by pouring hot water over cabbage
+leaves and adding a bit of butter.
+
+They are a home-loving people, and pine like the Swiss, if forced to
+leave their native land. They are brave soldiers and good sailors.
+'Their vices,' as a Breton writer says, 'are avarice, contempt for
+women, and drunkenness; their virtues, love of home and country,
+resignation to the will of God, loyalty to each other, and
+hospitality.' Their motto is, 'En tout chemin loyauté.'
+
+They are very superstitious, and some of their customs are curious. At
+New Year pieces of bread and butter are thrown into the fountains, and
+from the way in which they swim the future is foretold. If the buttered
+side turns under, it forebodes death; if two pieces adhere together, it
+is a sign of sickness; and if a piece floats properly, it is an
+assurance of long life and prosperity.
+
+Girls throw pins into the fountain of Saloun to tell, by their manner of
+sinking, when they will be married. If the pin goes down head-foremost,
+there is little hope; but, if the point goes first, it is a sure sign of
+being married that year.
+
+Their veneration for healing-springs is very great, and, though at
+times forbidden by the Church, is still felt. Pounded snails, worn in a
+bag on the neck, is believed to be a cure for fever; and a certain holy
+bell rung over the head, a cure for head-ache. 'If we believe in that
+last remedy, what a ceaseless tingling that bell would keep up in
+America!' said Lavinia, when these facts were mentioned to her.
+
+In some towns they have, in the cemetery, a bone-house or reliquary. It
+is the custom, after a certain time, to dig up the bones of the dead,
+and preserve the skulls in little square boxes like bird-houses, with a
+heart-shaped opening, to show the relic within. The names and dates of
+the deceased are inscribed outside.
+
+Saint Ives or Yves is a favourite saint, and images of him are in all
+churches and over many doors. He was one of the remarkable characters
+of the thirteenth century. He studied law in Paris, and devoted his
+talents to defending the poor; hence, he was called 'the poor man's
+advocate:' and so great is the confidence placed in his justice, that,
+even now, when a debtor falsely denies his debt, a peasant will pay
+twenty _sous_ for a mass to St. Ives, sure that the Saint will cause the
+faithless creditor to die within the year or pay up.
+
+His truthfulness was such that he was called 'St. Yves de vérité.' He
+was the special patron of lawyers, but he does not seem to be their
+model.
+
+The early monks taught the people to work, and their motto was 'The
+Cross and the plough, labour and prayer.' They introduced apples, now
+the principal fruit of Brittany. Much cider is made and drank; and in
+old times they got their wine from France in exchange for wax and
+honey, as they were famous bee-keepers. Great fields of buck-wheat still
+afford food for the 'yellow-breeched philosophers,' and in many cottage
+gardens a row of queerly shaped hives stand in sunny nooks.
+
+These monks were the model farmers of those days, and their abbeys were
+fine farms. One had twenty piggeries, of three hundred pigs each, in its
+forests. The monks also reared sheep and horses, and bred fish in their
+ponds.
+
+Many were also brewers, weavers, carpenters, and so on. Evidently they
+lived up to their motto and laboured quite as much as they prayed, and
+doubtless were saved by works as well as by faith.
+
+The little Place Du Guesclin, with a stumpy statue of the famous knight
+in the middle and chestnut trees all around, was a favourite
+resting-place of the ladies--especially when the weekly fair was held
+and booths of all sorts were raised at one end. Here Amanda bought a
+remarkable jack-knife, which would cut nothing but her fingers: Matilda
+speculated in curious kinds of cake; one sort being made into gigantic
+jumbles so light that they did excellently for grace-hoops; another sort
+being used by these vandals as catch-alls, so deep and tough were they.
+Lavinia examined the various fabrics, and got bits of linen as samples,
+also queer earthen pots and pans impossible to carry away.
+
+The church of St. Sauveur, a dim and ancient little place with Du
+Guesclin's heart buried by the side of his wife, was another haunt. The
+castle, now a prison, contained the arm-chair in which Duchess Anne sat,
+and the dungeons where were crammed two thousand English prisoners of
+war in the last century. The view from the platform of the keep was
+magnificent, extending to Mont Dol and the distant sea.
+
+The sunny promenade on the _fosse_, that goes half round the town, was
+very charming, with the old grey walls on one side, and, on the other,
+the green valley with its luxuriant gardens, and leafy lanes, winding up
+to the ruined _château_, or the undulating hills with picturesque
+windmills whirling on the heights.
+
+On the other side of the town, from the high gardens of the church, one
+looked down into the deeper valley of the Rance, with the airy viaduct
+striding from hill to hill, and the old part of the town nestling at its
+base.
+
+Soft and summery, fertile and reposeful, was the scene; and the busy
+peasants at their work added to the charm. Pretty English children with
+Breton nurses, each in the costume of her native town, played under the
+lindens all abloom with odorous flowers and alive with bees. Workmen
+came to these green places to eat the black bread and drink the thin
+wine that was all their dinner. Invalids strolled here after their baths
+at the little house in the rose-garden below. Pretty girls walked there
+in the twilight with long-haired lovers in knee breeches and round hats.
+Nuns in their grey gowns went to and fro from hospital and the insane
+asylum or charity school; and the beautiful old priest sometimes went
+feebly by, smiling paternally on his flock, who rose and uncovered
+reverently as he passed.
+
+Flowers were everywhere,--in the gardens of the rich, at the windows of
+the poor. The stalls in the market were gay with plumy lilacs, splendid
+tulips, roses of every shade, and hyacinths heavy with odour. All along
+the borders of the river waved the blossoming grass; every green bank
+about the mills at Lehon was yellow with dandelions, and the sunny
+heads of little children welcoming the flower of the poor. Even the
+neglected churchyard of the ruined abbey, where the tombs of the stately
+Beaumanoirs still stand, was bright with cheerful daisies and blue-eyed
+forget-me-nots.
+
+The willows in the valley were covered with fragrant tassels, and the
+old women and children sat all day on door-stones and by the wayside
+stripping the long, white wands for basket-making. Flax fields were
+blooming in the meadows, and acres of buckwheat, with its rosy stems and
+snowy blossoms, whitened the uplands with a fair prophecy of bread for
+all.
+
+So, garlanded about with early flowers and painted in spring's softest,
+freshest colours, Brittany remains for ever a pleasant picture in the
+memory of those who have been welcomed to its hospitable homes, and
+found friends among its brave and loyal people.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+_FRANCE._
+
+
+'Girls, I have had a scintillation in the night: listen and approve!'
+said Amanda, coming into the room where her comrades sat upon the floor,
+in the first stages of despair, at the impossibility of getting the
+accumulated rubbish of three months' travel into a couple of immense
+trunks.
+
+'Blessed girl! you always bring a ray of light just at the darkest
+moment,' returned Lavinia, with a sigh of relief, while Matilda looked
+over a barricade of sketch-books bristling with paint-brushes, and added
+anxiously,--
+
+'If you _could_ suggest how I am to work this miracle, you will be a
+public benefactor.'
+
+'Behold the amendment I propose,' began Amanda, perching herself on one
+of the arks. 'We have decided to travel slowly and comfortably through
+France to Switzerland, stopping where we like, and staying as long as we
+please at any place we fancy, being as free as air, and having all the
+world before us where to choose, as it were.'
+
+'The route you have laid out is a charming one, and I don't see how you
+can improve it,' said Lavinia, who, though she was supposed to be the
+matron, guide, and protector of the younger girls, was in reality
+nothing but a dummy, used for Mrs. Grundy's sake, and let the girls do
+just as they pleased, only claiming the right to groan and moan as much
+as she liked when neuralgia, her familiar demon, claimed her for its
+own.
+
+'One improvement remains to be made. Are these trunks a burden, a
+vexation of spirit, a curse?' demanded Amanda, tapping one with her
+carefully cherished finger-tips.
+
+'They are! they are!' groaned the others, regarding the monsters with
+abhorrence.
+
+'Then let us get rid of them, and set out with no luggage but a few
+necessaries in a shawl-strap.'
+
+'We will! we will!' returned the chorus.
+
+'Shall we burn up our rubbish, or give it away?' asked Lavinia, who
+liked energetic measures, and was ready to cast her garments to the four
+winds of heaven, to save herself from the agonies of packing.
+
+'_I_ shall never give up my pictures, nor my boots!' cried Matilda,
+gathering her idols to her breast in a promiscuous heap.
+
+'Be calm and listen,' returned the scintillator. 'Pack away all but the
+merest necessaries, and we will send the trunk by express to Lyons. Then
+with our travelling-bags and bundles, we can follow at our leisure.'
+
+''Tis well! 'tis well!' replied the chorus, and they all returned to
+their packing, which was performed in the most characteristic manner.
+
+Amanda never seemed to have any clothes, yet was always well and
+appropriately dressed; so it did not take her long to lay a few
+garments, a book or two, a box of Roman-coin lockets, scarabæ brooches,
+and cinque-cento rings, likewise a swell hat and habit, into her vast
+trunk; then lock and label it in the most business-like and thorough
+manner.
+
+Matilda found much difficulty in reconciling paint-pots and silk gowns,
+blue hats and statuary, French boots and Yankee notions. But order was
+at length produced from chaos, and the young lady refreshed her weary
+soul by painting large red M's all over the trunk to mark it for her
+own.
+
+Miss Lavinia packed and repacked four or five times, forgetting
+needfuls, which, of course, were always at the very bottom. At the fifth
+plunge into the depths her patience gave out, and with a vow to be a
+slave no longer to her treacherous memory, she tumbled every thing in,
+performed a solemn jig on the lid till it locked, then pasted large, but
+illegible placards in every available spot, and rested from her labours
+with every nerve in a throbbing condition.
+
+Shawl-straps of the largest, strongest sort were next procured, and the
+three bundles made up with much discussion and merriment.
+
+Into Amanda's went a volume of Shakspeare of great size and weight, but
+as indispensable as a tooth-brush to its owner; toilette-articles tied
+up in a handkerchief, a few necessary garments, and much paper,--for
+Amanda was inspired with poetic fire at unexpected moments, also had
+five hundred bosom friends, in answering whose epistolary gushings much
+stationery was consumed. A pistol, a massive crust of bread, and an oval
+box containing all the dainty appliances for the culture, preservation,
+and ornamentation of the finger-nails, made up her store.
+
+Matilda's bundle consisted of sketch-books, a trifle of haberdashery, a
+curling-stick that was always tumbling out at inopportune moments, yards
+of blue ribbon, and a camp-stool strapped outside in company with a
+Japanese umbrella, a gift from the stout doctor, destined to be cursed
+in many languages by the unhappy beings into whose backs, eyes, and
+stomachs it was poked before its wanderings ended.
+
+Lavinia confined herself to a choice collection of bottles and
+pill-boxes, fur boots, a grey cloud, and several French novels,--the
+solace of wakeful nights. A scarlet army blanket, with U. S. in big
+black letters on it, enveloped her travelling medicine-chest, and lent a
+cheerful air to the sombre spinster, whose black attire and hoarse voice
+made the _sobriquet_ of Raven most appropriate.
+
+With these imposing bundles in one hand, little pouches slung over the
+shoulder, plain travelling-suits, subdued hats, and resolute but benign
+countenances, our three errant damsels set forth one bright June day, to
+wander through France at their own sweet will. Not a fear assailed them;
+for all men were civil, all women friendly, and the world wore its
+sunniest aspect. Not a doubt perplexed them; for the gifted Amanda spoke
+many tongues, understood all sorts of money, could grapple successfully
+with Murray and Bradshaw, and never got into the wrong corporation when
+she traced a route with unerring accuracy through the mysteries of an
+Indicator. No lord and master, in the shape of brother, spouse, or
+courier, ordered their outgoings and incomings; but liberty the most
+entire was theirs, and they enjoyed it heartily. Wisely and well too;
+for, though off the grand route, they behaved themselves in public as
+decorously as if the eyes of all prim Boston were upon them, and proved
+by their triumphant success, that the unprotected might go where they
+liked, if they conducted themselves with the courtesy and discretion of
+gentlewomen.
+
+How pleasant were the early sail down the Ranee from Dinan to St. Malo,
+the comfortable breakfast in the flowery little court of Hôtel Franklin,
+and the stroll afterward about the quaint old town, looking at the
+churches, buying fruit, and stoutly resisting the temptations of antique
+jewelry displayed in the dingy shops! Lavinia never forgave herself,
+however, for not securing a remarkable watch, and Amanda sighed months
+afterward for a Breton collar and cross of charming antiquity and
+ugliness.
+
+Matilda boldly planted her camp-stool, unfurled her umbrella, and,
+undaunted by the crowd of round-capped, blue-bloused, wooden-shoed
+children about her, began to draw the church.
+
+'I intend to study architecture, and to sketch _all_ the cathedrals we
+see,' said the ardent art-student, struggling manfully with the unruly
+umbrella, the unsavoury odours from the gutter, and the garrulous crowd
+leaning over her shoulder, peering under her hat-brim, and examining all
+her belongings with a confiding freedom rather embarrassing.
+
+'Do you know what impertinent things these little scamps are saying to
+you?' asked Amanda, pausing in a lecture on surface drainage which she
+was delivering to Lavinia, who was vainly struggling to cram a fat wine
+bottle, a cabbage leaf of strawberries, and some remarkable cakes into
+the lunch-basket.
+
+'No: I don't; and that is the advantage of not knowing any language but
+my own,' complacently replied Matilda, who considered all study but that
+of art as time wasted, and made her small store of French answer
+admirably by talking very loud and fast, and saying, '_Oui, oui, oui_,'
+on all occasions with much gesticulation, and bows and smiles of great
+suavity and sweetness.
+
+'Clear out this rabble, or come back to the hotel and wait for the bus.
+We shall have the whole town round us soon, and I can't stand it,' said
+Amanda, who had no romantic admiration for the Great Unwashed.
+
+'You think I can't do it? _Voilà!_' and, rising suddenly to an
+unexpected height, Matilda waved the umbrella like a _bâton_, cried
+'_Allez!_' in a stern voice, and the children fled like chaff before the
+wind.
+
+'You see how little is needed, so don't vex me with learning your old
+verbs any more!' and Matilda closed her book with an air of calm
+satisfaction.
+
+'Come home and rest. It is so warm here I am fairly melted,' prayed
+Lavinia, who had been longing for summer, and of course was not suited
+when she got it.
+
+'Now, do remember one thing: don't let us be gregarious. We never know
+who we may pick up if we talk to people; and stray acquaintances are sad
+bores sometimes. Granny is such a cross old dear she won't say a word to
+any one if she can help it; but you, Mat, can't be trusted if we meet
+any one who talks English. So be on your guard, or the peace of this
+party is lost,' said Amanda, impressively.
+
+'We are not likely to meet any but natives in this wilderness; so don't
+excite yourself, Mandy, dear,' replied Matilda, who, being of a social
+turn and an attractive presence, was continually making friends, to the
+great annoyance of her more prudent comrades.
+
+In the flowery courtyard sat the group that one meets everywhere on the
+Continent,--even in the wilds of Brittany. The father and mother stout,
+tired, and rather subdued by the newness of things; the son, Young
+America personified, loud, important, and inquisitive; the daughter,
+pretty, affected, and over-dressed; all on the lookout for adventures
+and titles, fellow-countrymen to impress, and foreigners eager to get
+the better of them.
+
+Seeing the peril from afar, Amanda buried herself in Murray, to read up
+the tomb of Chateaubriand, the tides, population, and any other useful
+bit of history; for Amanda was a thrifty soul, and
+
+
+     'Gathered honey all the day
+     From every opening flower.'
+
+
+Lavinia, finding the court damp, shrouded herself in the grey cloud, put
+her feet on the red bundle, and fortified herself with a Turner's pill.
+
+But Matilda, guileless girl, roamed to and fro, patted the horses at the
+gate, picked flowers that no French hand would have dared to touch, and
+studied the effect of light and shade on the red head of the _garçon_,
+who gazed sentimentally at 'the blonde "Mees,"' as he artlessly watered
+the wine for dinner.
+
+The Americans had their eye upon her, and felt that, though the others
+might be forbidding English women, this one could be made to talk. So
+they pounced upon their prey, to the dismay of her mates, and proceeded
+to ask fifty questions to the minute. Poor Mat, glad to hear the sound
+of her native tongue, fell into the snare, and grew more confiding every
+moment.
+
+'She is telling the family history,' whispered Lavinia, in a tone of
+despair.
+
+'Now they are asking where we came from,' added Amanda, casting down her
+book in agony.
+
+'Wink at her,' sighed Lavinia.
+
+'Call to her,' groaned Amanda, as they heard their treasured secret
+betrayed, and the enemy clamouring for further information about this
+charming trip.
+
+'Matilda, bring me my shawl,' commanded the Dowager.
+
+'Come and see if you don't think we had better go direct to Tours,' said
+the wary Amanda, hoping to put the enemy off the track.
+
+The victim came, and vials of wrath were poured upon her head in one
+unceasing flow till the omnibus started, and the ladies were appeased by
+finding that the enemy did not follow.
+
+'Promise that you won't talk to any but natives, or I decline to lead
+this expedition,' said Amanda firmly.
+
+'I promise,' returned Mat, with penitent meekness.
+
+'Now we've got her!' croaked the Raven; 'for she will have to learn
+French or hold her tongue.'
+
+'The language of the eye remains to me, and I am a proficient in that,
+ma'am,' said Mat, roused by these efforts to deny her the right of free
+speech.
+
+'You are welcome to it, dear;' and Amanda departed to buy tickets and
+despatch the trunks, with secret misgivings that they would never be
+found again.
+
+'Now we are fairly started, with no more weighing of luggage, fussing
+over checks, or packing of traps to afflict us. What a heavenly sense of
+freedom it gives one, to have nothing but an independent shawl-strap!'
+said Matilda, as they settled themselves in a vacant car, and stowed
+away the bundles.
+
+What a jolly day that was, to be sure! Whether it was the air, the good
+coffee, or the liberty, certain it is that three merrier maids never
+travelled from St. Malo to Le Mans on a summer's day. Even the Raven
+forgot her woes, and became so exhilarated that she smashed her bromide
+bottle out of the window, declaring herself cured, and tried to sing
+'Hail Columbia,' in a voice like an asthmatic bagpipe.
+
+Mat amused herself and her comrades by picking up the different articles
+that kept tumbling down on her head from her badly built bundle; while
+Amanda scintillated to such an extent that the others laughed themselves
+into hysterics, and lay exhausted, prone upon the seats.
+
+They ate, drank, sung, gossiped, slept, read, and revelled, till another
+passenger got in, when propriety clothed them as with a garment, and
+the mirthful damsels became three studious statues.
+
+The new-comer was a little priest; so rosy and young that they called
+him the 'Reverend Boy.' He seemed rather dismayed at first; but, finding
+the ladies silent and demure, he took heart, and read diligently in a
+dingy little prayer-book, stealing shy glances now and then from under
+his broad-brimmed hat at Amanda's white hands, or Matilda's yellow
+locks, as if these vanities of the flesh had not quite lost their charms
+for him. By and by he fell asleep, and leaned in his corner, making
+quite a pretty picture; for the ugly hat was off, his boyish face as
+placid as a child's, his buckled shoes and neat black-stockinged legs
+stretched comfortably out, his plump hands folded over the dingy book,
+and the little bands lay peacefully on his breast.
+
+He was quite at their mercy now; so the three women looked as much as
+they liked, wondering if the poor dear boy was satisfied with the life
+he had chosen, and getting tenderly pitiful over the losses he might
+learn to regret when it was too late. His dreams seemed to be pleasant
+ones, however; for once he laughed a blithe, boyish laugh, good to hear;
+and when he woke, he rubbed his blue eyes and stared about, smiling like
+a newly roused baby.
+
+He got out all too soon, was joined by several other clerical youths,
+and disappeared with much touching of big beavers, and wafting of
+cassocks.
+
+Innocent, reverend little boy! I wonder what became of him, and hope his
+sleep is as quiet now as then,--his awakening as happy as it seemed that
+summer day.
+
+Six o'clock saw our damsels at Le Mans; and, after dinner, a sunset
+walk took them to the grand old cathedral, where they wandered till
+moonrise. Pure Gothic of the twelfth century, rich in stained glass,
+carved screens, tombs of kings and queens, dim little chapels, where
+devout souls told their beads before shadowy pictures of saints and
+martyrs, while over all the wonderful arches seemed to soar, one above
+the other, light and graceful as the natural curves of drooping
+branches, or the rise and fall of some great fountain.
+
+'We shall not see anything finer than this, I'm sure. It's a perfect
+revelation to me,' said Matilda, in a calm rapture at the beauty all
+about her.
+
+'This is a pious-feeling church, and I could say my prayers here with
+all my soul; for it seems as if the religion of centuries had got built
+into it,' added Lavinia, thinking of the ugly imitations at home.
+
+'You will both turn Catholic before we get through,' prophesied Amanda,
+retiring to study the tomb of Berengaria, Coeur de Lion's wife.
+
+The square before the hotel was gay with a market, many soldiers
+lounging about, and flocks of people eating ices before the _cafés_. The
+ladies enjoyed it from the balcony, and then slumbered peacefully in a
+great room with three alcoves, much muslin drapery, and a bowl and
+pitcher like a good-sized cup and saucer.
+
+Another look at the cathedral in the early morning, and then away to
+Tours, which place they found a big, clean, handsome city, all astir for
+the _Fête-Dieu_.
+
+'We will stay over Sunday and see it,' was the general vote as the trio
+headed for the great church, and, catching sight of it, they subsided
+into a seat by the fountain opposite, and sat looking silently at the
+magnificent pile.
+
+How strangely impressive and eloquent it was! The evening red touched
+its grey towers with a mellow light, like sunshine on a venerable head.
+Lower down, flights of rooks circled round the fretted niches, quaint
+windows, and grotesque gargoyles, while the great steps below swarmed
+with priests and soldiers, gay strangers and black-robed nuns, children
+and beggars.
+
+For an hour our pilgrims sat and studied the wonderful _façade_, or
+walked round the outside, examining the rich carvings that covered every
+inch of the walls. Twilight fell before they had thought of entering,
+and feeling that they had seen enough for that night, they went
+thoughtfully home to dream of solemn shadows and saintly faces, for the
+cathedral haunted them still.
+
+Next day was spent in viewing Charlemagne's Tower, and seeing the grand
+procession in honour of the day. The streets were hung with garlands,
+gay tapestries and banners, strewn with fresh boughs, and lined with
+people in festival array. As the procession passed, women ran out and
+scattered rose-leaves before it, and one young mother set her blooming
+baby on a heap of greenery in the middle of the street, leaving it
+there, that the Holy Ghost under its canopy might pass over it. A pretty
+sight, the rosy little creature smiling in the sunshine as it sat
+playing with its own blue shoes, while the golden pageant went by; the
+chanting priests stepping carefully, and looking down with sudden
+benignity in their tired faces as the holy shadow fell on the bright
+head, making baby blessed, and saved for ever in its pious mother's
+eyes.
+
+A great band played finely, scarlet soldiers followed, then the banners
+of patron saints were borne by children. Saint Agnes and her lamb led a
+troop of pretty little girls carrying tall white lilies, filling the air
+with their sweetness. Mary, Our Mother, was followed by many orphans
+with black ribbons crossed over the young hearts that had lost so much.
+Saint Martin led the charity boys in purple suits of just the colour of
+the mantle he was dividing with the beggar on the banner. A pleasant
+emblem of the charitable cloak that covers so many.
+
+Priests in full splendour paced solemnly along with censers swinging,
+candles flickering, sweet-voiced boys singing, and hundreds kneeling as
+they passed. Most impressive figures, unless one caught a glimpse of
+something comically human to disturb the effect of the heavenly pageant.
+Lavinia had an eye for the ludicrous and though she dropped a tear over
+the orphans, and with difficulty resisted a strong desire to catch and
+kiss the pretty baby, she scandalized her neighbours by laughing
+outright the next minute. A particularly portly, pious-looking priest,
+who was marching with superb dignity, and chanting like a devout
+bumble-bee, suddenly mislaid his temper, and injured the effect by
+boxing a charity boy's ears with his gilded missal, and then capped the
+climax by taking a pinch of snuff with a sonorous satisfaction that
+convulsed the heretic.
+
+The afternoon was spent in the church, wandering to and fro, each alone
+to study and enjoy in her own way. Matilda lost her head entirely, and
+had silent raptures over the old pictures. Amanda said her prayers,
+looked up her dates, and imparted her facts in a proper and decorous
+manner, while Lavinia went up and down, finding for herself little
+pictures not painted by hands, and reading histories more interesting to
+her than those of saints and martyrs.
+
+In one dim chapel, with a single candle lighting up the divine sorrow of
+the Mater Dolorosa, knelt a woman in deep black, weeping and praying all
+alone. In another flowery nook dedicated to the Infant Jesus, a peasant
+girl was telling her beads over the baby asleep in her lap; her sunburnt
+face refined and beautiful by the tenderness of mother-love. In a third
+chapel a pale, wasted old man sat propped in a chair, while his rosy old
+wife prayed heartily to St. Gratien, the patron saint of the church, for
+the recovery of her John Anderson. And most striking of all was a dark,
+handsome young man, well-dressed and elegant, who was waiting at the
+door of a confessional with some great trouble in his face, as he
+muttered and crossed himself, while his haggard eyes were fixed on the
+benignant figure of St. Francis, as if asking himself if it were
+possible for him also to put away the pleasant sins and follies of the
+world, and lead a life like that which embalms the memory of that good
+man.
+
+'If we don't go away to-morrow we never shall, for this church will
+bewitch us, and make it impossible to leave,' said Amanda, when at
+length they tore themselves away.
+
+'I give up trying to sketch cathedrals. It can't be done, and seems
+impious to try,' said Matilda, quite exhausted by something deeper than
+pleasure.
+
+'I think the "Reminiscences of a Rook" would make a capital story. They
+are long-lived birds, and could tell tales of the past that would
+entirely eclipse our modern rubbish,' said Lavinia, taking a last look
+at the solemn towers, and the shadowy birds that had haunted them for
+ages.
+
+The ladies agreed to be off early in the morning, that they might reach
+Amboise in time for the eleven o'clock breakfast. Amanda was to pay the
+bill, and to make certain enquiries at the office; Mat to fly out and do
+a trifle of shopping; while Lavinia packed up the bundles and mounted
+guard over them. They separated, but in half-an-hour all met again, not
+in their room according to agreement, but before the cathedral, which
+all had decided not to revisit on any account.
+
+Matilda was there first, and as each of the others came stealing round
+the corner, she greeted them with a laugh, in which all joined after the
+first surprise was over.
+
+'I told you it would bewitch us,' said Amanda; and then all took a
+farewell look, which lasted so long that they had to rush back to the
+hotel in most unseemly haste.
+
+'Now to fresh _châteaux_ and churches new,' sang Lavinia, as they rolled
+away on the fourth stage of their summer journey. A very short stage it
+was, and soon they were in an entirely new scene, for Amboise was a
+little, old-time village on the banks of the Loire, looking as if it had
+been asleep for a hundred years. The Lion d'Or was a quaint place, so
+like the inns described in French novels, that one kept expecting to see
+some of Dumas' heroes come dashing up, all boots, plumes, and pistols,
+with a love-letter for some court beauty in the castle on the hill
+beyond.
+
+Queer galleries and stairs led up outside the house to the rooms above.
+The _salle-à-manger_ was across a court, and every dish came from a
+kitchen round the corner. The _garçon_, a beaming, ubiquitous creature,
+trotted perpetually, diving down steps, darting into dark corners, or
+skipping up ladders, producing needfuls from most unexpected places. The
+bread came from the stable, soup from the cellar, coffee out of a
+meal-chest, and napkins from the housetop, apparently, for Adolphe went
+up among the weather-cocks to get them.
+
+'No one knows us, no one can speak a word of English, and if we happen
+to die here it will never be known. How romantic and nice it is!'
+exclaimed Mat, in good spirits, for the people treated the ladies as if
+they were duchesses in disguise, and the young women liked it.
+
+'I'm not so sure that the romance is all it looks. We should be in a
+sweet quandary if anything happened to our sheet-anchor here. Just
+remember, in any danger, save Amanda first, then she will save us. But
+if she is lost, all is lost,' replied Lavinia, darkly, for she always
+took tragical views of life when her bones ached.
+
+Up the hill they went after breakfast; and balm was found for the old
+lady's woes in the sight of many Angora cats, of great size and beauty.
+White as snow, with tails like plumes, and mild, yellow eyes, were these
+charmers. At every window sat one; on every door-step sprawled a bunch
+of down; and frequently the eye of the tabby-loving spinster was
+gladdened by the touching spectacle of a blonde mamma in the bosom of
+her young family.
+
+'If I could only carry it, I'd have one of those dears, no matter what
+it cost!' cried Lavinia, more captivated by a live cat than by all the
+dead Huguenots that Catherine de Medicis hung over the castle walls on
+a certain memorable occasion.
+
+'Well, you can't, so come on and improve your mind with some good,
+useful history,' said Amanda, leading them forward. 'You _must_ remember
+that Charles VII. was born here in 1470--that Anne of Brittany married
+him for her first husband, and that he bumped his head against a low
+door in the garden here above, as he was running through to play bowls
+with his Anne, and it killed him.'
+
+'Which? the bump or the bowls?' asked Mat, who liked to have things
+clearly stated.
+
+'Don't be frivolous, child. Here Margaret of Anjou and her son were
+reconciled to Warwick. Abd-el Kader and his family were kept prisoners
+here, and in the garden is a tomb with a crescent on it; likewise a
+"pleached walk," and a winding drive inside the great tower, up which
+lords and ladies used to ride straight into the hall,' continued the
+sage Amanda, who yearned to enlighten the darkness of her careless
+friends.
+
+A brisk old woman did the honours of the castle, showing them mouldy
+chapels, sepulchral halls, rickety stairs, grubby cells, and pitch-dark
+passages, till even the romantic Matilda was glad to see the light of
+day, and repose in the pleasant gardens while removing the cobwebs from
+her countenance and the dust from her raiment.
+
+A lovely view gladdened their eyes as they stood on the balcony whence
+the amiable Catherine surveyed the walls hung thick, and the river
+choked up with the dead. Below, the broad Loire rolled slowly by between
+its green banks. Little boys, in the costume of Cupid, were riding great
+horses in to bathe after the day's work. The grey roofs of the town
+nestled to the hillside, and far away stretched the summer landscape,
+full of vague suggestions of new scenes and pleasures to the pilgrims.
+
+'We start for Chenonceaux at seven in the morning; so, ladies, I beg
+that you will be ready punctually,' was the command issued by Amanda, as
+they went to their rooms, after a festive dinner of what Lavinia called
+'earth-worms and cacti,' not being fond of stewed brains, baked eels, or
+thistles and pigweed chopped up in oil.
+
+Such a droll night as the wanderers spent! No locks on the doors and no
+bells. Stairs leading straight up the gallery from the courtyard, carts
+going and coming, soft footsteps stealing up and down, whispers that
+sounded suspicious (though they were only orders to kill chickens and
+pick salad for the morrow), and a ghostly whistle that disturbed
+Lavinia so much, she at last draped herself in the green coverlet, and
+went boldly forth upon the balcony to see what it meant.
+
+She intended to demand silence in French that would strike terror to the
+soul of the bravest native. But when she saw that poor, dear,
+hard-worked _garçon_ blacking boots by the light of the moon, her heart
+melted with pity; and, resolving to give him an extra fee, she silently
+retired to her stone-floored bower, and fell asleep in a stuffy little
+bed, whose orange curtains filled her dreams with volcanic eruptions and
+conflagrations of the most lurid description.
+
+At seven, an open carriage with a stout pair of horses and a sleepy
+driver rolled out of the court-yard of the Lion d'Or. Within it sat
+three ladies, who gazed at one another with cheerful countenances, and
+surveyed the world with an air of bland content, beautiful to behold.
+
+'I am fairly faint with happiness,' sighed Matilda, as they drove
+through fields scarlet with poppies, starred with daisies, or yellow
+with buttercups, while birds piped gaily, and trees wore their early
+green.
+
+'You did not eat any breakfast. That accounts for it. Have a crust, do,'
+said Amanda, who seldom stirred without a good, sweet crust or two; for
+they were easy to carry, wholesome to chew, and always ready at a
+moment's notice.
+
+'Let us save our "entusymusy" till we get to the _château_, and enjoy
+this lovely drive in a peaceful manner,' said Lavinia, still a little
+sleepy after her adventures in the glimpses of the moon.
+
+So, for an hour or two, they rolled along the smooth road, luxuriating
+in the summer sights and sounds about them; the wayside cottages, with
+women working in the gardens; villages clustered round some tiny,
+picturesque church; windmills whirling on the distant hill-tops;
+vineyards full of peasants tying up the young vines, or trudging by with
+baskets on their backs, heaped with green cuttings for the goats at
+home. Old men, breaking stone by the roadside, touched their red caps to
+the pilgrims, jolly boys shouted at them from the cherry trees, and
+little children peeped from behind the rose-bushes blooming everywhere.
+
+Soon, glimpses of the winding Cher began to appear, then an avenue of
+stately trees, and then, standing directly in the river, rose the lovely
+_château_ built for Diane de Poictiers by her royal lover. Leaving the
+carriage at the lodge, our sight-seers crossed the moat, and, led by a
+wooden-faced girl with a lisp, entered the famous pleasure-house, which
+its present owner (a pensive man in black velvet, who played fitfully on
+a French-horn in a pepper-pot tower) is carefully restoring to its
+former splendour.
+
+The great picture-gallery was the chief attraction; and beginning with
+Diane herself--a tall, simpering baggage, with a bow, hounds, crescent,
+and a blue sash for drapery--they were led through a rapid review of all
+sorts of worthies and unworthies, relics and rubbish, without end.
+Portraits are always interesting. Even Lavinia, who 'had no soul for
+Art,' as Mat said, looked with real pleasure at a bass-relief of Agnes
+of Sorel, and pictures of Montaigne, Rabelais, Ninon d'Enclos, Madame de
+Sévigné, and miniatures of La Fayette and Ben Franklin. The latter
+gentleman looked rather out of place in such society; but, perhaps, his
+good old face preached the Dianes and Ninons a silent sermon. His plain
+suit certainly was a relief to the eye, wearied with periwigged sages
+and bejewelled sinners.
+
+Here was the little theatre where Rousseau's plays were acted. Here were
+the gilded chairs in which kings had sat, swords heroes had held, books
+philosophers had pored over, mirrors that had reflected famous beauties,
+and painted walls that had looked down on royal revels long ago.
+
+The old kitchen had a fireplace big enough for a dozen cooks to have
+spoiled gallons of broth in, queer pots and pans, and a handy little
+window, out of which they could fish at any moment, for the river ran
+below.
+
+The chapel, chambers, balconies, and terraces were all being repaired;
+for, thanks to George Sand's grandmother, who owned the place in the
+time of the Revolution, it was spared out of respect to her, and is
+still a charming relic of the past.
+
+The ladies went down the mossy steps, leading from the gallery to the
+further shore, and, lying under the oaks, whiled away the noon-time by
+re-peopling the spot with the shapes that used to inhabit it. A very
+happy hour it was, dreaming there by the little river, with the scent of
+new-mown hay in the fresh wind, and before them the airy towers and
+gables of the old _château_ rising from the stream like a vision of
+departed splendour, love, and romance.
+
+Having seen every thing, and bought photographs _ad libitum_ of the
+wooden-faced lisper, who cheated awfully, the pilgrims drove away,
+satiated with relics, royalty, and '_regardez_.'
+
+Another night in the stony-hearted, orange-coloured rooms, with the
+sleepless _garçon_ sweeping and murmuring outside like a Banshee, while
+the hens roosted sociably in the gallery, the horses seemed to be
+champing directly under the bed, and the dead Huguenots bumping down
+upon the roof from the castle-walls. Another curious meal wafted from
+the bowels of the earth and cooled by all the airs that blow,--then the
+shawl-straps were girded anew, the carriage (a half-grown omnibus with
+the jaundice) mounted, the farewell bows and adieux received, and forth
+rumbled the duchesses _en route_ for Blois.
+
+'My heart is rent at leaving that lovely _château_,' said Mat, as they
+crossed the bridge.
+
+'I mourn the earth-worms, the cacti, and the tireless "gossoon,"' added
+Amanda, who appreciated French cookery and had enjoyed confidences with
+Adolphe.
+
+'The cats, the cats, the cats! I could die happy if I had one,'
+murmured Lavinia; and with these laments they left the town behind them.
+
+Any thing hotter than Blois, with its half dried-up river, dusty
+boulevards, and baked streets, can hardly be imagined. But these
+indomitable women 'did' the church and the castle without flinching. The
+former was pronounced a failure, but the latter was entirely
+satisfactory. The Emperor was having it restored in the most splendid
+manner. The interior seemed rather fresh and gay when contrasted with
+the time-worn exterior, but the stamped leathern hangings, tiled floors,
+emblazoned beams, and carved fireplaces were quite correct. Dragons and
+crowns, porcupines and salamanders, monograms and flowers, shone
+everywhere in a maze of scarlet and gold, brown and silver, purple and
+white.
+
+Here the historical Amanda revelled, and quenched the meek old guide
+with a burst of information which caused him to stare humbly at 'the mad
+English.'
+
+'_Regardez_, my dears, the chamber and oratory of Catherine de Medicis,
+who here plotted the death of the Duc de Guise. This is the cabinet of
+her son, Henri III., where he gave the daggers to the gentlemen who were
+to rid him of his enemy, the hero of the barricades. This is the Salle
+des Gardes, where Guise was leaning on the chimney-piece when summoned
+to the king. This is the little room at the entrance of which he was set
+upon in the act of lifting the drapery, and stabbed with forty wounds.'
+
+'Oh! how horrid!' gasped Matilda, staring about as if she saw the
+sanguinary gentlemen approaching.
+
+'So interesting! Do go on!' cried Lavinia, who was fond of woe, and
+enjoyed horrors.
+
+'This is the hall where the body lay for two hours, covered with a cloak
+and a cross of straw on the breast,' cut in Amanda, as the guide opened
+his mouth. 'Here the king came to look upon the corpse of the once
+mighty Henri le Balafré, and spurned it with his foot, saying, I shall
+not translate it for you, Mat,--"_Je ne le croyais pas aussi grand_" and
+then ordered it to be burnt, and the ashes cast into the river. Remember
+the date, I implore you, December 23, 1588.'
+
+As Amanda paused for breath the little man took the word, and rattled
+off a jumble of facts and fictions about the window from which Marie de
+Medicis lowered herself when imprisoned here by her dutiful son, Louis
+XIII.
+
+'I wish the entire lot had been tossed out after her, for I do think
+kings and queens are a set of rascals,' cried Mat, scandalized by the
+royal iniquities to which she had been listening, till the hair stood
+erect upon her innocent head.
+
+The Salle des États was being prepared for the trial of the men who had
+lately attempted the Emperor's life, and a most theatrical display of
+justice was to be presented to the public. The richly carved stair-case,
+with Francis the First's salamanders squirming up and down it, was a
+relic worth seeing; but the parched pilgrims found the little pots of
+clotted cream quite as interesting, and much more refreshing, when they
+were served up at lunch (the pots, not the pilgrims), each covered with
+a fresh vine-leaf, and delicately flavoured with butter-cups and
+clover.
+
+Amanda won the favour of the stately _garçon_ by praising them warmly,
+and he kept bringing in fresh relays, and urging her to eat a third, a
+fourth, with a persuasive dignity hard to resist.
+
+'But yes, Mademoiselle, one more, for nowhere else can _crême de St.
+Gervais_ be achieved. They are desired, ardently desired, in Paris; but,
+alas! it is impossible to convey them so far, such is their exquisite
+delicacy.'
+
+How many the appreciative ladies consumed, the muse saith not; but the
+susceptible heart of the great _garçon_ was deeply touched, and it was
+with difficulty that they finally escaped from his attentions.
+
+On being presented with a cast-off camp-stool, and a pair of old boots
+to dispose of, he instantly appropriated them as graceful souvenirs,
+and clasping his hands, declared with effusion that he would seat his
+infant upon the so-useful stool, and offer the charming boots to Madame
+my wife, who would weep for joy at this touching _tableau_.
+
+With this melodramatic valedictory, he suffered the guests to depart,
+and the last they saw of him, he was still waving a dirty napkin as he
+stood at the gate, big, bland, and devoted to the end, though the drops
+stood thick upon his manly brow, and the sun glared fiercely on his
+uncovered head.
+
+'I shall write an article on _garçons_ when I get home,' said Lavinia,
+who was always planning great works and never executing them. 'We have
+known such a nice variety, and all have been so good to us that we owe
+them a tribute. You remember the dear, tow-headed one at Morlaix, who
+insisted on handing us dishes of snails, and papers of pins with which
+to pick out the repulsive delicacy?'
+
+'Yes, and the gloomy one with black linen sleeves who glowered at us,
+sighed gustily in our ears, and anointed us with gravy as he waited at
+table,' added Amanda.
+
+'Don't forget the dark one with languid, Spanish eyes and curly hair, on
+the boat going down the Rance. How picturesque and polite he was, to be
+sure, as he kept picking up our beer-bottles when they rolled about the
+deck!' put in Mat, who had the dark youth safely in her sketch-book,
+with eyes as big and black as blots.
+
+'The solemn one at Tours, who squirted seltzer-water out of window at
+the beggars, without a smile, was very funny. So was the little one with
+grubby hands, who tottered under the big dishes, but insisted on
+carrying the heaviest.'
+
+'The fast-trotter at Amboise won my heart, he was so supernaturally
+lively, and so full of hurried amiability. A very dear _garçon_ indeed.'
+
+'Be sure you remember the superb being at Brest, whose eyes threatened
+to fall out of his head at exciting moments. Also, Flabot's chubby boy
+who adored Mat, and languished at her, over the onions, like a Cupid in
+a blue blouse.'
+
+'I will do justice to everyone,' and Lavinia took copious notes on the
+spot.
+
+Orleans was a prim, tidy town, and after taking a look at the fine
+statue of the Maid, and laughing at some funny little soldiers drumming
+wildly in the _Place_, our travellers went on to Bourges.
+
+'This, now, is a nice, dingy old place, and we will take our walks
+abroad directly, for it looks like rain, and we must make the most of
+our time and money,' said Amanda;
+
+
+     'For, though on pleasure she was bent,
+     She had a frugal mind.'
+
+
+Forth they went, as soon as dinner was over, and found the waters all
+abroad also; for every man was playing away with a hose, every woman
+scrubbing her door-steps, and the children gaily playing leap-frog in
+the puddles.
+
+'Nasty, damp place!' croaked the Raven, obscuring her disgusted
+countenance behind the inevitable grey cloud, and gathering her garments
+about her, as they hopped painfully over the wet stones, for sidewalks
+there were none.
+
+'I find it refreshing after the dust and heat. Please detach Mat from
+that shop window, and come on, or we shall see nothing before dark,'
+replied the ever amiable Amanda.
+
+Matilda _would_ glue herself to every jeweller's window, and remain
+fascinated by the richness there displayed, till led away by force. On
+this occasion, however, her mania led to good results; for, at the ninth
+window, as her keepers were about to drag her away, a ring of peculiar
+antiquity caught their eyes simultaneously, and, to Mat's amazement,
+both plunged into the little shop, clamouring to see it. A pale emerald,
+surrounded by diamond chippings set in silver, with a wide gold band cut
+in a leafy pattern, composed this gem of price.
+
+'A Francis First ring, sold by a noble but impoverished family, and only
+a hundred francs, Madame,' said the man, politely anxious to cheat the
+fair foreigners out of four times its value.
+
+'Can't afford it,' and Lavinia retired. But the shrewd Amanda, with
+inimitable shrugs and pensive sighs, regretted that it was so costly. 'A
+sweet ring; but, alas! forty francs is all I have to give.'
+
+The man was desolated to think that eighty francs was the lowest he was
+permitted to receive. Would Madame call again, and perhaps it might be
+arranged?
+
+Ah, no! Madame is forced to depart early, to return no more.
+
+_Mon Dieu!_ how afflicting! In that case, sixty would be possible for so
+rare a relic.
+
+Madame is _abîmé_, but it is not to be. Forty is the utmost; therefore
+_Merci_, and _Bonjour_.
+
+'Hold! Where shall it be sent?' cries the man, giving in, but not
+confessing it, with awkward frankness.
+
+A thousand thanks! Madame will pay for it at once; and laying down the
+money, she sweetly bows herself away, with the ring upon her finger.
+
+'What a people!' ejaculated Lavinia, who always felt like a fly in a
+cobweb when she attempted to deal with the French, in her blunt,
+confiding way.
+
+'It is great fun,' answered Amanda, flashing her ring with satisfaction
+after the skirmish. 'Will Madame kindly direct me to the house of
+Jacques Coeur?' she added, addressing an old woman clattering by in
+_sabots_.
+
+'Allez toujours à droit en vous appuyant sur la gauche,' replied the
+native, beaming and bowing till the streamers of her cap waved in the
+wind.
+
+They followed these directions, but failed to find the place, and
+applied to another old woman eating soup on her door-step.
+
+'Suivez le chemin droit en tombant à gauche' was the reply, with a wave
+of the spoon to all the points of the compass.
+
+'Great heavens, what a language!' cried Lavinia, who had been vainly
+endeavouring to 'support' herself, as she 'fell' in every direction over
+and into the full gutters.
+
+The house was found at last, an ancient, mysterious place, with a very
+curious window, carved to look as if the shutters were half open, and
+from behind one peeped a man's head, from the other a woman's, both so
+life-like that it quite startled the strangers. Murray informed the
+observers that these servants are supposed to be looking anxiously for
+their master's return, Jacques having suddenly disappeared, after
+lending much money to the king, who took that mediæval way of paying his
+debts.
+
+Service was being held in the church, and the ladies went in to rest
+and listen, for the music was fine. Much red and white drapery gave the
+sanctuary the appearance of a gay drawing-room, and the profane Lavinia
+compared the officiating clergy to a set of red furniture. The biggest
+priest was the sofa, four deacons the arm-chairs, and three little boys
+the foot-stools, all upholstered in crimson silk, and neatly covered
+with lace tidies.
+
+As if to rebuke her frivolity, a lovely fresh voice from the hidden
+choir suddenly soared up like a lark, singing so wonderfully that a
+great stillness fell on the listeners, and while it lasted the tawdry
+church and its mummery were quite forgotten, as the ear led the heart up
+that ladder of sweet sounds to heaven. Even when the others joined in,
+one could still hear that child-voice soaring and singing far above the
+rest, as if some little angel were playing with the echoes among the
+arches of the roof.
+
+A proud native informed the strangers that it was a poor boy whose
+exquisite voice was the pride of the town, and would in time make his
+fortune. As the choir-boys came racing down stairs after service,
+pulling off their dingy robes as they ran, Lavinia tried to pick out the
+little angel, but gave it up in despair, for a more uninteresting set of
+bullet-headed, copper-coloured sprigs she never saw.
+
+Rain drove the wanderers back to the hotel, and there they made a night
+of it. Ordering a fire in the largest of the three stuffy little cells
+which they occupied, they set about being comfortable, for it had turned
+chilly, and a furious wind disported itself in and out through
+numberless crevices. Lavinia was inspired to mull some wine, and brewed
+a mild jorum that cheered, but did not inebriate. Amanda produced her
+Shakspeare, and read aloud while the simmering and sipping went on.
+Matilda sketched the noble commander as she lay upon the sofa, with her
+Egyptian profile in fine relief, and her aristocratic red slippers
+gracefully visible. A large grey cat of a social turn joined the party,
+and added much to the domesticity of the scene by sitting on the hearth
+in a cosy bunch and purring blissfully.
+
+'Now it is your turn to propose something for the general amusement,
+Mandy,' said Mat, when the beakers were drained dry and the Montagues
+and Capulets comfortably buried.
+
+'Let us attend to the culture of our nails,' replied Amanda, producing
+her _polissoir_, powder, and knife.
+
+Three cups of tepid water were produced, and the company sat eagerly
+soaking their finger tips for a time, after which much pruning and
+polishing went on, to the great bewilderment of Puss, who poked her own
+paws into the cups, as if trying to test the advantages of this
+remarkable American custom.
+
+'What _would_ our blessed mother say if she saw us now?' said Mat,
+proudly examining ten pointed pink nails at the tips of her long
+fingers.
+
+'People told us we should get demoralised if we came abroad, and this is
+the first step on the downward road,' returned Lavinia, shaking her head
+over her own backslidings.
+
+'No: it's the second step. We ate calves' brains for dinner, and what
+I'm sure were frogs' legs with mushrooms. You know we vowed we wouldn't
+touch their horrid messes, but I really begin to like them,' confessed
+Mat, who had pronounced every dish at dinner 'De-licious!'
+
+'Ha! I will write a poem!' cried Amanda, and leaping from the sofa she
+grasped her pen, flung open her portfolio, and in a few brief moments
+produced these inspired stanzas.
+
+
+               THE DOWNWARD ROAD.
+
+     Two Yankee maids of simple mien,
+       And earnest, high endeavour,
+     Come sailing to the land of France,
+       To escape the winter weather.
+     When first they reached that vicious shore
+       They scorned the native ways,
+     Refused to eat the native grub,
+       Or ride in native shays.
+     'Oh, for the puddings of our home!
+       Oh, for some simple food!
+     These horrid, greasy, unknown things,
+       How can you think them good?'
+     Thus to Amanda did they say,
+       An uncomplaining maid,
+     Who ate in peace and answered not
+       Until one day they said--
+     How _can_ you eat this garbage vile
+       Against all nature's laws?
+     How _can_ you eat your nails in points,
+       Until they look like claws?'
+     Then patiently Amanda said,
+       'My loves, just wait a while,
+     The time will come you will not think
+       The nails or victuals vile.'
+     A month has passed, and now we see
+       That prophecy fulfilled;
+     The ardour of those carping maids
+       Is most completely chilled.
+     Matilda was the first to fall,
+       Lured by the dark gossoon,
+     In awful dishes one by one
+       She dipped her timid spoon.
+     She promised for one little week
+       To let her nails grow long,
+     But added in a saving clause
+       She thought it very wrong.
+     Thus did she take the fatal plunge,
+       Did compromise with sin,
+     Then all was lost; from that day forth
+       French ways were sure to win.
+     Lavinia followed in her train,
+       And ran the self-same road,
+     Ate sweet-bread first, then chopped-up brains,
+       Eels, mushrooms, pickled toad.
+     She cries, 'How flat the home _cuisine_
+       After this luscious food!
+     Puddings and brutal joints of meat,
+       That once we fancied good!'
+     And now in all their leisure hours
+       One resource never fails,
+     Morning and noon and night they sit
+       And polish up their nails.
+     Then if in one short fatal month
+       A change like this appears,
+     Oh, what will be the next result
+       When they have stayed for years?
+
+
+Tremendous applause greeted this masterly effort, and other poems were
+produced with the rapidity of genius by Amanda and Lavinia, each writing
+the alternate verse, _à la_ Beaumont and Fletcher, which gave a peculiar
+charm to these effusions.
+
+When Matilda was called upon for a festive suggestion, she promptly
+replied, with a graceful yawn:--
+
+'Let's go to bed.'
+
+The meeting, therefore, broke up, and the younger ladies retired to
+their cells in good order. But the Raven, excited by the jocund hour,
+continued to rustle and patter about the warm room in a state of
+inexpressible hilarity, most exasperating to the others, who desired to
+sleep. Not content with upsetting the fire-irons occasionally, singing
+to the cat, and slamming the furniture about, this restless bird kept
+appearing first at one cell door with a conundrum, then at the other
+with a joke, or insisted on telling funny stories in her den, till the
+exhausted victims implored her to take an opium pill and subside before
+they became furious. She obeyed, and after a few relapses into wandering
+and joking, finally slumbered.
+
+Then occurred the one thrilling adventure of this happy journey. In the
+darkest hour before dawn Mat awoke, heard a suspicious noise in the
+middle room, and asked if Lavinia was on the rampage again. No reply,
+and, listening, a low, rasping, rustling sound was heard.
+
+'Thieves, of course. Our watches and purses are on the table, and
+Lavinia has probably forgotten to lock the door. I must attend to this.'
+And up rose the dauntless Matilda, who feared neither man nor ghost.
+
+Grasping her dagger, hitherto used as a paper cutter, but always eager
+to be steeped in the gore of brigands, robbers, or beasts of prey, she
+crept to the door and peeped in. The pale glow of the fire showed her a
+dark figure crouching in the opposite door-way. The click of a pistol
+caught her ear, but dodging quickly, the heroic girl cried sternly from
+the shelter of Lavinia's bed-curtain,--
+
+'Come out, or I'll fire!'
+
+'Mio Dio! is it only you?' answered a familiar voice, as Amanda,
+shrouded in a waterproof, sprang up and lit a match.
+
+'What are you prowling about for?' demanded Mat.
+
+'To blow your brains out, apparently,' answered Mandy, lowering her
+arms. 'Why are you abroad?'
+
+'To stab you, I fancy,' and Mat sheathed her dagger balked of its prey.
+
+'I heard a noise.'
+
+'So did I.'
+
+'Let's see what it is,' and lighting a candle, the fair Amazons looked
+boldly about the shadowy room.
+
+Lavinia lay wrapt in slumber, with only the end of her sarcastic nose
+visible beyond the misty cloud that enveloped her venerable countenance.
+The outer door was fast, and the shutters closed. No booted feet
+appeared below the curtains, no living eyes rolled awfully in the
+portrait of the salmon-coloured saint upon the wall. Yet the rustling
+and rasping went on, and with one impulse the defenders of sleeping
+innocence made for the table in the corner.
+
+There was the midnight robber at his fell work!--the big cat peacefully
+gnawing the cold chicken, and knocking about the treasured crusts
+dragged from the luncheon-basket carefully packed for an early start.
+
+'Wake and behold the ruin your pet has made!'
+
+'We might be murdered or carried off a dozen times over without her
+knowing it. Here's a nice duenna!'
+
+And the indignant ladies shook, pinched, and shouted till the hapless
+sleeper opened one eye, and wrathfully demanded what the matter was.
+
+They told her with eloquent brevity, but instead of praising their
+prowess, and thanking them with fervour, the ungrateful woman shut her
+eye again, merely saying with drowsy irascibility,--
+
+'You told me to go to sleep, and I went; next time fight it out among
+yourselves, but don't wake me.'
+
+'Throw the cat out of window and go to bed, Mat,' and Amanda uncocked
+her pistol with the resignation of one who had learned not to expect
+gratitude in this world.
+
+'Touch a hair of that dear creature and I'll raise the house!' cried
+Lavinia, roused at once.
+
+Puss, who had viewed the fray sitting bolt upright on the table, now
+settled the vexed question by skipping into Lavinia's arms, feeling with
+the instinct of her race that her surest refuge was there. Mat retired
+in silent disgust, and the Raven fell asleep soothed by the grateful
+purring of her furry friend.
+
+'Last night's experiences have given me a longing for adventures,' said
+Mat, as they journeyed on next morning.
+
+'I've had quite enough of that sort,' growled Lavinia.
+
+'Let us read our papers, and wait for time to send us something in the
+way of a lark,' and Amanda obscured herself in a grove of damp
+newspapers.
+
+Lavinia also took one and read bits aloud to Mat, who was mending her
+gloves, bright yellow, four-buttoned, and very dirty.
+
+'Translate as you go along--I do so hate that gabble,' begged Mat, who
+would _not_ improve her mind.
+
+So Lavinia gave her a free translation which convulsed Amanda behind her
+paper. Coming to this passage, 'Plusieurs faits graves sont arrivés,'
+the reader rendered it, 'Several made graves have arrived,' adding,
+'Dear me, what singular customs the French have, to be sure!' A little
+farther on she read, 'Un portrait de feu Monsieur mon père,' adding, 'A
+fire portrait means a poker sketch, I suppose.'
+
+Here a smothered giggle from Amanda caused the old lady to say 'Bless
+you!' thinking the dear girl had sneezed.
+
+'I must have some blue cotton to mend my dress with. Remind me to get
+some at Moulins. By the way, how do you ask for it in French?' said Mat,
+surveying a rent in her skirts.
+
+'Oh, just go in and say, "Avez-vous le fils bleu?"' replied Lavinia,
+with a superior air.
+
+'A blue son! My precious granny, what will you say next?' murmured
+Amanda, faint with suppressed laughter.
+
+'What are you muttering about?' asked Granny, sharply.
+
+'Trying to recall those fine lines in "Wilhelm Meister;" don't you
+remember? "Wer nie sein Brod mit Thränen ass,"' replied Amanda, polite
+even at the last gasp.
+
+'I read my Goethe in decent English, and don't know anything about
+training asses,' returned Lavinia, severely.
+
+That was too much! Amanda cast her paper down, and had her laugh out, as
+the only means of saving herself from suffocation. The others gazed upon
+her in blank amazement, till she found breath enough to enlighten them,
+when such peals of merriment arose, that the guard popped his head in to
+see if he had not unwittingly shipped a load of lunatics.
+
+'That was splendid! But now we must sober down, for a gorgeous being is
+about to get in,' said Amanda, as they stopped at a station.
+
+The gorgeous being entered, and found three demure ladies rapt in
+newspapers. They apparently saw nothing but the words before them; yet
+every one of them knew that the handsome young man had bowed in the most
+superior manner; also, that he was dressed in brown velvet, long
+gaiters, buttoned to the knee, a ravishing blue tie, buff gloves, and
+pouch and powder-horn slung over his shoulder. Also, that a servant with
+two dogs and a gun had touched his hat and said, 'Oui, monsieur le
+comte,' as he shut the door.
+
+A slight thrill pervaded the statues as this fact was made known, and
+each began to wonder how the elegant aristocrat would behave. To say
+that he stared, feebly expresses the fixity of his noble gaze, as it
+rested in turn upon the three faces opposite. When satisfied, he also
+produced a paper and began to read. But Matilda caught a big, black eye
+peering over the sheet more than once, as she peered over the top of her
+own.
+
+'I don't like him. Remember, we don't speak French,' whispered the
+discreet Amanda.
+
+'I can swear that I don't,' said Lavinia, with an irrepressible smile,
+as she remembered the 'blue son.'
+
+'The language of the eye is not forbidden me, and I can't sit baking
+under a newspaper all the way,' returned Matilda, whose blond curls had
+evidently met with the great creature's approval.
+
+A slight pucker about the Comte's lips caused a thrill of horror to
+pervade the ladies, as Amanda murmured under her breath,--
+
+'He may understand English!'
+
+'Then we are lost!' returned the tragic Raven.
+
+'Wish he did. I really pine for a little attention. It gives such a
+relish to life,' said Matilda, thinking regretfully of the devoted
+beings left behind.
+
+The prudent Amanda and the stern Lavinia steeled their hearts, and iced
+their countenances to the comely gentleman. But the social Matilda could
+not refrain from responding to his polite advances, with a modest
+'Merci, Monsieur,' as he drew the curtain for her, a smile when he
+picked up the unruly curling-stick, and her best bow as he offered his
+paper with a soft glance of the black eyes.
+
+In vain Amanda tried to appal her with awful frowns; in vain Lavinia
+trod warningly upon her foot: she paid no heed, and left them no hope
+but the saving remembrance that she couldn't talk French.
+
+'If the man don't get out soon, I'll tie her up in my shawl, and tell
+him she is mad,' resolved Lavinia, whose spinster soul was always
+scandalised at the faintest approach to a flirtation.
+
+'If the man does speak English, Mat will have it all her own way,'
+thought Amanda, remembering the vow imposed upon the reckless girl.
+
+Alas, alas for the anxious twain! The man did _not_ get out soon, the
+man _did_ speak English, and in ten minutes Matilda was off, like a colt
+without a halter. The anguish of her keepers added zest to the fun, and
+finding that the gentleman evidently thought her the lady of the party
+(owing to the yellow gloves, smartest hat, and irreproachable boots),
+and the others in sober gray and black, were maid and duenna, this
+reprehensible girl kept up the joke, put on airs, and enjoyed that
+flirtatious hour to her heart's content.
+
+As if to punish the others for their distrust, and to reward Mat's
+interest in him, M. le Comte devoted himself to Mademoiselle, telling
+her about his hunting, his estate, and finished by inviting her and her
+party to call and view his _château_, if they ever paused at the town,
+which had the honour of being his summer residence. Mat responded to all
+these courtesies with confiding sweetness, and when at length he was
+desolated at being obliged to tear himself away, she
+
+
+     'Gave sigh for sigh,'
+
+
+as he retired with a superb bow, a gallant 'Bon voyage, mesdames,' and a
+wicked twinkle of the black eyes as they rested on the faces of the
+frozen ladies.
+
+'I got rather the best of the joke in that little affair: didn't I?'
+said Mat, gayly, as the brown velvet Adonis vanished.
+
+'You are a disgrace to your party and your nation,' sternly responded
+Amanda.
+
+Lavinia spoke not, but shook her little sister till the hat flew off her
+head, and she had only breath enough left to declare with unquenched
+ardour that she would do it again the very next chance she got.
+
+Lectures, laughter, and longings for 'my Comte' beguiled the remainder
+of the way, and _Moulang_ (as Mat pronounced Moulins) was reached after
+a pleasant trip through a green country, picturesque with the white
+cattle of Berri. There was not much to see, but the town was so quaint
+and quiet, that Amanda was seized with one of her remarkable projects.
+
+'Let us find a little house somewhere and stay a week or two. I fain
+would rest and ruminate among the white cows for a while; have a little
+washing done, and slowly prepare to emerge into the world again. Lyons
+is our next point, and there we must bid adieu to freedom and
+shawl-straps.'
+
+'Very well, dear,' responded Lavinia, with resignation, having learned
+that the best way to curb these aberrations of genius was to give in,
+and let circumstances prove their impracticability.
+
+So Amanda inquired of the landlady if such a rustic cot could be found.
+Whereupon the dingy little woman clasped her dingy little hands, and
+declared that she had exactly the charming retreat desired. Truly yes,
+and she would at once make her toilette, order out the carriage, and
+display this lovely villa to the dear ladies.
+
+With many misgivings the three squeezed themselves into a square
+clothes-basket on wheels, drawn by an immense, bony, white horse, driven
+by a striped boy, and adorned by Madame, in a towering bonnet, laden
+with amazing fruit, flowers, and vegetables. Lavinia counted three
+tomatoes, a bunch of grapes, poppies and pansies, wheat ears and
+blackberry-vines, a red, red rose, and one small lettuce, with glass
+dewdrops and green grubs lavishly sprinkled over it. A truly superb
+_chapeau_ and a memorable one.
+
+Away they trundled through stony streets, dusty roads, waste grounds,
+marshy meadows, and tumbled-down pleasure-gardens, till the
+clothes-basket turned down a lane, and the bony horse stopped at length
+before a door in a high red wall.
+
+'Behold!' cried madame, leading them with much clanking of keys, into a
+cabbage-garden. A small tool-house stood among the garden-stuff, with
+brick floors, very dirty windows, and the atmosphere of a tomb. Bags of
+seed, wheel-barrows, onions, and dust cumbered the ground. Empty bottles
+stood on the old table, cigar ends lay thick upon the hearth, and a
+trifle of gay crockery adorned the mantel-piece.
+
+'See, then, here is a _salon_, so cool, so calm. Above is a room with
+beds, and around the garden where the ladies can sit all day. A maid can
+achieve the breakfast here, and my carriage can come for them to dine at
+the hotel. Is it not charmingly arranged?
+
+'It is simply awful,' said Mat, aghast at the prospect.
+
+'Settle it as you like, dear, only I'm afraid I couldn't stay _very_
+long on account of the dampness,' observed Lavinia, cheerfully, as she
+put a hoe-handle under her feet and wiped the blue mould from a
+three-legged chair.
+
+'It won't do, so I'll tell her you are an invalid and very particular,'
+said Amanda, with another inspiration, as she led the landlady forth to
+break the blow tenderly.
+
+'My neuralgia is useful if it isn't ornamental; and what a comfort that
+is!' said Lavinia, as she lightly threw a large cockroach out of window,
+dodged a wasp, and crushed a fat spider.
+
+And so it was in many ways. If the party wanted a car to themselves,
+Granny was ordered to lie down and groan dismally, which caused other
+travellers to shun the poor invalid. If rooms did not suit, suffering
+Madame _must_ have sun or perish. Late lunches, easy carriages, extra
+blankets, every sort of comfort was for her, whether she wanted them or
+not.
+
+'Shall I be sick or well?' was always the first question when an
+invitation came, for 'my sister's delicate health' was the standing
+excuse when parties palled, or best gowns were not get-at-able.
+
+While Amanda conferred with the hostess among the cabbages, Mat
+discovered that the picturesque white cattle in the field close by were
+extremely fierce and unsocial; that there was no house in sight, and the
+venerable horse and shay would never sustain many trips to and fro to
+dinner at the hotel. Lavinia poked about the house, and soon satisfied
+herself that it abounded in every species of what Fanny Kemble calls
+'entomological inconvenience,' and an atmosphere admirably calculated to
+introduce cholera to the inhabitants of Moulins.
+
+'It is all settled; let us return,' said Amanda, appearing at last with
+an air of triumph, having appeased the old lady by eating green
+currants, and admiring an earwiggy arbour, commanding a fine view of a
+marsh where frogs were piping and cool mists rising as the sun set.
+
+The chickens were tough at dinner, the wine bitter, the bread sour, but
+no one reproached Amanda as the cause of this change. And when the
+hostess bowed them out, next day, without a smile, they drove away,
+conscious only of deep gratitude that they were saved from leaving their
+bones to moulder among the cabbages of Moulins.
+
+'Now we return to civilisation, good clothes, and Christian food,' said
+Lavinia, as they surveyed their fine rooms at the Grand Hotel, Lyons.
+
+'Likewise letters and luggage,' added Amanda, as the maid brought in a
+bundle of letters, and two porters came bumping up with the trunks.
+
+'Well, I've enjoyed the trip immensely, though nothing very remarkable
+has happened,' said Mat, diving into her private ark with satisfaction.
+
+'I should like to wander in the wilderness for years, if I could hear
+from my family at intervals,' said Lavinia, briskly breaking open the
+plump, travel-worn letters.
+
+'Then you consider our trip a success?' asked Amanda, pausing in the act
+of removing the dust from her noble countenance.
+
+'A perfect success! We have done what we planned, had no mishaps, seen
+and enjoyed much, quarrelled not at all, laughed a great deal, and been
+altogether festive, thanks to you. I shall hang my shawl-strap on the
+castle wall as a trophy of the prowess of my Amanda, and the success of
+the last Declaration of American Independence,' replied Lavinia.
+
+'I, also,' said Mat, opening her bundle for the one hundreth and last
+time.
+
+'You do me proud; I humbly thank you,' and with a superb curtsy the
+commander-in-chief modestly retired behind the towel.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+_SWITZERLAND._
+
+
+'My children, listen to the words of wisdom ere it is too late,' began
+Lavinia, as the three sat about in dressing-gowns after a busy day in
+Geneva.
+
+'We listen, go on, Granny,' replied the irreverent girls.
+
+'If we stay here a week longer, we are ruined. Firstly, this Metropole
+is an expensive hotel; also noisy and full of fashionable people, whom I
+hate. Secondly, the allurements of the jewellers' shops are too much for
+us, and we had better flee before we spend all our money. Thirdly, if
+war does break out along the Rhine, as rumour now predicts, Geneva will
+be crammed with people whose plans, like ours, are upset; therefore we
+had better skip across the lake, and secure a comfortable place for
+ourselves at Vevey or Montreaux, for we shall probably have to winter
+there.'
+
+'Hear, hear! we will do it, and if Italy doesn't get over her revolution
+in time for us to go to Rome, we must content ourselves with some nook
+in this refuge for all wanderers on the face of the continent,' said
+Amanda.
+
+'But I like Geneva so much. It's such fun to watch the splendid waiters
+file in at dinner, looking like young gentlemen ready for a ball; the
+house is so gay, and the shops!--never did I dream of such richness
+before. Do stay another week and buy a few more things,' prayed Matilda,
+who spent most of her time gloating over the jewelry, and tempting her
+sister to buy all manner of useless gauds.
+
+'No: we will go to-morrow. I know of several good _pensions_ at Vevey,
+so we are sure of getting in somewhere. Pack at once, and let us flee,'
+returned Lavinia, who, having bought a watch, a ring, and a locket, felt
+that it was time to go.
+
+And go they did, settling for a month at Bex, a little town up the
+valley of the Rhone, remarkable for its heat, its dirt, its lovely
+scenery, and the remarkable perfection to which its inhabitants had
+brought the _goître_, nearly every one being blessed with an unsightly
+bunch upon the neck, which they decorated with ribbons and proudly
+displayed to the disgusted traveller.
+
+Here in the rambling old Hôtel des Bains, with its balconies, gardens,
+and little rooms, the wanderers reposed for a time. A Polish countess,
+with her lover, daughter, and governess, conferred distinction upon the
+house. An old Hungarian count, who laboured under the delusion that he
+descended in a direct line from Zenobia, also adorned the scene. An
+artist with two pretty boys, named Alfred Constable Landseer Reynolds
+and Allston West Cuyp Vandyke, afforded Matilda much satisfaction.
+
+English mammas with prim daughters of thirty or so still tied to their
+apron-strings were to be found, of course, for they are everywhere; also
+wandering French folk raving about the war one minute and tearing their
+hair over bad coffee the next.
+
+Amanda read newspapers and talked politics with the old count; while
+Lavinia, with a paper bag of apricots under one arm and a volume of
+Disraeli's novels under the other, spent her shining hours wandering
+from balcony to garden, enjoying the heat, which gave her a short
+respite from her woes.
+
+While here Matilda, in company with a kindred soul, made the ascent of
+Mount St. Bernard with the pleasing accompaniments of wind, rain,
+thunder, and lightning. But the irrepressible Americans went on in spite
+of warnings from more prudent travellers who stopped half-way. With one
+mule and a guide for escort, the two enthusiasts waded swollen streams
+with ice-cold water up to their knees, climbed slippery roads, faced
+what seemed a whirlwind at that height, and, undaunted by the uproar of
+the elements, pressed on to the Hospice, to the great admiration of
+Moritz, the guide, who told them he had seldom taken men up in such a
+storm, never ladies.
+
+At the Hospice the dripping lasses found a hospitable welcome from the
+handsome monk who does the honours there. Being provided with dry
+garments, and having much fun over the tall Matilda draped in skirts of
+many colours in the attempt to get any long enough, they were fed and
+warmed by the engaging monk, who entertained them as they sat about a
+roaring fire while the storm raged without, with thrilling tales of the
+travellers they had saved, the wild adventures they had known in the
+dreadful winter time, and the gifts bestowed upon them by grateful
+travellers or generous guests.
+
+The Prince of Wales had sent them a piano, and many fine pictures
+ornamented the walls from famous persons. An old English lady who spends
+her summers up there seemed much amused at the prank of the girls, and
+evidently wondered what their guardians were about.
+
+A merry and memorable evening; and when, on going to their cells, they
+found the beds nicely warmed, Matilda exclaimed,--
+
+'This is the most delightful of the romantic and the comfortable I ever
+saw. Alps and warming-pans taken "jintly" are delicious!'
+
+At five next morning they were wakened by the chanting of the invisible
+brotherhood, and went down to the chapel for mass. On going out for a
+clamber on the rocks, seven or eight great dogs came baying and leaping
+about them, licking their hands and smelling their garments to see if
+they were hurt. Looking into their bright, benevolent eyes, one could
+well believe the wonderful tales told of their courage and sagacity.
+Though so powerful and large they were gentle as kittens, and the
+dog-loving girls were proud to receive and return the caresses of these
+four-footed heroes.
+
+Leaving a grateful _souvenir_ in the box intended to receive whatever
+guests choose to leave, the girls descended in the morning sunshine,
+finding it a very different experience from the ascent. All was clear
+and calm now,--beautiful and grand; and only pausing at M. to send back
+a fine engraving to the comely priest, who had made a deep impression on
+their romantic hearts, the _enfants_ returned to their anxious friends,
+mildewed, rumpled, and weary, but full of enthusiastic delight over
+their successful ascent of St. Bernard.
+
+War broke out, and Alexandre, the all-accomplished head-waiter, dropped
+his napkin, shouldered his gun, and marched away, leaving the Hôtel des
+Bains desolate. Being pretty thoroughly baked, and very weary of the
+little town, our trio departed to Vevey, and settled down in the best
+_pension_ that ever received the weary traveller.
+
+Standing in its own pretty grounds, and looking out upon the lake,
+Pension Paradis deserves its name. Clean and cosy within, a good table,
+a kindly hostess, and the jolliest old host ever seen! what more could
+the human heart desire?
+
+Vevey was swarming with refugees. Don Carlos, or the Duke de Madrid, as
+he was called, was there with his Duchess and court, plotting heaven
+knows what up at his villa, with the grave, shabby men who haunted the
+town.
+
+Queen Isabella reigned at one hotel, and Spanish grandees pervaded the
+place. There were several at Pension Paradis, and no one guessed what
+great creatures they were till a _fête_ day arrived, and the grim, gray
+men blossomed out into counts, marquises, and generals covered with
+orders, stars, and crosses splendid to behold.
+
+One particularly silent, shabby little man with a shaven head and fine
+black eyes, who was never seen to smile, became an object of interest on
+that occasion by appearing in a gorgeous uniform with a great gilt
+grasshopper hanging down his back from a broad green ribbon. Who was he?
+What did the grasshopper mean? Where did he go to in a fine carriage,
+and what was he plotting with the other Carlists, who dodged in and out
+of his room at all hours?
+
+No one ever knew, and all the artful questions put to the young
+Spaniard, who played croquet with the girls, were unavailing. Nothing
+was discovered, except that little Mirandola had a title, and might be
+sent back to Spain any day to lose his life or liberty in some rash
+plot, which circumstance made the black-eyed boy doubly interesting to
+the free-born Americans. Lavinia bewailed his hard lot, Amanda taught
+him whist and told his fortune, and Matilda put him in her sketch-book
+done in the blackest India-ink. It is also to be recorded that the
+doomed little Don was never seen to laugh but once, and that was when
+the girls taught him the classical game of Muggins. The name struck him;
+he went about saying it to himself, and on the first occasion of his
+being 'mugginsed,' he was so tickled that he indulged in a hearty boy's
+laugh; but immediately recovered himself, and never smiled again, as if
+in penance for so forgetting his dignity.
+
+A bashful Russian, who wore remarkably fine broadcloth and had perfect
+manners, was likewise received into the good graces of the ladies, who
+taught him English, called him 'the Baron' in private, and covered him
+with confusion in public by making him talk at table.
+
+But the most amusing of all the family was Madame A., a handsome widow
+from Lyons, with two ugly children and a stout old mamma, who wore
+orange stockings and a curious edifice of black lace encircled with
+large purple asters. The widow had married an Italian artist, who was
+mortally jealous of his wife, whose blonde beauty attracted much
+attention at Rome. In some quarrel with a model the husband was stabbed,
+and the handsome widow left in peace.
+
+A tall, fair lady, with a profile like Marie Antoinette; she dressed in
+white with violet ribbons, and wore much ancient jewelry. A loud-voiced,
+energetic woman, who bewailed the sack of her house at Lyons, scolded
+her children, and cursed the Germans with equal volubility and spirit.
+When silent she was the picture of a patrician beauty; but, alas! her
+voice destroyed the charm, and her manners--great heavens, what things
+that woman did! Picking her pearly teeth with a hair-pin, and knocking
+her darlings into their chairs with one sweep of her elbow when they
+annoyed her at table, were the least of the horrors she perpetrated.
+
+But she talked well, devoted herself to her family, and took misfortune
+bravely; so much may be pardoned her.
+
+Her infants were only remarkable for their ugliness and curious
+costumes. The little girl usually wore soiled silk gowns, and had her
+hair tied up with bits of twine. The boy appeared in a suit of yellow
+calico spotted with black, looking very much like a canary bird who had
+fallen into an inkstand. On festival occasions he wore white cloth
+raiment, with red ribbons stuck here and there, and high red boots.
+
+But, on the whole, the old mamma was the queerest of the set; for she
+spent most of her time lumbering up and down stairs, which amusement
+kept the orange hose constantly before the public. When not disporting
+herself in this way, she dozed in the _salon_, or consumed much food at
+table with a devotion that caused her to suck her fingers, on every one
+of which shone an antique ring of price. Her head-gear was a perpetual
+puzzle to the observing Lavinia, who could never discover whether it was
+a cap, a bonnet, or a natural production, for it was never off. Madame
+walked out in it, wore it all day, and very likely slept in it. At least
+Lavinia firmly believed so, and often beguiled the watches of the night,
+imagining the old soul placidly slumbering with the perennial asters
+encircling her aged brow like a halo.
+
+One other party there was who much amused the rest of the household. An
+American lady with a sickly daughter, who would have been pretty but for
+her affectation and sentimentality. The girl was engaged to a fierce,
+dissipated little Russian, who presented her with a big bouquet every
+morning, followed her about all day like a dog, and glared wrathfully at
+any man who cast an eye upon the languishing damsel in white muslin and
+flowing curls 'bedropt with pearls,' as a romantic lady expressed it.
+
+It was evident that the Russian without any vowels in his name was going
+to marry Mademoiselle for her money, and the weak Mamma was full of
+satisfaction at the prospect. To others it seemed a doubtful bargain,
+and much pity was felt for the feeble girl doomed to go to Russia with a
+husband who had 'tyrant' written in every line of his bad, _blasé_
+little face and figure. French polish could not hide the brute, nor any
+quantity of flowers conceal the chain by which he was leading his new
+serf away to bondage in St. Petersburg.
+
+Into the midst of this select society came a countryman of our
+three,--a jocund youth fresh from Algiers, with relics, adventures, and
+tales that utterly eclipsed the 'Arabian Nights.' Festive times
+followed, for the 'Peri' (the pet name of aforesaid youth) gave them the
+fruits of his long wanderings, sung whole operas heard in Paris, danced
+ballets seen in Berlin, recounted perils among the Moors, served up
+gossip from the four corners of the globe, and conversed with each
+member of the household in his or her own language.
+
+A cheerful comrade was the 'Peri,' and a great addition to the party,
+who now spent most of their time sitting about the town, eating grapes,
+and listening to the pranks of this sprightly M.D., who seemed to be
+studying his profession by wandering over Europe with a guitar _à la
+troubadour_.
+
+Sounding the lungs of a veiled princess in Morocco was the least of his
+adventures, and the treasures he had collected supplied Lavinia with
+materials for unlimited romances: cuff-buttons made from bits of marble
+picked up among the ruins of Carthage; diamond crescents and ear-rings
+bought in Toledo, so antique and splendid that relic-loving Amanda raved
+about them; photographs of the _belles_ of Constantinople, Moorish coins
+and pipes, bits of curious Indian embroidery; and, best of all, the
+power of telling how each thing was found in so graphic a manner that
+Eastern bazaars, ruins, and palaces seemed to rise before the listeners
+as in the time of the magic story-tellers. But all too soon he packed
+his knapsack, and promising to bring each of his friends the nose or ear
+of one of the shattered saints from the great cathedral at Strasbourg,
+the 'Peri' vanished from Paradis, and left them all lamenting.
+
+The little flurry in Italy ending peacefully, our travellers after much
+discussion resolved to cross the Alps and spend the winter in Rome, if
+possible. So with tragic farewells from those they left behind them,
+who, hoping to keep them longer, predicted all manner of misfortunes,
+the three strong-minded ladies rumbled away in the _coupé_ of a
+diligence to Brieg.
+
+A lovely day's journey up the valley of the Rhone, and a short night's
+rest in the queer little town at the foot of the mountains.
+
+Before light the next morning they were called, and, after a hurried
+breakfast in a stony hall, went shivering out into the darkness, and,
+stumbling through the narrow street, came to the starting-point.
+Lanterns were dancing about the square, two great diligences loomed up
+before them, horses were tramping, men shouting, and eager travellers
+scrambling for places. In the dimly lighted office, people were
+clamouring for tickets, scolding at the delay, or grimly biding their
+time in corners, with one eye asleep, and the other sharply watching the
+conductor.
+
+'Isn't it romantic?' cried Matilda, wide awake, and in a twitter of
+excitement.
+
+'It is frightfully cold; and I don't see how we are going, for both
+those caravans are brimful,' croaked Lavinia, chafing her purple nose,
+and wishing it had occurred to her to buy a muff before going to sunny
+Italy.
+
+'I have got through tickets, and some one is bound to see us over these
+snow-banks, so "trust in Providence and the other man," and we shall
+come out right, I assure you,' replied the energetic Amanda, who had
+conferred with a spectral being in the darkness, and blindly put her
+faith in him.
+
+Away lumbered one diligence after the other, the first drawn by seven
+horses, the second by five, while the carrier's little cart with one
+brought up the rear. But still three muffled ladies sat upon a cool
+stone in the dark square, waiting for the spectre to keep his promise.
+
+He did like a man; for suddenly the doors of an old stable flew open,
+and out rattled a comfortable carriage with a pair of stout little
+horses jingling their bells, and a brisk driver, whose voice was
+pleasant, as he touched his hat and invited the ladies to enter,
+assuring them that they would soon overtake and pass the heavy
+diligences before them.
+
+'Never again will I doubt you, my Amanda,' cried the Raven, packing
+herself into the dowager's corner with a grateful heart.
+
+'I hope the top of this carriage opens, for I _must_ see _everything_,'
+cried Matilda, prancing about on the front seat in a chaos of wraps,
+books, bottles, and lunch-baskets.
+
+'Of course it does, and when there is anything to see we will see it. It
+is dark and cold now, so we'd better all go to sleep again.'
+
+With which sage remark, Amanda burrowed into her cloaks and slumbered.
+But not the other two. Matilda stuck her head out of one window,
+uttering little cries of wonder and delight at all she saw; while Livy
+watched the solemn stars pale one by one as the sky brightened, and felt
+as if she were climbing up, out of a dark valley of weariness and pain,
+into a new world full of grand repose.
+
+Slowly winding higher and higher through the damp pine forest, softly
+stirring in the morning wind, they saw the sky warm from its cold gray
+to a rosy glow, making ready for the sun to rise as they never saw it
+rise before.
+
+
+     'Full many a glorious morning have I seen,
+     Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,'
+
+
+but never more wonderfully than on that day. Long after the distant
+peaks flamed in the ruddy light, they rode in shadow; but turning
+suddenly round a corner, the sun came dazzling through a great gorge,
+startling them with the splendour it brought.
+
+Down went the carriage-top, and standing bolt upright, three pairs of
+eager eyes drank in the grandeur and the beauty that makes the crossing
+of the Simplon an experience to live for ever in the memory. Peak after
+peak of the Bernese Oberland rose behind them, silver white against a
+wonderful blue sky. Before them Monte Rosa, touched with the morning
+red, and all around great glaciers glittering in the sunshine, awful
+gorges with torrents thundering from the heights above, relics of
+land-slides and avalanches still visible in uprooted trees, boulders
+tumbled here and there, and ruins of shepherds' huts in solitary nooks
+where sheep now feed.
+
+The road crept in and out, over frail bridges, spanning chasms that made
+one dizzy to look into, through tunnels of solid rock, or galleries with
+windows over which poured waterfalls from the treacherous glaciers
+above. This road is a miracle in itself, for all nature seems to protest
+against it, and the elements never tire of trying to destroy it. Only a
+Napoleon would have had the audacity to dream of such a path, and it is
+truly a royal road into a lovely land.
+
+Passing the diligences the little carriage went rapidly on, and soon
+the three were almost alone. Out leaped Lavinia and Matilda, and walked
+along the level way that curved round a great gorge.
+
+'Go on and let me be. It is all so magnificent it almost takes my breath
+away. I must just sit a minute, like a passive bucket, and let it pour
+into me,' said Lavinia, in a solemn tone.
+
+Mat understood; for her own heart and soul were full, and with a silent
+kiss of sympathy, walked on, leaving her sister to enjoy that early mass
+in a grander cathedral than any built with hands.
+
+In spite of the sunshine it was very cold, and when the three met again
+their noses looked like the eldest Miss Pecksniff's, 'as if Aurora had
+nipped and tweaked it with her rosy fingers.' Subsiding into their
+places with pale, excited faces, they went silently on for a long time,
+with no sound but the chime of the bells on the horses who were covered
+with a light hoar-frost. Wrapped up to their eyes, like Egyptian women,
+sat Livy and Amanda; while Matilda, having tried to sketch Monte Rosa,
+and given it up, made a capital caricature of them as they ate cold
+chicken, and drank wine, in a primitive manner, out of the bottle.
+
+It was a sudden descent from the sublime to the ridiculous; but the
+feeble human mind cannot bear too much glory at once, and is saved by
+the claims of the prosaic body, that will get tired and hungry even atop
+of the everlasting hills. So the enthusiasts picked their chicken bones,
+sipped their wine, and felt less exhausted and hysterical. A good laugh
+over the carrier's little boy, who sniffed the banquet afar off, and
+came running to offer a handful of pale Alpine flowers, with wistful
+glances at the lunch, did them more good still: for the little chap
+caught and bolted the morsels they gave him with such dexterous
+rapidity, it was as good as juggling.
+
+Refuges and the Hospice came in sight one after the other, and while
+waiting to change horses one had time to wonder how the people living
+there managed to be such a stolid, dirty, thriftless-looking set.
+Mountaineers should be intelligent, active, and hardy; but these men
+were a most ungainly crew, and Lavinia's theories got a sad blow.
+
+A bad dinner at Simplon would have been an affliction at any other time;
+but with the Valley of Gondo for dessert, no one cared for other food.
+Following the wild stream that had worn its way between the immense
+cliffs, they drove rapidly down towards Italy, feeling that this was a
+fit gateway to the promised land.
+
+At Iselle, on the frontier, they enacted a little farce for the benefit
+of the custom-house officers. Lavinia and Amanda had old passports, and
+had been told they would be needed. Mat had none, so she was ordered to
+try the _rôle_ of maid. Before they arrived, she took out her ear-rings,
+tied up her curls under a dingy veil, put on a waterproof, and tried to
+assume the demure air of an Abigail.
+
+When they alighted, she was left to guard the wraps in the carriage
+while the others went with the luggage, expecting to have much trouble;
+for all manner of hindrances had been predicted owing to the unsettled
+state of the country. Nothing could be simpler, however; no passports
+were demanded, a very careless search of luggage, and it was all over.
+So Matilda threw off her disguise, and ascended the diligence in her
+own character, for here, alas! they left the cozy little carriage with
+the affable driver and the jingling bells.
+
+Only two places could be found in the crowded diligences, and great was
+the fuss till Amanda was invited up aloft by a friendly gentleman who
+had a perch behind, large enough for two. There they discussed theology
+and politics to their hearts' content, and at parting the worthy man cut
+his book in two, and gave Amanda half that she might refresh herself
+with a portion of some delightfully dry work on Druidical Remains,
+Protoplasm, or the state of the church before the flood.
+
+The force of contrast makes the charm of this entry into Italy; for,
+after the grandeur of the Alps and the gloomy wildness of Gondo, the
+smiling scene is doubly lovely as one drives down to Domo d'Ossola.
+Weariness, hunger, and sleep were quite forgotten; and when our
+travellers came to Lago Maggiore, glimmering in the moonlight, they
+could only sigh for happiness, and look and look and look.
+
+'Victory has perched upon our banners so far, I am sure, for never was a
+trip more delightful. It is not every stranger who is fortunate enough
+to see sunrise, noonday, sunset, and moonlight in crossing the Alps,'
+said Matilda, as she fell into her bed quite exhausted by the excitement
+of the day.
+
+'I feel a richer, better woman for it, and don't believe I shall ever
+see anything more satisfactory if I stay in Italy ten years,' responded
+Lavinia, wrapping the red army-blanket
+
+
+     'Like a martial cloak around her.'
+
+
+'Wait till the spell of Rome is upon you, and then see what you will
+feel, my Granny' predicted Amanda, who _had_ felt the spell, and had not
+yet escaped from it.
+
+'Don't believe it will suit me half so well,' persisted Livy, who would
+prefer nature to art, much to Amanda's disgust.
+
+'We shall see,' observed Amanda, with the exasperating mildness of
+superior knowledge.
+
+'We shall!' and Livy tied her cap in a hard knot as if to settle the
+matter.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+_ITALY._
+
+
+Sleep as deep, dreamless, and refreshing as if the beneficent spirit of
+Carlo Borromeo still haunted the enchanted lake, prepared the three for
+a day of calm delights. The morning was spent floating over the lake in
+a luxuriously cushioned boat with a gay awning and a picturesque rower,
+to visit Isola Bella. Everyone knows what a little Paradise has been
+made to blossom on that rock; so raptures over the flowers, the marbles,
+the panniers of lovely fruit, and the dirty, pretty children who offered
+them, are unnecessary.
+
+In the afternoon, having despatched the luggage to Florence, our
+travellers sailed away to Luini, catching last glimpses of Monte Rosa,
+and enjoying the glories of an Italian sunset on an Italian lake. At
+Luini the girls caused much excitement by insisting on sitting up with
+the driver instead of sharing the _coupé_ with their decorous duenna.
+'We _must_ see the lovely views and the moonlight,' said Amanda, and up
+she went.
+
+'To sit aloft with a brigandish driver dressed in a scarlet and black
+uniform, with a curly horn slung over his shoulder, and to go tearing up
+hill and down with four frisky horses, is irresistible,' and up skipped
+Matilda.
+
+'You will both catch your death of cold, if you don't break your necks,
+so it will be well to have some one to nurse or bury you,' and Lavinia,
+finding commands and entreaties vain, entered the _coupé_ with mournful
+dignity.
+
+With a toot of the horn, and cheers from the crowd, which the girls
+gracefully acknowledged, away rumbled the diligence, with at least two
+very happy occupants. How lovely it was! First, the soft twilight
+wrapping everything in mysterious shadow, and then the slow uprising of
+a glorious full moon, touching the commonest object with its magical
+light. Cries of rapture from the girls atop were answered by
+exclamations from Livy, hanging half out of the _coupé_ regardless of
+night air, or raps on the head from overhanging boughs, as they went
+climbing up woody hills, or dashing down steep roads that wound so
+sharply round corners, it was a wonder the airy passengers did not fly
+off at every lurch. Rattling into quiet little towns with a grand
+'tootle-te-too' of the horn was an especial delight, and to see the
+people gather so quickly that they seemed to spring from the ground. A
+moment's chatter, a drink for the horses, a soft 'Felice notte,'
+another toot, and away thundered the diligence for miles more of
+moonlight, summer air, and the ecstasy of rapid motion.
+
+What that dear, brown driver with the red vest, the bobtailed, buttony
+coat, and the big yellow tassels dancing from his hat brim, thought of
+those two American damsels we shall never know. But it may be imagined
+that, after his first bewilderment, he enjoyed himself; for Amanda aired
+her Italian and asked many questions. Matilda invited him to perform
+national airs on all occasions, and both admired him as openly as if he
+had been a pretty child.
+
+Lavinia always cherished a dark suspicion that she narrowly escaped
+destruction on that eventful night; for, judging from the frequent
+melody, and the speed of the horses, she was sure that either Amanda
+tooted and Matilda drove, or that both so bewildered the brigand that
+he lost his head. However, it was all so delightful that even Granny
+felt the charm, and was sure that if they did upset in some romantic
+spot, a Doctor Antonio would spring up as quickly as a mushroom, and
+mend their bones, marry one of her giddy charges, and end the affair in
+the most appropriate manner.
+
+Nothing happened, fortunately, and by nine o'clock they were safely at
+Lugano, and, tearing themselves from the dear brigand, were taken
+possession of by a shadowy being, who fed them in a marble hall with
+statues ten feet high glaring at them as they ate, then led them to a
+bower which had pale green doors, a red carpet, blue walls, and yellow
+bed covers,--all so gay it was like sleeping in a rainbow.
+
+As if another lovely lake under the windows, and moonlight _ad libitum_,
+was not enough, they had music also. Lavinia scorned the idea of sleep,
+and went prowling about the rooms, hanging over the balconies, and doing
+the romantic in a style that was a disgrace to her years. She it was who
+made the superb discovery that the music they heard came from across the
+way, and that by opening a closet window they could look into a theatre
+and see the stage.
+
+All rushed at once and beheld an opera in full blast, heartily enjoying
+the unusual advantages of their position; for not only could they hear
+the warblers, but see them when the curtain was down. What a thing it
+was to see Donna Anna do up her black hair, Don Giovanni dance a jig,
+and stately Ottavio imbibe refreshment out of a black bottle, and the
+ghostly Commander prance like a Punchinello as they got him into
+position.
+
+The others soon succumbed to sleep; but, till long after midnight, old
+Livy wandered like a ghost from the front balcony, with the lovely lake,
+to the closet window and its dramatic joys, feeling that no moment of
+that memorable night should be lost, for what other traveller could
+boast that she ever went to the opera wrapped in a yellow bedquilt?
+
+On the morrow a few pictures of Luini before breakfast, and then more
+sailing over lakes, and more driving in festive diligences to Menaggio,
+where a boat like a market waggon without wheels bore them genteelly to
+Cadenabbia, and a week of repose on the banks of Lago Como.
+
+Their palace did not 'lift its marble walls to eternal summer' by any
+means; for it rained much, and was so cold that some took to their beds
+for warmth, stone floors looking like castile-soap not being just the
+thing for rheumatism. Hand-organs, dancing-bears, two hotels, one
+villa, no road but the lake, and an insinuating boatman with one eye who
+lay in wait among the willows, and popped out to grab a passenger when
+anyone ventured forth, are all that remains in the memory regarding
+Cadenabbia.
+
+A few extracts from Lavinia's note-book may be found useful at this
+point, both as a speedy way of getting our travellers to Rome, and for
+the bold criticisms on famous places and pictures which they contain:--
+
+'Milan.--Cathedral like a big wedding-cake. "Last Supper" in the
+barracks--did not "thrill;" tried to, but couldn't, as the picture is so
+dim it can hardly be seen. Ambrosian Library.--Lock of L. Borgia's hair;
+tea-coloured and coarse. Don't believe in it a bit. Jolly old books, but
+couldn't touch 'em. Fine window to Dante. Saw cathedral illuminated;
+very theatrical, and much howling of people over the deputies from Rome.
+Don't know why they illuminated or why they howled; didn't ask. Men here
+handsome, but rude. Women wear veils and no bonnets,--fat and ugly.
+Gloves very good.--Arch of Peace.--More peace and less arch would be
+better for Italy.
+
+'Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin.--Stiff and stupid. Can't like
+Raphael. Dear, pious, simple, old Fra Angelico suits me better.
+
+'To the Public Garden with A.; saw a black ostrich with long pink legs,
+who pranced and looked so like an opera dancer that we sat on the fence
+and shrieked with laughter.
+
+'Pavia.--To the Certosa to see the old Carthusian Convent founded in
+1396; cloisters, gardens, and twenty-four little dwellings, with chapel,
+bedroom, parlour, and yard for each monk, who is never to speak, and
+comes out but once a week. A nice way for lazy men to spend their lives
+when there is so much work to be done for the Lord and his poor! Wanted
+to shake them all round, though they did look well in their gowns and
+cowls gliding about the dim cloisters and church. Perhaps they are kept
+for that purpose.
+
+'Parma.--Dome of church frescoed by Correggio. All heaven upsidedown;
+fat angels turning somersaults, saints like butchers, and martyrs
+simpering feebly. Like C.'s babies much better. Heaven can't be painted,
+and they'd better not try. Madonna, by Girolamo, was lovely. Room of the
+Abbess, with rosy children peeping through the lattice, very charming.
+Madonna della Scodella--the boy Christ very charming. The old Farnese
+Theatre most interesting; got a scrap of canvas from a mouldy scene.
+Dead old place is Parma.
+
+'Bologna.--Drove in a pelting rain to the Academy, and saw many
+pictures. A Pietà, by Guido, was very striking. The desolate mother,
+with her dead son on her knees, haunted me long afterwards. St. Jerome
+and the infant Christ, by Elizabeth Sirani, I liked. Raphael won't suit
+yet. Sad for me, but I cannot admire Madonnas with faces like
+fashion-plates, or dropsical babies with no baby sweetness about them.
+
+'Florence.--Bought furs. Nice climate to bring invalids into. Always did
+think Italy a humbug, and I begin to see I was right. Acres of pictures.
+Like about six out of the lot. Can't bear the Venus, or Titian's famous
+hussy hanging over it. Like his portraits much. Busts of Roman emperors
+great fun. Such bad heads! The Julias, Faustinas, and Agrippinas, with
+hair dressed like a big sponge on the brow, were so comical I was never
+tired of looking at them. I see now where the present bedlamite style of
+coiffure comes from.
+
+'The philosophers, &c., were very interesting. Cicero so like Wendell
+Phillips that I could hardly help clapping my hands and saying, "Hear!
+hear!"
+
+'Gave A. a sad blow by saying the Campanile looked like an inlaid
+work-box. Did not admire it half so much as I did a magnificent stone
+pine. Best of all, saw in the old Monastery of St. Marco many works of
+Fra Angelico. I love his pictures, for he put his pious heart into them,
+and one sees and feels it, and I don't care if his saints do have six
+joints to their fingers and impossible noses. A very dear picture of
+"Providenza,"--poor monks at an empty table and angels bringing bread.
+
+'Angelico's picture of heaven was more to my mind than any I have seen.
+No stern, avenging God, no silly Madonna, but happy souls playing like
+children, or singing and piping with devout energy.
+
+'Relics of Savonarola,--his cell, bust, beads, hair-cloth shirt, and a
+bit of wood from the pile on which they burnt him. I like relics of one
+man who really lived, worked, and suffered, better than armies of
+angels, or acres of gods and goddesses.
+
+'Pleasant drives. Saw artists, Casa Guidi windows, and a model baby
+house with dolly's name on the door, and steps modelled by hands that
+have made famous statues. "Papa's baby house" was best of all his works
+to me. A nice little earthquake and a trifle of snow to enhance the
+charms of this sweet spot.
+
+'Visited Parker's grave, and was afflicted to find it in such an
+unlovely, crowded cemetery. It does not matter after all: his best
+monument is in the hearts that love him and the souls he fed. As I stood
+there a little brown bird hopped among the vines that covered the grave,
+pecked its breakfast from a dry seed-pod, perched on the head-stone with
+a grateful twitter, as grace after meat, and flew away, leaving me
+comforted by the little sermon it had preached.'
+
+
+'I don't wish to hurt your feelings, dear, but if this is Rome I must
+say it is a very nasty place,' began Lavinia, as they went stumbling
+through the mud and confusion of a big, unfinished station on their
+arrival at the eternal city.
+
+'People of sense don't judge a place at ten o'clock of a pitch-dark,
+rainy night, especially if they are hungry, tired, and, excuse me, love,
+rather cross,' returned Amanda, severely, as they piled into a carriage
+and drove to Piazzi di Spagna.
+
+'I see a divine fountain! A splendid palace! Now it's a statue of some
+sort! I do believe that dark figure was a monk! I know I shall like it
+in spite of everything,' cried Matilda excitedly, flattening her nose
+against the window.
+
+She had been much disappointed at not being able to enter Rome by
+daylight, so that she might clasp her hands and cry aloud, half-stifled
+with the overpowering emotions of the moment, 'Roma! Roma! the eternal
+city, bursts upon my view!' That was the proper thing to do, and it was
+a blow to make so commonplace and ignoble an entry into the city of her
+dreams.
+
+Early next morning, Livy was roused from slumber by cries of delight,
+and, starting up, beheld her artist sister wrapped in a dressing-gown,
+with dishevelled hair, staring out of the window, and murmuring
+incoherently,--
+
+'Spanish Steps, that's where the models sit. Propaganda, famous Jesuit
+school. Hope I shall see the little students in their funny hats and
+gowns. That's the great monument thing put up to settle the Immaculate
+Conception fuss. Very fine, but the apostles look desperately tired of
+holding it up. Dear old houses! Heavens! there's a _trattoria_ man with
+somebody's breakfast on his head! Don't see any costumes. Where are the
+sheepskin suits? the red skirts and white head-cloths? Girl with
+flowers. Oh, how lovely! Mercy on us, there's an officer staring up
+here, and I never saw him!'
+
+In came the blond head, and the blue dressing-gown vanished from the
+eyes of the handsome soldier who had been attitudinizing with his high
+boots, gray and scarlet cloak, jingling sword, and becoming _barrette_
+cap, for the especial benefit of the enraptured stranger.
+
+'Livy, it is just superb! Get up and come out at once. It is clouding
+up, and I must have one look or lose my mind,' said Matilda, flying
+about with unusual energy.
+
+'You will have to get used to rain if you stay here long, my child,'
+returned the Raven.
+
+And she was right. It poured steadily for two months, with occasional
+flurries of snow, also thunder, likewise hurricanes, the tramontàna, the
+sirocco, and all the other charming features of an Italian winter. That
+nothing might be wanting, a nice little inundation was got up for their
+benefit, December 28th.
+
+Sitting peacefully at breakfast on the morning of that day, in their
+cosey apartment, with a fire of cones and olive-wood cheerily burning on
+the hearth, Jokerella, the big cat, purring on the rug, the little
+coffee-pot proudly perched among bread and butter, eggs and fruit, while
+the ladies, in dressing-gowns and slippers, lounged luxuriously in
+arm-chairs, one red, one blue, one yellow; they (the ladies, not the
+chairs) were started by Agrippina, the maid, who burst into the room
+like a bomb-shell, announcing, all in one breath, that the Tiber had
+risen, inundated the whole city, and instant death was to be the doom of
+all.
+
+Rushing to the window to see if the flood had quite covered the steps,
+and cut off all retreat, the friends were comforted to observe no signs
+of water, except that half-frozen in the basin of the fountain above
+which leaned their favourite old Triton, with an icicle on the end of
+his nose.
+
+'I must go and attend to this. The poor will suffer; we may be able to
+help,' said Livy, forgetting her bones, and beginning to scramble on her
+fur boots as if the safety of the city depended on her.
+
+The others followed suit, and leaving Jokerella to ravage the table,
+they hurried forth to see what Father Tiber was up to. A most
+reprehensible prank, apparently, for the lower parts of the city were
+under water, and many of the great streets already as full of boats as
+Venice.
+
+The Corso was a deep and rapid stream, and the shopkeepers were
+disconsolately paddling about, trying to rescue their property.
+
+'Our dresses, our beautiful new dresses, where are they now!' wailed
+the girls, surveying Mazzoni's grand store, with water up to the
+balcony, where many milliners wrung their hands, lamenting.
+
+The Piazza del Popolo was a lake, with the four stone lions just
+visible, and still spouting water, though it was a drug in the market.
+In at the open gate rolled a muddy stream, bearing hay-stacks,
+brushwood, and drowned animals along the Corso. People stood on their
+balconies wondering what they should do, many breakfastless; for how
+could the _trattoria_ boys safely waft their coffee-pots across such
+canals of water? Carriages splashed about in shallower parts with
+agitated loads, hurrying to drier quarters; many were coming down
+ladders into boats, and crowds stood waiting their turn with bundles of
+valuables in their hands.
+
+The soldiers were out in full force, working gallantly to save life and
+property; making rafts, carrying people on their backs, and going
+through the inundated streets with boat-loads of food for the hungry,
+shut up in their ill-provided houses. Usually at such times the priests
+did this work; but now they stood idly looking on, and saying it was a
+judgment on the people for their treatment of the Pope. The people were
+troubled because the priests refused to pray for them: but otherwise
+they snapped their fingers at the sullen old gentlemen in the Vatican;
+and the brisk, brave troops worked for the city quite as well (the
+heretics thought better) than the snuffy priests.
+
+In the Ghetto the disaster was truly terrible, for the flood came so
+suddenly that the whole quarter was under water in an hour. The scene
+was pitiful; for here the Jews live packed like sardines in a box, and
+being washed out with no warning, were utterly destitute. In one street
+a man and woman were seen wading up to their waists in water, pushing an
+old mattress before them, on which were three little children, all they
+had saved.
+
+Later in the day, as boats of provisions came along, women and children
+swarmed at the windows, crying, 'Bread! bread!' and their wants could
+not be supplied in spite of the care of the city authorities. One old
+woman who had lost everything besought the rescuers to bring her a
+little snuff for the love of heaven; which was very characteristic of
+the race. One poor man, in trying to save a sick wife and his little
+ones in a cart, upset them, and the babies were drowned at their own
+door. Comedy and tragedy side by side.
+
+Outside the city, houses were carried off, people lost, and bridges
+swept away, so sudden and violent was the flood. The heavy rains and
+warm winds melted the snow on the mountains, and swelled the river till
+it rose higher than at any time since 1805.
+
+Many strangers, who came to Rome for the Christmas holidays, sat in
+their fine apartments without food, fire, light, or company, till taken
+off in boats or supplied by hoisting stores in at the windows.
+
+'We can hold out some time, as we live on a hill, and Pina has laid in
+provisions for several days. But if the flood lasts, we shall come to
+want; for the wood-yards are under water, the railroads down, and the
+peasants can't get into the city to bring supplies, unless the donkeys
+swim,' said Amanda, reviewing the situation.
+
+'Never mind; it's so exciting; only we must not forget that we engaged
+to go and see the Roastpig Aurora to-day,' answered Matilda, who
+insisted on pronouncing Rospigliosi in that improper manner.
+
+'I like this infinitely better than any of your picturesque
+refrigerators, and it thrills me more to watch one of those dear, dirty
+soldiers save women and babies than to see a dozen "Dying Gladiators"
+gasping for centuries in immortal marble,' added Lavinia, who had
+shocked her artistic friends by sniffing at the famous statue, and
+wishing the man would die and done with it, and not lie squirming there.
+
+'Come away, Mat: she has no soul for art, and it is all in vain to try
+and breathe one into her,' said Amanda, with the calm pity of one who
+had read up every great picture, studied up every famous statue, and
+knew what to admire, when to thrill, and just where the various emotions
+should come in.
+
+So they left the outcast perched on a wall, waving her muff at them,
+and calling out, 'Nater for ever!' to the great horror of an English
+lady, who would have seen all Rome upset without any unseemly
+excitement.
+
+That night the gas gave out, and mysterious orders were left at houses
+for lamps to be kept burning till morning. Thieves abounded, and the
+ladies prepared their arms--one pistol, one dagger, and a large
+umbrella--then slept peacefully, undisturbed by the commotion in the
+kitchen, where cats, live chickens, and Pina's five grandmothers, all
+lived together, rent free.
+
+Amanda's last prediction was, that they would find themselves gently
+floating out at the Porta Pia about midnight. Mat wailed for a submerged
+gallery in which she had hoped to ice herself on the morrow, and Livy
+indulged the sinful hope that the Pope would get his pontifical
+petticoats very wet, be a little drowned, and terribly scared by the
+flood, because he spoilt the Christmas festivities, and shut up all the
+cardinals' red coaches.
+
+Next day the water began to abate, and people made up their minds that
+the end of the world was not yet. Gentlemen paid visits on the backs of
+stout soldiers, ladies went shopping in boats, and family dinners were
+handed in at two-story windows without causing any remark, so quickly do
+people adapt themselves to the inevitable.
+
+Hardly had the watery excitement subsided when a new event set the city
+in an uproar.
+
+The King was not expected till the tenth of January; but the kind soul
+could not wait, and, as soon as the road was passable, he came with
+300,000 francs in his hands to see what he could do for his poor Romans.
+He arrived at 4 A.M., and though unexpected, the news flew through the
+city, and a crowd turned out with torches to escort him to the Quirinal.
+
+Again did the explosive Pina burst in upon her mistresses with the news,
+this time in tears of joy, for the people began to think the King would
+never come, and therefore were especially touched by this prompt visit
+in the midst of their trouble. The handsome damsel was a spectacle
+herself, so dramatic was she as she shook her fist at the Pope, and
+cheered for the King, with a ladle in one hand, an artichoke in the
+other, her fine eyes flashing, and her mellow voice trembling, while she
+talked regardless of the _polenta_ going to destruction in the
+frying-pan.
+
+On went the bonnets, out flew the ladies, and rushed up to the Quirinal,
+where stood a great crowd waiting eagerly for a sight of the King.
+
+There was a great bustle among the officials, and splendid creatures,
+in new uniforms, ran about in all directions. Grand carriages arrived,
+bringing the high and mighty, gaping but loyal, to greet their lord.
+General Marmora--a thin, shabby, energetic man--was everywhere; for the
+new order of things seemed a little hitchy. Dorias and Colonnas
+gladdened plebeian eyes, and the people cheered every thing, from the
+Commander-in-Chief to somebody's breakfast, borne through the crowd by a
+stately 'Jeames' in livery, who graciously acknowledged the homage.
+
+For one mortal hour our ladies stood in a pelting rain, and then
+retired, feeling that the sacrifice of their best hats was all that
+could reasonably be expected of free-born Americans. They consoled
+themselves by putting out Pina's fine Italian banner (made in secret,
+and kept ready for her King, for the _padrona_ was _papalino_), and
+supporting it by two little American flags, the stars and stripes of
+which much perplexed the boys and donkeys disporting themselves in the
+Piazza Barberini.
+
+But the excitement was so infectious that the girls could not resist
+another run after royalty; so, while Livy consoled herself with the fire
+and the cat, they took a carriage and chased the King till they caught
+him at the Capitol. They had a fine view of him as he came down the long
+steps, almost alone, and at the peril of his life, through a mass of
+people cheering frantically, and whitening the streets with waving
+handkerchiefs.
+
+The enthusiastic damsels mounted up beside the driver, and hurrahed with
+all their hearts and voices, as well they might, for it certainly was a
+sight to see. The courage of the King, in trusting himself in a city
+full of enemies, touched the people quite as much as the kindly motive
+that brought him there, and kept him sacred in their eyes.
+
+The girls had a second view of him on the balcony of the Quirinal; for
+the populace clamoured so for another sight of 'Il Rè,' that the Pope's
+best velvet hangings were hastily spread, and Victor Emmanuel came out
+and bowed to his people, 'who stood on their heads with joy,' as Amanda
+expressed it.
+
+He was in citizen's dress, and looked like a stout, brown, soldierly
+man, not so ugly as the pictures of him, but not an Apollo by any means.
+
+Hating ceremony and splendour, he would not have the fine apartments
+prepared for him, but chose a plain room, saying, 'Keep the finery for
+my son, if you like; I prefer this.'
+
+He drove through the Ghetto, and all the desolated parts of the city,
+to see with his own eyes the ruin made; and then desired the city
+fathers to give to the poor the money they had set apart to make a
+splendid welcome for him.
+
+He only spent one day, and returned to Florence at night. All Rome was
+at the station to see him off: ladies with carriages full of flowers,
+troops of soldiers, and throngs of poor people blessing him like a
+saint; for this kingly sympathy of his had won all hearts.
+
+'When he does make his grand entry, we will decorate our balcony, and
+have our six windows packed with loyal Yankees who will hurrah their
+best for "the honest man," as they call Victor Emmanuel--and that is
+high praise for a king.'
+
+So said the three, and while waiting for the event (which did not occur
+in their day, however,) they indulged in all the pastimes modern Rome
+afforded. They shivered through endless galleries, getting 'cricks' in
+their necks staring at frescoes, and injuring their optic nerves poring
+over pictures so old that often nothing was visible but a
+mahogany-coloured leg, an oily face, or the dim outline of a green saint
+in a whirlwind of pink angels.
+
+They grubbed in catacombs and came up mouldy. They picnicked in the tomb
+of Cæcelia Metella, flirted in the palace of the Cæsars--not in the
+classical manner, however,--got cold by moonlight in the Colosseum, and
+went sketching in the Baths of Caracalla, which last amusement generally
+ended in the gentlemen and ladies drawing each other, and returning
+delighted with the study of art in 'dear Rome.'
+
+They went to fancy parties, where artists got themselves up like their
+own statues and pictures, and set mediæval fashions which it was a pity
+the rest of the world did not follow. They drank much social tea with
+titled beings, as thick as blackberries, and, better still, men and
+women who had earned noble names for themselves with pencil, pen, or
+chisel. They paid visits in palaces where the horses lived in the
+basement, rich foreigners on the first floor, artists next, and princes
+in the attic.
+
+They went to the hunt, and saw scarlet coats, fine horses, bad riding,
+many hounds, and no foxes.
+
+As a change they got up game parties _à la_ Little Athens in their own
+small _salon_, introduced the Potatoe Pantomime, had charades, and
+enacted the immortal Jarley's waxworks on one of the Seven Hills.
+
+A true Yankee breakfast of fish-balls, johnny-cake, and dip-toast, was
+given in their honour, and its delights much enhanced by its being
+eaten in a lovely room with reeds and rushes on the pale-green walls,
+shell-shaped chairs, and coral mirror-frames. What a thing it was to
+consume those familiar viands in a famous palace, with Guido's Cenci
+downstairs, a great sculptor next door, three lovely boys as waiters,
+and 'Titian T.' to head the feast, and follow it up with dates from the
+Nile, and Egyptian sketches that caused the company to vote a speedy
+adjournment to the land 'of corkendills' and pyramids.
+
+These and many other joys they tasted, and when all else palled upon
+them they drove on the Campagna and were happy.
+
+It is sad to be obliged to record that these quiet drives were the
+especial delight of the unsocial Lavinia, whose ill-regulated mind soon
+wearied of swell society, classical remains, and artistic revelry.
+Ancient Rome would have suited her excellently, she thought; but modern
+Rome was such a chaos of frivolity and fanaticism, poverty and
+splendour, dirt and devilry, dead grandeur and living ignorance, that
+she felt as if shut up in a magnificent tomb, the bad air of which was
+poisoning both body and soul.
+
+Her only consolation was the new freedom, that seemed to blow over Rome
+like a wholesome wind. Old residents lamented the loss of the priestly
+pageants, _fêtes_, and ceremonies; but this republican spinster
+preferred to see Rome guarded by her own troops, and governed by her own
+King, who ordered streets to be cleaned, fountains filled, schools
+opened, and all good institutions made possible, rather than any amount
+of Papal purple covering poverty, ignorance, and superstition. Better
+than the sight of all the red coaches that ever rumbled was the
+spectacle of many boys quitting the Jesuit college and demanding
+admittance into the free schools; and sweeter than the music of all the
+silver trumpets that ever blew were the voices of happy men and women
+singing once forbidden songs of liberty in the streets of Rome.
+
+These sentiments, and others equally unfashionable, were only breathed
+into the ear of sister Matilda when the two retired to the Campagna to
+confide to one another the secrets of their souls--a process necessary
+about once a week; for after visiting studios, going to parties, and
+telling polite fibs about everything they saw, it was impossible to
+exist without finding a vent of some sort. Once out among the aqueducts,
+Matilda could freely own that she thought genius a rare article in the
+studios, where she expected to learn so much; and Lavinia could make the
+awful avowal that parties at which the order of performance was gossip,
+tea, music--then music, tea, and gossip, all together--were not her idea
+of intellectual society. Their criticisms on pictures and statues cannot
+be recorded without covering their humble names with infamy; and why the
+sky did not fall upon, or the stones rise up and smite these Vandals, is
+a mystery to this day.
+
+They did enjoy much in their own improper manner, but poor Amanda's
+sufferings can better be imagined than described. So when Lavinia, early
+in March, proposed to flee to the mountains before they became quite
+demoralized, and learned to steal and stab, as well as lie and lounge,
+she readily assented, and they retired to Albano.
+
+'The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was nothing to this, and
+never have I seen such unappreciative women as you two,' sighed Amanda,
+as they rolled away from Numero Due Piazza Barberini, leaving Agrippina
+sobbing at the top of the stairs and the _padrona_ bobbing little
+curtsies at the bottom.
+
+'I am sure the Cenci will haunt me all my days, and so will many other
+famous things,' said Matilda, while her eye roved fondly from a very
+brown Capuchin monk to a squad of Bersaglieri trotting by with jaunty
+cocks' feathers dancing in the wind, muskets gleaming, and trim boots
+skipping through the mud with martial regularity.
+
+'When I get the contents of my head sorted out, I shall doubtless
+rejoice that I have seen Rome; but just now all that I can clearly
+recall are the three facts that the Pope had a fit, our dear man Romeo
+got very tipsy one night, and that we went to see the Sistine Chapel
+the day the eclipse made it as dark as a pocket. Yes,' continued
+Lavinia, with an air of decision, 'I _am_ glad to have seen this
+classical cesspool, and still more glad to have got out of it alive,'
+she added, sniffing the air from the mountains, as if the odour of
+sanctity which pervaded the holy city did not suit her.
+
+It blew great guns up at Albano, and the society consisted chiefly of
+donkeys. But the ladies enjoyed themselves nevertheless, and felt better
+and better every day; for early hours, much exercise, and no æsthetic
+tea, soon set them up after the dissipation of the winter.
+
+Three pleasing events diversified their stay. The first happened the day
+after they arrived. The girls went forth early to look about them, and
+to see if they could find a little apartment where all could be more
+comfortable than in the breezy rooms at the hotel. Following the grassy
+road that winds down the valley below the viaduct, they came to a lovely
+garden, and, finding the gate open, went in. A queer old villa was
+perched on the hill above, and a manly form was observed to be leaning
+from a balcony, as if enjoying the fine view from the height.
+
+'I fancied that house was empty, or we wouldn't have come in. Never
+mind: we won't go back now; and if any one comes after us, we will
+apologize and say we lost our way going to Ajaccio,' said Amanda, as
+they went calmly forward among the posy-beds that lay blooming on the
+hill-side.
+
+It was well they prepared themselves, for the manly form suddenly
+disappeared from the balcony, and a moment afterwards came swiftly
+towards them through the shrubs.
+
+A comely young gentleman, who greeted them with Italian grace, accepted
+their apology smiling, and begged them to walk in his garden whenever
+they liked. It was always open, he said, and the peasants often used
+that path, admiring but never hurting a leaf. Hearing that they were in
+search of an apartment, he instantly begged them to come up and look at
+some rooms in the villa. His father was a refugee from France, and
+desired to let a part of his house. Come and behold these delightful
+rooms.
+
+So charming was the interest he took in the errant damsels that they
+could not resist, and after rolling up their eyes at one another to
+express their enjoyment of the adventure, they graciously followed the
+handsome youth into the villa.
+
+With confiding hospitality he took them everywhere--into his mother's
+room, the kitchen, and nursery. In the latter place they found two small
+boys, who bore such a striking resemblance to Napoleon I. that the girls
+spoke of it, and were enraptured at the reply they received.
+
+'Truly yes: we belong to the family. My mother is a Buonaparte, my
+father Count ----'
+
+'Here's richness and romance!' 'What will Livy say?' whispered the girls
+to one another, as their guide left them in the _salon_ and went to find
+his father.
+
+'She will scold us for coming here,' said Amanda, remembering her own
+lectures on the proprieties.
+
+'Yes; but she will forgive us the minute we say Napoleon, for that bad
+little man is one of her heroes,' added Mat, pretending to be admiring
+the view, while she privately examined a lady in a bower below--a stout,
+dark lady, with all the family traits so strongly marked that there
+could be no doubt of the young man's assertion.
+
+Presently he came back with an affable old gentleman, who evidently had
+an eye to the main chance; for, in spite of his elegance and affability,
+he asked a great price for his rooms, and felt that any untitled
+stranger should be glad to pay well for the honour of living under the
+roof of a Buonaparte.
+
+Amanda left the decision to her invisible duenna, and with a profusion
+of compliments and thanks, they got away, being gallantly escorted to
+the gate by the young count, who filled their hands with flowers, and
+gazed pensively after them, as if he found the society of two bright
+American girls very agreeable after that of his lofty parents, or the
+peasantry of the town.
+
+Home they ran and bounced in upon Livy, blooming and breathless, to
+pour out their tale, and suggest an immediate departure to the blissful
+spot where counts and crocuses flourished with Italian luxuriance.
+
+But after the first excitement had subsided, Lavinia put a wet blanket
+on the entire plan by declaring that she would never board with any
+grasping old patrician, who would charge for every bow, and fall back on
+his ancestors if he was found cheating. She would go and look at the
+place, but not enter it, nor be beholden to the resident Apollo for so
+much as a dandelion.
+
+So the mourning damsels led the griffin over the viaduct, through the
+dirty little town, by the villa on its least attractive side. Up at the
+window were the two little Napoleonic heads, with big, black eyes,
+strong chins, and dark hair streaked across wide, olive-coloured
+foreheads. A vision of papa was visible in the garden pruning a vine
+with gloves on his aristocratic hands, and a shabby velvet coat on his
+highly connected back. Also, afar off on the balcony--oh, sight to touch
+a maiden's heart!--was the young count gazing wistfully towards Albano.
+He did not see the charmers as they crept down the rough road close to
+the garden wall, and went sadly home, along the blooming path, to the
+'Tomb of the Four Thimbles,' as Livy irreverently called the ruin which
+has an ornament at each of its corners like a gigantic thimble of stone.
+
+A note in Amanda's most elegant French, declining the apartments in the
+name of Madame Duenna, closed the door of this Eden upon the wandering
+peris, who entered never more. Now and then, as they went clattering by
+on their donkeys to Lake Nemi, or some other picturesque spot,
+
+
+     They saw again the crocus bloom,
+     And, leaning from that lofty room,
+     Sir Launcelot with face of gloom
+           Look down to Camelot.
+     Up flew their veils and floated wide,
+     But Livy pinned them to her side,
+     'The curse has come upon us!' cried
+          The ladies of Shalott.
+
+
+The second adventure befell Amanda alone, and in this wise.
+
+Going one day to Rome, on business, she found herself shut up in a car
+with a gorgeous officer and a meek young man, who read papers all the
+way. The tall soldier, in his gray and silver uniform, with a furred,
+frogged, and braided jacket, not to mention the high boots or the
+becoming cap, was so very polite to the lone lady that she could not
+remain dumb without positive rudeness. So Amanda conversed in her most
+charming manner, finding inspiration doubtless in the dark eyes and
+musical voice of her handsome _vis-à-vis_, for the officers from Turin
+are things of beauty and joys for ever to those who love to look on
+manly men.
+
+Among other things, the two had a little joke about the Baron
+Rothschild, who rode about Albano on a tiny donkey with two servants
+behind him; also the Baroness, a painfully plain woman, with an ugly dog
+the image of herself.
+
+When they arrived at Rome, however, their joke was turned against them,
+by the discovery that the meek man was the Baron's secretary, who would
+doubtless repeat their chat at head-quarters. To see the handsome man
+slap his brow, and then laugh like a boy at the fun, was worth a longer
+journey, Amanda thought, as he put her into a carriage, gave her his
+best martial salute, and went clanking away about his own affairs.
+
+Amanda returned at 4 P.M., and her emotions may be imagined when the
+dark face of her officer peered in at the car window, and the melodious
+voice asked if he might be permitted to enter. Of course he might; and,
+as no secretary now spoilt the _tête-à-tête_, Mars became delightfully
+confidential, and poured his woes into the sympathising bosom of Amanda.
+
+It had been a great affliction to him that his regiment was quartered at
+Albano for some months. _Mio Dio!_ so dull was it, life had already
+become a burden; but now, if the Signorina was to be there, if she
+permitted him to make himself known to her party, what joys were in
+store for him. The Signorina loved to ride. Behold he had superb horses
+languishing in the stables, that henceforth were dedicated to her use.
+His fellow officers were gentlemen of good family, brave as lions, and
+dying of _ennui_; if they might be presented to the ladies, life would
+be worth having, and Albano a paradise, &c.
+
+To all this devotion the prudent Amanda listened with pleasure, but
+promised nothing till Signore Mars had made the acquaintance of certain
+American gentleman and married ladies, then it would be possible to
+enjoy the delights of which he spoke. The Colonel vowed he would
+instantly devote himself to this task, and thus they came to the lonely
+little station at Albano.
+
+Amanda had ordered the carriage to meet her; but it was not there, and
+she was forced to wait till all her fellow-passengers were gone. All but
+the gallant officer, who decorously remained outside, marching to and
+fro as if on guard, till his servant came with his horse. Then he begged
+to be allowed to see why the carriage did not come, and Amanda
+consented, for night was falling, and two miles of mud lay between her
+and home.
+
+Away dashed the servant, but his master did not follow: standing in the
+doorway, he declared that he must remain as the Signorina's protector,
+for no trains were due for hours; the dépôt man was gone, and it was too
+late for any lady to stay there alone. Again Amanda gratefully
+consented, wondering what would be the end of her adventure; and again
+the stately Colonel resumed his march outside, singing as he tramped,
+and evidently enjoying the escort duty that gave him so good an
+opportunity of displaying not only his gallantry, but his fine voice and
+handsome figure.
+
+Down rattled the carriage at last, accompanied, to Amanda's dismay, by
+three of the Colonel's friends, who had evidently received a hint of
+the affair, and had come to have a hand in it.
+
+With much bowing of the gentlemen, and much prancing of their fine
+horses, Amanda was handed to her seat, and went lumbering back to the
+hotel with her splendid escort careering about her, to the great
+edification of the town.
+
+When the rescued damsel told the tale to her mates, Matilda tore her
+hair and lamented that she had not been there. Even the stern Livy had
+no lecture for the erring lamb, but was as full of interest as either of
+the girls, for anything in the shape of a soldier was dear to her heart.
+
+When the ladies rode forth next day, three elegant St. Georges in full
+rig saluted as these modern Unas ambled by on their meek donkeys--a
+performance punctually executed ever afterward whenever the three blue
+veils appeared. Much curvetting went on before the hotel door; much
+clanking of spurs and sabres was heard in the little lane on to which
+the apartment of the ladies looked, and splendid officers seemed to
+spring up like violets in secluded spots where maidens love to stroll.
+
+It was all very nice; and the girls were beginning to feel that the
+charms of Albano rivalled those of Rome, when a sad blow upset their
+castles in the air, and desolated the knights over the way.
+
+The highly respectable Americans who were to serve as the link between
+the soldiers and the ladies decidedly declined the office, objecting to
+the martial gentleman as being altogether too dangerous to bring into
+the dove-cot. So the poor dears sighed in vain, and the longing damsels
+never rode the fine horses that were temptingly paraded before them on
+all occasions.
+
+They did their best; but it was soon evident to Lavinia that in some
+unguarded moment the impetuous Mat would yield to the spell and go
+gambading away for a ride _sans_ duenna, _sans_ habit, _sans_ propriety,
+_sans_ everything. Amanda likewise seemed losing her head, and permitted
+the dark-eyed Colonel to talk to her when they met; only a moment--but
+what a perilous moment it was!--when this six-foot Mars leaned over a
+green hedge and talked about the weather in the softest Italian that
+ever melted a woman's heart.
+
+'I'm going to Venice next week; so you may as well make up your minds to
+it, girls. I _cannot_ bear this awful responsibility any longer; for I
+am very sure you will both be off to Turin with those handsome rascals
+if we stay much longer. My mind is made up, and I won't hear a word.'
+
+Thus Lavinia, with a stern countenance; for the romantic old lady felt
+the charm as much as the girls did, and decided that discretion was the
+better part of valour for the whole party.
+
+'I should never dare to go home and tell my honoured parents that Mat
+had run away with a man as handsome as Jove, and as poor as Job.
+Amanda's indignant relatives would rise up and stone me if I let her
+canter into matrimony with the fascinating Colonel, who may have a wife
+and ten children in Turin, for all we know. They _must_ be torn away at
+once, or my character as duenna is lost for ever.'
+
+Having made up her mind, Livy steeled her heart to all appeals, and
+wrote letters, packed trunks, and watched her little flock like a
+vigilant sheep-dog.
+
+How she would ever have got them through that last week is very
+uncertain, if a providential picnic had not helped her.
+
+A fair was held in the town, and a delightful surprise-party was got up
+among the artists of Rome. Twenty-five came driving over in a big
+carriage, with four gaily decorated horses, postilions, hampers of
+lunch, flutes and horns, and much jollity bottled up for the occasion.
+
+A very festive spectacle they made as they drove through the narrow
+streets with flowers and streamers in their hats, singing and joking in
+true artistic style.
+
+They meant to have lunched in the open air; but, as it was cloudy,
+decided to spread the feast at the hotel. Such a delightful revel as
+followed! A scene from the 'Decameron,' modernised, would give some idea
+of it; for after the banquet all adjourned to the gardens of the Doria
+Villa, and there disported themselves as merrily as if all the plagues
+of life were quite forgotten, and death itself among the lost arts.
+Flirting and dancing, charades and singing, stories and statues, poems
+and pictures, gossip and gambols, absorbed the hours as pleasantly as in
+the olden time. And if the costumes were not as picturesque as those in
+Vedder's fine picture, the ladies were as lovely, the gentlemen as
+gallant, and all much better behaved than those of Boccaccio's party.
+
+A few drops of rain quenched the fun at its height, and sent the
+revellers home as fast as four horses could take them, leaving the town
+gaping after them, and our ladies much enlivened by the delights of the
+day.
+
+This third and last event pleasantly ended their sojourn at Albano; for
+a day or two later they vanished, leaving the dear officers
+disconsolate till the next batch of travelling ladies came to comfort
+their despair.
+
+A week was spent in Venice, floating about all day from one delightful
+old church to another, or paying visits to Titians and Tintorettos;
+buying little turtles, photographs, or Venetian glass; eating candied
+fruit and seeing the doves fed in the square of San Marco; visiting
+shops full of dusty antiquities, or searching the stalls on the Rialto
+for Moor's-head rings; being rowed to the Lido by Giacomo in a red sash;
+and lulled to sleep at night by the songs of a chorus that floated under
+the windows in the moonlight.
+
+Lavinia never could get used to seeing the butcher, the baker, and the
+postman go their rounds in boats. Matilda was in bliss, with a gondola
+all to herself, where she sat surrounded with water-colours, trying to
+paint everything she saw; for here the energy she had lost at Rome
+seemed to return to her. Amanda haunted a certain shop, trying to make
+the man take a reasonable sum for a very ancient and ugly bit of
+jewellery, which she called 'a sprigalario,' for want of a better name;
+and after each failure she went off to compose herself with a visit to
+the Doges.
+
+Of course they all saw the Bridge of Sighs and the dungeons below, with
+their many horrors; likewise a Mass at St. Mark's, where the Patriarch
+was a fat old soul in red silk, even to his shoes and holy
+pocket-handkerchief; and the service appeared to consist in six purple
+priests dressing and undressing him like an old doll, while a dozen
+white-gowned boys droned up in a gold cock-loft, and many beggars whined
+on the dirty floor below.
+
+Do other travellers eat locusts, I wonder, as ours did one sunny day,
+sitting on church steps, and discover that the food of the Apostle was
+not the insect whose 'zeeing' foretells hot weather; but the long, dry
+pods of the locust-tree, sweet to the taste, but rather 'dry fodder,' as
+the impious Livy remarked after choking herself with a quarter of a yard
+of it.
+
+When the week was up Mat implored to be left behind with Angela, the
+maid, and Brio, a big poodle possessed of the devil. But she was torn
+away, and only consoled by the promise of many new gloves, with as many
+buttons as she pleased, when they got to Munich.
+
+'The lakes are the proper entrance into Italy, and Venice a lovely exit.
+One soon tires of it, and is ready to leave, which is an excellent
+arrangement, though I should prefer to depart in some more cheerful
+vehicle than a hearse,' observed Lavinia, as they left the long, black
+gondola at the steps of the station.
+
+'Haven't you a sigh for those lovely lakes, a tear for Albano, a pang of
+regret for Rome?' asked Amanda, hoping to wring one moan for Italy from
+the old lady.
+
+'Not a sigh, not a tear, not a regret. I find I like them all better the
+farther I get from them, and by the time I am at home I may be able to
+say "I adore them," but I doubt it,' returned the incorrigible Livy, and
+from that moment Amanda regarded her Granny as one dead to all the dear
+delusions of antiquity.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+_LONDON._
+
+
+'From this moment I cease to be the commander-in-chief. Livy adores
+England, can speak the language, understands the money, and knows all
+about London; so _she_ shall be leader, and I will repose after my long
+labour.' With this remark Amanda retired from office covered with glory,
+and her mates voted to erect a statue in her honour as a token of their
+undying gratitude.
+
+Lavinia took the lead from the moment they landed at St. Catherine's
+Warf; and though somewhat demoralized by a rough passage of eighteen
+hours from Antwerp, was equal to the occasion. She did love England, and
+thought London the most delightful city in the world, next to Boston.
+Its mud and fog were dear to her; its beef and beer were nectar and
+ambrosia, after the continental slops and messes; its steady-going,
+respectable citizens, beautiful in her eyes, and the words 'home' and'
+comfort' were not an idle mockery here.
+
+Therefore the old lady joyfully sniffed the smoky air, gazed with
+tenderness on the grimy houses, and cast herself, metaphorically
+speaking, into the arms of a stout, ruddy-faced porter, as if at last
+she had found a man and a brother.
+
+Nobly did the burly Briton repay her confidence and earn the shilling
+which in England makes all things possible. He bore them to the station,
+got tickets, checked luggage, put the ladies in a first-class
+compartment, gave them all necessary directions about the hotel they
+were after, and when the bell rang touched his cap with a smile upon his
+dear, red face, which caused Lavinia to add a sixpence to the shilling
+she gave him with a mental blessing.
+
+'This is truly a decent country. See how well one is cared for, how
+civil everybody is, how honest, how manly,' began Livy, as she mounted
+her hobby, and prepared for a canter over the prejudices of her friend;
+for Amanda detested England because she knew nothing of it.
+
+'The cabman cheated us, asking double fares,' replied the dear girl,
+wrapping herself in many cloaks and refusing to admire the fog.
+
+'Not at all,' cried Livy; 'the trunks were immense, and you'll find we
+shall have to pay extra for them everywhere. It is the same as having
+them weighed and paying for the pounds, only this saves much time and
+trouble. Look at the handsome guard in his silver-plated harness. How
+much nicer he is than a gabbling Italian, or a Frenchman who compliments
+you one minute and behaves like a brute the next! It does my soul good
+to see the clean, rosy faces, and hear good English instead of
+gibberish.'
+
+'Never in my life have I seen such tall, fine-looking men, only they are
+all fair, which isn't my style,' observed Matilda, with a secret sigh
+for the dark-eyed heroes from Turin.
+
+Thus conversing, they soon came to the G---- Hotel just at the end of the
+railway, and without going out of the station found themselves settled
+in comfortable rooms.
+
+'Regard, if you please, these toilette arrangements--two sorts of
+bath-pan, two cans of cold water, one of hot, two big pitchers, much
+soap, and six towels about the size of table-cloths. I call that an
+improvement on the continental cup, saucer, and napkin accommodation,'
+said Lavinia, proudly displaying a wash-stand that looked like a
+dinner-table laid for a dozen, such was the display of glass, china, and
+napery.
+
+'The English certainly are a clean people,' replied Amanda, softening a
+little as she remembered her fruitless efforts to find a bath-pan in
+Brittany, where the people said the drought was caused by the English
+using so much water.
+
+'They need more appliances for cleanliness than any other race, because
+they live in such a dirty country,' began Matilda, removing the soot
+from her face in flakes.
+
+What more she might have said is unknown; for Livy closed her mouth with
+a big sponge, and all retired to repose after the trials of the past
+night.
+
+'Now, my dears, you shall have food fit for Christian women to eat. No
+weak soup, no sour wine, no veal stewed with raisins, nor greasy salad
+made of all the weeds that grow. Beef that will make you feel like
+giants, and beer that will cheer the cockles of your hearts; not to
+mention cheese which will make you wink, and bread with a little round
+button atop of the loaf like the grand Panjandrum in the old story.'
+
+Thus Lavinia enthusiastically, as she led her flock of two into the
+eating-room at luncheon time. Being seated at a little table by one of
+the great windows, the old lady continued to sing the praises of
+Britannia while wafting for the repast.
+
+'Isn't this better than a stone-floored _café_ with nine clocks all
+wrong, seven mirrors all cracked, much drapery all dirty, a flock of
+_garçons_ who fly about like lunatics, and food which I shudder to
+think of? Look at this lofty room; this grave thick carpet; that
+cheerful coal-fire; these neat little tables; these large, clean
+windows; these quiet, ministerial waiters, who seem to take a paternal
+interest in your wants, and best of all in this simple, wholesome,
+well-cooked food.'
+
+Here the arrival of a glorified beefsteak and a shining pint-pot of
+foaming ale give an appropriate finish to Livy's lecture. She fell upon
+her lunch like a famished woman, and was speechless till much meat had
+vanished, and the ale was low in the pot.
+
+'It _is_ good,' admitted Amanda, who took to her beer like a born
+Englishwoman, and swallowed some of her prejudices with her delicious
+beef.
+
+'It's such a comfort to know that I am not eating a calf's brains or a
+pig's feet, that I can enjoy it with a free mind, and the sight of
+those two beautiful old gentlemen gives it an added relish,' said
+Matilda, who had been watching a pair of hale old fellows eat their
+lunch in a solid, leisurely way that would have been impossible to an
+American.
+
+'It is so restful to see people take things calmly, and not bolt their
+meals, or rush about like runaway steam-engines. It is this moderation
+that keeps Englishmen so hearty, jolly, and long-lived. They don't tear
+themselves to pieces as we do, but take time for rest, exercise, food,
+and recreation, like sensible people as they are. It is like reposing on
+a feather-bed to live here, and my tired nerves rejoice in it,' said
+Lavinia, eating bread and cheese as if that was her mission in life.
+
+'A slight amount of haste will be advisable, my Granny, unless we intend
+to spend all our substance on these restful comforts of yours. This
+hotel is delightfully cosy, but expensive; so the quicker we go into
+lodgings the better for us,' suggested the thrifty Amanda, seeing that
+Livy was too infatuated to care for cost.
+
+'I'll go the first thing to-morrow and look at the rooms Mrs. Blank
+recommended to us. This afternoon we will rest and write letters, unless
+some one comes to call,' said Livy, leading her girls to the
+reading-room, where sleep-inviting chairs, tables supplied with
+writing-materials, and groves of newspapers, wooed the stranger to
+repose.
+
+Hardly were they seated, however, than Jeames brought in the card of a
+friend who had been told when they would arrive, and hastened at once to
+meet them. How pleasant is the first familiar face one sees in a strange
+land! Doubly pleasant was Mr. C.'s, because he brought hospitable
+invitations from other friends, kind welcomes, and tickets to several of
+the art exhibitions then open.
+
+Hardly had he gone, after a half-hour's chat, than another card was
+handed, and the name it bore caused a slight flutter in the dove-cot. A
+friend of Miss Livy's, in Boston, had sent orders to his brother in
+London to devote himself to the wandering ladies when they came. They
+had never met; the poor man didn't care to have his quiet invaded by
+strange women, and to do the honours of London is no small task: yet
+this heroic gentleman obeyed orders without a murmur; and, leaving his
+artistic seclusion, shouldered his burden with the silent courage of a
+Spartan.
+
+A grave, dark, little man, with fine eyes, quiet manners, and a
+straight-forward way with him that suited blunt Livy excellently. How
+he dared to face the three unknown women so calmly, listen to their
+impossible suggestions so politely, and offer himself as a slave so
+cheerfully, will for ever remain a mystery to those grateful souls.
+
+His first service was to pack them into a cab and bear them safely to
+the bankers for letters and money; and this he followed up by several
+weeks of servitude, which must have been worse than Egyptian bondage.
+
+Two more large ladies joined the party after they were settled in
+lodgings at Kensington; but, undaunted by the fact, this long-suffering
+man escorted the whole five to galleries and theatres, trips into the
+city, and picnics in the country; went shopping with them, lugged
+parcels, ran errands, paid bills, and was in fact the sheet-anchor of
+the whole party. Imagine the emotions of one shy man when called upon
+to lead a flock of somewhat imposing ladies everywhere; to have two cabs
+full on all occasions; to be obliged to support the invalids to follow
+the caprices of the giddy, to gratify the demands of the curious, and to
+hear the gabble of the whole five day after day.
+
+Bürger's Brave Man was a coward compared to him; for he not only gave
+his days, but his evenings also, joining in endless games of whist,
+drinking much weak tea, and listening to any amount of twaddle on all
+subjects.
+
+The society was not such as intelligent men enjoy, being composed of two
+Egyptian boys and three fussy old ladies. One of them was immensely
+stout, wore a bright green cap, with half-a-pint of scarlet cherries
+bobbing on her brow. She talked on all subjects, and handed round an
+album full of her own poems on all occasions. The second must have been
+a sister of 'Mr. T.'s Aunt,' so grim and incoherent was she. Sitting in
+the corner, she stared at the world around her with an utterly
+expressionless countenance, and when least expected broke out with some
+startling remark, such as, 'If that fence had been painted green we
+should get to heaven sooner,' or 'Before I had fits my memory was as
+good as anybody's, but my daughter married a clergyman, and took it with
+her.'
+
+The third antiquity was the hostess, a buxom lady, much given to gay
+attire and reminiscences of past glory, 'Before me 'usband went into
+public life.' The strangers innocently supposed the departed Mr. K. to
+have been an M.P. at least, and were rather taken aback on learning that
+he had been a pawnbroker.
+
+The Egyptian youths were handsome, dark lads, with melodious voices,
+lustrous eyes, and such fiery tempers that one never knew whether they
+were going to pass the bread or stab one with the carving-knife.
+
+As a slight mitigation of this slow society, the Russian from Pension
+Paradis appeared with his broadcloth more resplendent than ever. The
+ladies had seen him in Rome; but the fever scared him away, and he was
+now fleeing from another lodging-house, where the hostess evidently
+intended to marry him to her daughter, in the MacStinger fashion.
+
+In this varied circle did the devoted being afore-mentioned pass many
+hours after the day's hard labour was happily over, and when anyone
+pitied him for leading the life of a galley-slave, he hid his anguish
+and answered with a smile,--
+
+'My brother told me to do it, and I never disobey Tom. In fact, I find I
+rather like it.'
+
+That last fib was truly sublime, and the name of Cassabianca pales
+before that of one who obeyed fraternal commands to the letter, and
+tried to love his duty, heavy as it was. If, as has been sometimes
+predicted, England had gone under just then, it might truly have been
+said,--
+
+
+     Though prince and peer and poet rare
+       Were sunk among the piles,
+     The noblest man who perished there
+       Was faithful W. N----s.
+
+
+The sight-seeing fever raged fiercely at first, and the flock of
+Americans went from Windsor Castle to the Tower of London, from
+Westminster Abbey to Madame Taussaud's Waxwork Show, with a vigour that
+appalled the natives. They would visit two or three galleries in the
+morning, lunch at Dolly's (the dark little chop-house which Johnson,
+Goldsmith, and the other worthies used to frequent in the good old
+times), go to Richmond in the afternoon and dine at the 'Star and
+Garter,' or to Greenwich and eat 'white baits fish,' as the Russian
+called that celebrated dish, and finish off the evening at some theatre,
+getting home at midnight, in a procession of two cabs and a hansom.
+
+When the first excitement was over, Lavinia and Matilda took a turn at
+society, having friends in London. Amanda could not conquer her
+prejudices sufficiently to accompany them, and, falling back on the
+climate as her excuse, stayed at home and improved her mind.
+
+'I feel now like girls in novels. You are the Duchess of Devonshire and
+I am Lady Maud Plantagenet, going to a ball at Buckingham Palace. I know
+that I was made to sit in the lap of luxury: it agrees with me so well,'
+said Matilda, as the two rolled away to Aubrey House in a brougham, all
+lamps, glass, and satin. Her long blue train lay piled up before her,
+the light flashed on her best Roman ear-rings, her curls were in their
+most picturesque array, and--crowning joy of all--cream-coloured gloves,
+with six buttons, covered her arms, and filled her soul with happiness,
+because they were so elegant and cost so little, being bought in Rome
+just after the flood.
+
+Dowager Livy responded gravely from the depths of her silver-grey silk,
+enlivened with pink azaleas,--
+
+'My child, thank your stars that you are a free-born Yankee, and have no
+great name or state to keep up. Buckingham Palace is all very well, and
+I shouldn't mind calling on Mrs. Guelph, or Saxe Coburg, whichever it
+is, but I much prefer to be going to the house of a Radical M.P., who is
+lending a hand to all good works. Mrs. T. is a far more interesting
+woman to me than Victoria, for her life is spent in helping her
+fellow-creatures. I consider her a model Englishwoman--simple, sincere,
+and accomplished; full of good sense, intelligence, and energy. Her
+house is open to all, friend and stranger, black and white, rich and
+poor. Great men and earnest women meet there; Mazzini and Frances Power
+Cobbe, John Bright and Jean Ingelow, Rossetti the poet, and Elizabeth
+Garrett the brave little doctor. Though wealthy and living in an
+historical mansion, the host is the most unassuming man in it, and the
+hostess the simplest dressed lady. Their money goes in other ways, and
+the chief ornament of that lovely spot is a school, where poor girls may
+get an education. Mrs. T. gave a piece of her own garden for it, and
+teaches there herself, aided by her friends, who serve the poor girls
+like mothers and sisters, and help to lift them up from the slough of
+despond in which so many sink. That beats anything you'll find in
+Buckingham Palace, sister Mat.'
+
+'If they want a drawing-teacher I'll offer myself, for I think that is
+regularly splendid,' said Matilda warmly, as Livy paused for breath
+after her harangue.
+
+With these new ideas in her head, Lady Maud enjoyed her party, while the
+Duchess revelled in radicals to her heart's content; for Aubrey House
+was their head-quarters, and all were out in full force. It was cheering
+to our spinster to find that things had moved a good deal since a former
+visit, five or six years before, when Mill had carried into the House of
+Commons a Woman's Rights petition that filled both arms. People laughed
+then, and the stout-hearted women laughed also, but said, 'Our next
+petition shall be so big it will have to go in a wheel-barrow.' Now the
+same people talked over the question soberly, and began to think
+something besides fun might come of it. The pioneers rejoiced over
+several hard-won battles, and the scoffers came to see that the truest
+glory was won by those who did the hard work, and stood by a good cause
+when most unpopular; not by those who kept out of the field till the
+fight was over, and then came in to wave the flags and beat the drums
+over victories they had not helped to win.
+
+'It seems to me that these Englishwomen make less noise and do more work
+than we Americans. I shouldn't dare to say so in public; but their
+quiet, orderly ways suits me better than the more demonstrative
+performances of my friends at home. Slow coaches as we call them, I
+should not be surprised if they got the suffrage before we did, as the
+tortoise won in the fable,' was Lavinia's secret thought as they drove
+away, after a very charming evening.
+
+Perhaps the fact that reforms of all sorts had been poured into her ears
+till her head was like a hive of bees, may account for this unpatriotic
+thought. Or it may be the pleasant effect of the healthful aspect of
+these English workers. Old or young, all seemed to have cheerful,
+well-balanced minds, in strong, healthy bodies. No one complained of her
+nerves, or let them unconsciously put a sharp edge to her tongue, give a
+blue tinge to the world, or sour the milk of human kindness in her
+heart. Less quick and bright, perhaps, than the ladies over the sea, but
+more womanly, and full of a quiet tenacity of purpose better than
+eloquence.
+
+Miss Livy's tastes being of a peculiar sort, and pictures having palled
+upon her to such a degree that she couldn't even look at an ornamental
+sign-board without disgust, she often left her more artistic friends and
+went forth on excursions of her own. As she never used either map or
+guide book, it was a wonder how she found her way; and the infants were
+often on the point of sending for the city crier, if there is such a
+functionary, to find the lost duenna. But old Livy always turned up at
+last, mud to the eyes, tired out, and more deeply impressed than ever
+with the charms of London.
+
+One day she set forth to hear Spurgeon. Being told that Lambeth was a
+wretched quarter of the city, that the Tabernacle was two or three miles
+away, and very difficult to enter when found, only added zest to the
+thing, and she departed, sure of finding adventures, if not Spurgeon.
+
+If an omnibus conductor had not befriended her, she would probably have
+found herself at Hampstead or Chelsea, for London busses are as
+bewildering as London streets. Thanks to this amiable man, who evidently
+felt that the stranger in his gates needed all his care, the old lady
+safely reached the Elephant and Castle, and was dismissed with a moss
+rose-bud from the lips of her friend, a reassuring pat on the shoulder,
+and a paternal ''Ere yer are, my dear,' which unexpected attentions
+caused her to depart with speed.
+
+There certainly was need of a Tabernacle in that quarter, for the
+poverty and wickedness were very dreadful. Boys not yet in their teens
+staggered by half-tipsy, or lounged at the doors of gin-shops.
+Bonnetless girls roamed about singing and squabbling. Forlorn babies
+played in the gutter, and men and women in every stage of raggedness
+and degradation marred the beauty of that fair Sunday morning.
+
+Crowds were swarming into the Tabernacle: but, thanks to the order a
+friend had given her, Miss Livy was handed to a comfortable seat, with a
+haggard Magdalen on one side and a palsy-stricken old man on the other.
+Staring about her, she saw an immense building with two galleries
+extending round three sides, and a double sort of platform behind and
+below the pulpit, which was a little pen lifted high that all might see
+and hear.
+
+Every seat, aisle, window-ledge, step, and door-way, was packed with a
+strange congregation; all nations, all colours, all ages, and nearly all
+bearing the sad marks of poverty or sin. They all sung, cried out if
+anything affected or pleased them in the sermon, and listened with
+interest to the plain yet fervent words of the man who has gathered
+together this flock of black sheep and is so faithful a shepherd to
+them.
+
+Every one knows how Spurgeon looks in pictures, but in the pulpit he
+reminded Livy of Martin Luther. A square, florid face, stout figure, a
+fine keen eye, and a natural, decided manner, very impressive. A strong,
+clear voice of much dramatic power, and a way of walking the pulpit like
+Father Taylor.
+
+His sermon was on 'Small Temptations,' and he illustrated it by facts
+and examples taken from real life, pointing out several of his
+congregation, and calling them by name, which original proceeding seemed
+to find favour with his people. He used no notes, but talked rather than
+preached; and leaning over the railing, urged, argued, prayed, and sang
+with a hearty eloquence, very effective, and decidedly refreshing after
+High Church mummery abroad, and drowsy Unitarianism at home. Now and
+then he stopped to give directions for the comfort of his flock in a
+free and easy manner, which called up irresistible smiles on the faces
+of strangers.
+
+'Mrs. Flacker, you'd better take that child into the ante-room: he's
+tired.' 'Come this way, friends: there's plenty of room.' 'Open all the
+windows, Manning: it's very warm.' And when a sad sort of cry
+interrupted him, he looked down at an old woman shaking with epilepsy,
+and mildly remarked, 'Don't be troubled, brethren: our sister is subject
+to fits,' and preached tranquilly on.
+
+For two hours he held that great gathering, in spite of heat,
+discomfort, and other afflictions of the flesh, and ended by saying, in
+a paternal way,--
+
+'Now remember what I've said through the week, and next Sunday show me
+that I haven't talked in vain.'
+
+He read a list of meetings for every night in the week. One especially
+struck Livy, as it was for mothers to meet and talk over with him the
+best ways of teaching and training their children. Spurgeon evidently
+does not spare his own time and strength; and whatever his creed may be,
+he is a good Christian in loving his neighbour _better_ than himself,
+and doing the work his hand finds to do with all his might.
+
+'That is a better church than most of those I enter where respectable
+saints have the best seats, and there is no place for sinners,' said
+Livy when she got home. 'Spurgeon's congregation preached more
+eloquently to me than he did. The Magdalen cried as if her heart was
+broken, and I am sure those tears washed some of her sins away. The
+feeble old man looked as if he had found a staff for his trembling hands
+to lay hold upon, and the forlorn souls all about me, for a time at
+least, laid down their burdens and found rest and comfort in their
+Father's house. It did me more good than the preaching of all the
+bishops in London, or the finest pageant at St. Paul's; and I am truly
+glad I went, though the saucy conductor did smirk at me over the
+rosebud.'
+
+In contrast to this serious expedition, the old lady had a very jolly
+one not long afterward. A certain congenial Professor asked her one day
+what person, place, or thing in London she most desired to see.
+
+Clasping her hands with the energy of deep emotion, she replied,--
+
+'The home of the immortal Sairy Gamp. Long ago I made a vow, if I ever
+came to London I'd visit that spot. Let me keep my vow.'
+
+'You shall!' responded the Professor with a responsive ardour, which
+caused Livy to dive into her waterproof without another word.
+
+Away they went in a pouring rain, and what people thought of the damp
+but enthusiastic couple who pervaded the city that day I can't say; I
+only know a merrier pair of pilgrims never visited those grimy shrines.
+They met several old friends, and passed several familiar spots by the
+way. Major Bagstock and Cousin Phenix stared at them from a club-house
+window. Tigg Montague's cab dashed by them in Regent Street, more
+gorgeous than ever. The brothers Cheeryble went trotting cityward arm in
+arm, with a smile and ha'penny for all the beggars they met; and the
+Micawber family passed them in a bus, going, I suppose, to accompany
+the blighted Wilkins to gaol.
+
+In a certain grimly genteel street they paused to stare up at a row of
+grimly respectable houses; for, though the name wasn't on any of the
+doors, they were sure Mr. Dombey still lived there. A rough dog lay on
+one of the doorsteps, and a curtain fluttered at an open upper window.
+Poor Di was growling in his sleep, and above there little Paul was
+watching for the golden water on the wall, while faithful Florence sung
+to him, and Susan Nipper put away derisive sniffs and winks in closets
+and behind doors for the benefit of 'them Pipchinses.'
+
+Coming to a poorer part of the city, they met Tiny Tim tapping along on
+his little crutch, passed Toby Veck at a windy street-corner, and saw
+all the little Tetterbys playing in the mud.
+
+'Come down this street, and take a glimpse at St. Giles's, the worst
+part of London,' said the Professor; and, following, Livy saw misery
+enough in five minutes to make her heart ache for the day. A policeman
+kept near them, saying it wasn't safe to go far there alone.
+
+Vice, poverty, dirt, and suffering reigned supreme within a stone's
+throw of one of the great thoroughfares, and made Alsatia dangerous
+ground for respectable feet. Here, too, they saw familiar phantoms: poor
+Jo, perpetually moving on; and little Oliver led by Nancy, with a shawl
+over her head and a black eye; Bill Sykes, lounging in a doorway,
+looking more ruffianly than ever; and the Artful Dodger, who kept his
+eye on them as two hopeful 'plants' with profitable pockets ready for
+him.
+
+They soon had enough of this, and hurried on along High Holborn, till
+they came to Kingsgate Street, so like the description that I am sure
+Dickens must have been there and taken notes. They knew the house in a
+moment: there were the two dingy windows over the bird-shop; the checked
+curtains were drawn, but of course the bottomless bandboxes, the wooden
+pippins, green umbrella, and portrait of Miss Harris were all behind
+them. It seemed so real that they quite expected to see a red, snuffy
+old face appear, and to hear a drowsy voice exclaim: 'Drat that bell:
+I'm a coming. Don't tell me it's Mrs. Wilkins, without even a pincushion
+prepared.'
+
+While Livy stood gazing in silent satisfaction (merely regretting that
+the name on the door was Pendergast, not Sweedle-pipes), the Professor
+turned to a woman, and asked with admirable gravity, 'Can you tell me
+where Mrs. Gamp lives?'
+
+'What's her business?' demanded the matron, with interest.
+
+'A nurse, ma'am.'
+
+'Is she a little fat woman?'
+
+'Fat, decidedly, and old,' returned the Professor, without a smile on
+his somewhat cherubic countenance.
+
+'Well, she lives No. 5, round the corner.'
+
+On receiving this unexpected reply, they looked at one another in comic
+dismay; but would certainly have gone to No. 5, and taken a look at the
+modern Sairy, if the woman hadn't called out as they moved on--
+
+'I b'lieve that nuss's name is Britiain, not Gamp; but you can ask.'
+
+Murmuring a hasty 'thank you,' they fled precipitately round the corner,
+and there enjoyed a glorious laugh under an umbrella, to the great
+amazement of all beholders.
+
+Being on a Dickens pilgrimage, they went to Furnival's Inn, where he
+wrote 'Pickwick' in a three-story room, and read it to the old porter.
+The same old porter told them all about it, and quite revelled in the
+remembrance. It did one's heart good to see the stiff, dried-up old
+fellow thaw and glow with the recollection of the handsome young man who
+was kind to him long ago, before the world had found him out.
+
+'Did you think the book would be famous when he read it to you in 1834,
+as you say?' asked the Professor, beaming at him in a way that would
+have melted the heart of the stiff-tailed lion of the Northumberlands,
+if he'd possessed such an organ.
+
+'O dear, yes, sir; I felt sure it would be summat good, it made me laugh
+so. _He_ didn't think much of it; but I know a good thing when I see
+it;' and the old man gave an important nod, as if all the credit of the
+blessed 'Pickwick' belonged to him. 'He married Miss Hogarth while
+livin' here; and you can see the room, if you like,' he added, with a
+burst of hospitality, as the almighty sixpence touched his palm.
+
+Up they went, over the worn stairs; and, finding the door locked,
+solemnly touched the brass knob, read the name 'Ed Peck' on the plate,
+and wiped their feet on a very dirty mat. It was ridiculous, of course;
+but hero-worship is not the worst of modern follies, and when one's hero
+has won from the world some of its heartiest smiles and tears, one may
+be forgiven for a little sentiment in a dark entry.
+
+Next they went to the Saracen's Head, where Mr. Squeers stopped when in
+London. The odd old place looked as if it hadn't changed a particle.
+There was the wooden gallery outside, where the chamber-maids stood to
+see the coach off; the archway under which poor Nicholas drove that cold
+morning; the office, or bar, where the miserable little boys shivered
+while they took alternate sips out of one mug, and bolted hunches of
+bread and butter as Squeers 'nagged' them in private and talked to them
+like a father in public. Livy was tempted to bring away a little
+porter-pot hanging outside the door, as a trophy; but fearing Squeers's
+squint eye was upon her, she refrained, and took a muddy pebble instead.
+
+They took a peep at the Temple and its garden. The fountain was not
+playing, but it looked very pleasant, nevertheless; and as they stood
+there the sun came out, as if anxious that they should see it at its
+best. It was all very well to know that Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'
+was played in Middle Temple Hall, that the York and Lancaster roses grew
+here, that Dr. Johnson lived No. 1 Inner Temple Lane, and that Goldsmith
+died No. 2 Brick Court, Middle Temple; these actual events and people
+seemed far less real than the scenes between Pendennis and Fanny, John
+Westlock and little Ruth Pinch. For their sakes Livy went to see the
+place; and for their sakes she still remembers that green spot in the
+heart of London, with the June sunshine falling on it as it fell that
+day.
+
+The pilgrimage ended with a breathless climb up the Monument, whence
+they got a fine view of London, and better still of Todgerses. Livy
+found the house by instinct; and saw Cherry Pecksniff, now a sharp-nosed
+old woman, sitting at the back window. A gaunt, anxious-looking lady, in
+a massive bonnet, crossed the yard, with a basket in her hand; and the
+Professor said at once, 'That's Mrs. Todgers, and the amount of gravy
+single gentlemen eat is still weighing heavy on her mind.' As if to
+make the thing quite perfect, they discovered fitful glimpses of a
+tousled-looking boy, cleaning knives or boots, in a cellar-kitchen; and
+all the lawyers in London couldn't have argued them out of their firm
+belief that it was young Bailey, undergoing his daily torment in company
+with the black beetles and the mouldy bottles.
+
+That nothing might be wanting to finish off the rainy-day ramble in an
+appropriate manner, when Livy's companion asked what she'd have for
+lunch, she boldly replied,--
+
+'Weal pie and a pot of porter.'
+
+As she was not fond of either, it was a sure proof of the sincerity of
+her regard for the persons who have made them immortal. They went into
+an eating-house, and ordered the lunch, finding themselves objects of
+interest to the other guests. But, though a walking doormat in point of
+mud, and somewhat flushed and excited by the hustling, climbing, and
+adoring, it is certain there wasn't a happier spinster in this 'Piljin
+Projess of a wale,' than the one who partook of 'weal pie' in memory of
+Sam Weller, and drank 'a modest quencher' to the health of Dick
+Swiveller at the end of that delightful Dickens day.
+
+Much might be written about the domestic pleasures of English people,
+but as the compiler of this interesting work believes in the sacredness
+of private life, and has a holy horror of the dreadful people who
+outrage hospitality by basely reporting all they have seen and heard,
+she will practise what she preaches, and firmly resist the temptation to
+describe the delights of country strolls with poets, cosey five-o'clock
+teas in famous drawing-rooms, and interviews with persons whose names
+are household words.
+
+This virtuous reticence leaves the best untold, and brings the story of
+two of our travellers to a speedy end. Matilda decided to remain and
+study art, spending her days copying Turner at the National Gallery, and
+her evenings in the society of the eight agreeable gentlemen who adorned
+the house where she abode.
+
+Amanda hurried home with friends to enjoy a festive summer among the
+verdant plains of Cape Cod. With deep regret did her mates bid her
+adieu, and nothing but the certainty of soon embracing her again would
+have reconciled Livy to the parting; for in Amanda she had found that
+rare and precious treasure, a friend.
+
+'Addio, my beloved Granny; take care of your dear bones and come home
+soon,' said Amanda, in the little back entry, while her luggage was
+being precipitated downstairs.
+
+'Heaven bless and keep you safe, my own Possum. I shall not stay long
+because I can't possibly get on without you,' moaned Livy, clinging to
+the departing treasure as Diogenes might have clung to his honest man,
+if he ever found him; for, with better luck than the old philosopher,
+Livy had searched long years for a friend to her mind, and got one at
+last.
+
+'Don't be sentimental, girls' said Matilda, with tears in her eyes, as
+she hugged her Mandy, and bore her to the cab.
+
+'Rome and Raphael for ever!' cried Amanda, as a cheerful parting salute.
+
+'London and Turner!' shouted Matilda with her answering war-cry.
+
+'Boston and Emerson!' sobbed Lavinia, true to her idols even in the
+deepest woe.
+
+Then three damp pocket-handkerchiefs waved wildly till the dingy cab
+with the dear Egyptian nose at the window, and the little bath-pan
+clattering frantically up aloft, vanished round the corner, leaving a
+void behind that all Europe could not fill.
+
+A few weeks later Livy followed, leaving Mat to enjoy the liberty with
+which American girls may be trusted when they have a purpose or a
+profession to keep them steady. And so ended the travels of the trio,
+travels which had filled a year with valuable experiences, memorable
+days, and that culture which a larger knowledge of the world, our
+fellow-men, and ourselves gives to the fortunate souls to whom this
+pleasure is permitted.
+
+One point was satisfactorily proved by the successful issue of this
+partnership; for, in spite of many prophecies to the contrary, three
+women, utterly unlike in every respect, had lived happily together for
+twelve long months, had travelled unprotected safely over land and sea,
+had experienced two revolutions, an earthquake, an eclipse, and a flood,
+yet met with no loss, no mishap, no quarrel, and no disappointment worth
+mentioning.
+
+With this triumphant statement as a moral to our tale, we would
+respectfully advise all timid sisters now lingering doubtfully on the
+shore, to strap up their bundles in light marching order, and push
+boldly off. They will need no protector but their own courage, no guide
+but their own good sense and Yankee wit, and no interpreter, if that
+woman's best gift, the tongue, has a little French polish on it.
+
+Dear Amandas, Matildas, and Lavinias, why delay? Wait on no man, but
+take your little store and invest it in something far better than Paris
+finery, Geneva jewellery, or Roman relics. Bring home empty trunks, if
+you will, but heads full of new and larger ideas, hearts richer in the
+sympathy that makes the whole world kin, hands readier to help on the
+great work God gives humanity, and souls elevated by the wonders of art
+and the diviner miracles of Nature.
+
+Leave _ennui_ and discontent, frivolity and feebleness, among the ruins
+of the Old World, and bring home to the New the grace, the culture, and
+the health which will make American women what now they just fail of
+being, the bravest, brightest, happiest, and handsomest women in the
+world.
+
+
+PRINTED BY
+SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
+LONDON
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
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+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Shawl-Straps
+       A Second Series of Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag
+
+Author: Louisa M. Alcott
+
+Release Date: July 9, 2007 [EBook #22022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAWL-STRAPS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>SHAWL-STRAPS.</h1>
+
+<h3>A Second Series</h3>
+
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag</span>.</h2>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>LOUISA M. ALCOTT,</h2>
+
+<h4>AUTHOR OF<br />'LITTLE WOMEN,' 'AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,' 'LITTLE MEN,'<br />'HOSPITAL SKETCHES.'</h4>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>LONDON:<br />SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON &amp; COMPANY<br />
+<i>LIMITED</i>,<br />St. Dunstan's House,<br />FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.<br />1895.</h3>
+
+<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><i>LOW'S STANDARD SERIES OF BOOKS BY POPULAR WRITERS.</i></h3>
+
+<p class="center">Small crown 8vo. cloth gilt, 2<i>s.</i>; gilt edges, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> each</p>
+
+<table border='0' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='5' summary='books by popular writers'>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 1.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; Little Men.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 2.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Whitney</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; Hitherto.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 3.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Samuels.</span> &nbsp; Forecastle to Cabin. Illustrated.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 4.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Robinson, P.</span> &nbsp; In my Indian Garden.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 5.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; Little Women and Little Women Wedded.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 6.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Whitney</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; We Girls.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 7.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; The other Girls: a Sequel.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 8.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alden, W. L.</span> &nbsp; Jimmy Brown.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td> &nbsp; 9.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; Under the Lilacs. Illustrated.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>10.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Jimmy's Cruise.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>11.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Robinson, Phil.</span> &nbsp; Under the Punkah.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>12.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; An Old-Fashioned Girl.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>13.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; A Rose in Bloom.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>14.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Eight Cousins. Illustrated.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>15.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Jack and Jill.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>16.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Lulu's Library. Illustrated.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>17.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Silver Pitchers.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>18.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Work and Beginning Again.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>19.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Whitney</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; Leslie Goldthwaite.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>20.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Faith Gartney's Girlhood.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>21.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Real Folks.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>22.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Stowe</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; Dred.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>23.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; My Wife and I.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>24.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">De Witt</span>, Madame. &nbsp; An Only Sister.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>25.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>26.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; Shawl Straps.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>27.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Stowe</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; Ghost in the Mill.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>28.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Bunyan, John.</span> &nbsp; Pilgrim's Progress (Extra volume), gilt, 2<i>s.</i></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>29.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Stowe</span>. &nbsp; We and Our Neighbours.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>30.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Saintine.</span> &nbsp; Picciola.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>31.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Holm, Saxe.</span> &nbsp; Draxy Miller's Dowry.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>32.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Sandeau, Jules.</span> &nbsp; Seagull Rock.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>33.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Warner, C. D.</span> &nbsp; In the Wilderness.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>34.</td>
+    <td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; &nbsp; My Summer in a Garden.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>35.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott, L. M.</span> &nbsp; Spinning-wheel Stories.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>36.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alden, W. L.</span> &nbsp; Trying to find Europe.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>37.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Whitney</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; The Gayworthys.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>38.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Tooley</span>, Mrs. &nbsp; Life of Mrs. Stowe.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>39.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Roe, E. P.</span> &nbsp; Nature's Serial Story.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>40.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Alcott.</span> &nbsp; Recollections.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>41.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Stowe, H. B.</span> &nbsp; Minister's Wooing.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><sup>*</sup>*<sup>*</sup> A New Illustrated List of Books for Boys and Girls,
+with Portraits of Celebrated Authors, sent post free on application.</p>
+
+<hr class="smler" />
+
+<p class="center">London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON &amp; COMPANY, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span>,<br />
+St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p>There is a sort of fate about writing books of travel which it is
+impossible to escape. It is vain to declare that no inducement will
+bribe one to do it, that there is nothing new to tell, and that nobody
+wants to read the worn-out story: sooner or later the deed is done, and
+not till the book is safely shelved does peace descend upon the victim
+of this mysterious doom.</p>
+
+<p>The only way in which this affliction may be lightened to a
+long-suffering public is to make the work as cheerful and as short as
+possible. With this hope the undersigned bore has abstained from giving
+the dimensions of any church, the population of any city, or description
+of famous places, as far as in her lay; but confined herself to the
+personal haps and mishaps, adventures and experiences, of her wanderers.</p>
+
+<p>To explain the undue prominence given to Miss Lavinia, it should be
+stated that she is an old and intimate friend of the compiler of this
+frivolous work; and therefore her views on all subjects, though less
+valuable, were easier to obtain than those of the younger and more
+interesting shawl-strappists.</p>
+
+<p class="right">L. M. A.</p>
+
+<p><i>November 1872.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="index">
+<ul>
+<li><span class="mono"><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#I">I.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Off</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#II">II.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Brittany</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#III">III.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">France</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#IV">IV.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Switzerland</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#V">V.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Italy</span></li>
+<li><span class="mono">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#VI">VI.</a></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">London</span></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>SHAWL-STRAPS.</h1>
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>OFF.</i></h3>
+
+<p>'On the first day of February we three will sail from Boston for
+Messina, in the little fruit-ship "Wasp." We shall probably be a month
+going, unless we cross in a gale as I did, splitting sails every night,
+and standing on our heads most of the way,' said Amanda, folding up her
+maps with an air of calm decision.</p>
+
+<p>'Hurrah! what fun!' cried Matilda, waving a half-finished dressing-case
+over her head.</p>
+
+<p>But Lavinia, with one sepulchral groan, fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> flat upon her bed, and lay
+there, dumb with the horrors of such a voyage.</p>
+
+<p>'Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think of the balmy airs of
+Sicily, the oranges, the flowers. Then a delicious month or two at
+Sorrento, with no east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be
+as merry as grigs, and get as buxom as dairy-maids in a month,' said the
+sprightly Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'You promised to go, and if you back out we are lost, for we <i>must</i> have
+a duenna. You can lie round in Europe just as well as here, and I have
+no doubt it will do you a world of good,' added Matilda.</p>
+
+<p>'I shall keep my word; but you will bury me in the Atlantic, so make up
+your minds to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used-up old invalid,
+who can't look at a sail-boat without a qualm, can survive thirty days
+of standing on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> my head, and thirty nights of sail-splitting, as we go
+slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans?' demanded
+Lavinia, with the energy of despair.</p>
+
+<p>Before anyone could reply, Amanda's little Mercury appeared with a note.</p>
+
+<p>'The "Wasp" will <i>not</i> take passengers, and no other fruit-ship sails
+this spring,' read Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh dear!' sighed Matilda.</p>
+
+<p>'Saved!' cried Lavinia.</p>
+
+<p>'Be calm: we shall go, sooner or later, if I buy a ship and sail her
+myself;' with which indomitable remark Amanda went forth to grapple with
+and conquer untoward circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>A month of plans, vicissitudes, and suspense followed, during which
+Amanda strove manfully; Matilda suffered agonies of hope and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> fear; and
+Lavinia remained a passive shuttlecock, waiting to be tossed wherever
+Fate's battledore chose to send her.</p>
+
+<p>'Exactly two weeks from to-day, we sail with a party of friends in the
+French steamer "Lafayette," from New York for Brest. Will you be ready?'
+demanded Amanda, after a protracted wrestle with aforesaid adverse
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>'But that is exactly what we didn't mean to do. It's expensive and
+fashionable; France and not Italy, north and not south.'</p>
+
+<p>'That's because I'm in the party. If you take a Jonah nothing will go
+well. Leave me behind, and you will have a charming trip,' said Lavinia,
+who had an oyster-like objection to being torn from her bed.</p>
+
+<p>'No matter, we are going, live or die, sink or swim; and I shall expect
+to meet you, all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> booted and spurred and fit for the fight, April
+first,' said the unwavering Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'A most appropriate day for three lone women to start off on a
+wild-goose chase after health and pleasure,' groaned Lavinia from among
+her pillows.</p>
+
+<p>'Very well, then; I leave you now, and shall expect to meet on the
+appointed day?'</p>
+
+<p>'If I'm spared,' answered the sufferer.</p>
+
+<p>'I'll bring her, never fear,' added the sanguine Mat, as she rattled the
+trays out of an immense trunk.</p>
+
+<p>How they ever did it no one knows; but in a week everything was ready,
+and the sisters had nothing left to do but to sit and receive the
+presents that showered upon them from all quarters. How kind everyone
+was, to be sure! Six fine dressing-cases arrived, and were hung upon the
+walls; four smelling-bottles&mdash;one for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> each nostril; bed-socks,
+rigolettes, afghans, lunch-baskets, pocket-flasks, guide-books,
+needle-cases, bouquets in stacks, and a great cake with their names on
+top in red and blue letters three inches long.</p>
+
+<p>Friendly fingers sewed for them; even the gentlemen of the house&mdash;and
+there were eight&mdash;had a 'bee,' and hemmed handkerchiefs for Mat, marked
+towels; and one noble being actually took off his coat and packed the
+trunks in layers of mosaic-work wonderful to behold. A supper celebrated
+the last evening; and even the doleful Lavinia, touched by such
+kindness, emerged from her slough of despond and electrified the ball by
+dancing a jig with great spirit and grace.</p>
+
+<p>Devoted beings were up at dawn to share the early breakfast, lug trunks,
+fly up and down with last messages, cheer heartily as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> carriage
+drove off, and then adjourn <i>en masse</i> to the station, there to shake
+hands all round once more, and wave and wring handkerchiefs as the train
+at last bore the jocund Mat and the resigned Lavinia toward the
+trysting-place and Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>All along the route more friends kept bursting into the cars as they
+stopped at different places; more gifts, more hand-shakes and kisses,
+more good wishes and kind prophecies, till at last in a chaos of smiles,
+tears, smelling-bottles, luncheon, cloaks, books, and foot-warmers, the
+travellers left the last friendly face behind and steamed away to New
+York.</p>
+
+<p>'How de-licious this is!' cried the untravelled Matilda, as they stepped
+upon the deck of the 'Lafayette,' and she sniffed the shippy fragrance
+that caused Lavinia to gasp and answer darkly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>'Wait till to-morrow.'</p>
+
+<p>While Mat surveyed the steamer under the care of Devoted Being No. 10,
+who appeared to see them off, Lavinia arranged the stateroom, stowing
+away all useless gear and laying forth dressing-gowns, slippers,
+pocket-handkerchiefs, with an anguished smile. <i>She</i> had crossed the
+ocean twice, and was a wiser, sadder woman for it. At eight she turned
+in, and ten minutes later Amanda came aboard with a flock of gay
+friends. But no temptations of the flesh could lure the wary spinster
+from her den; for the night was rough and cold, and the steamer a Babel
+of confusion.</p>
+
+<p>'It's perfectly delightful! I wish you'd been there, Livy. We had
+supper, and songs, and funny stories, and all sorts of larks. There are
+quantities of nice people aboard, and we shall have a perfectly splendid
+trip. I shall be up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> bright and early, put on my scarlet stockings, my
+new boots, and pretty sea-suit, and go in for a jolly day,' said the
+ardent Matilda, as she came skipping down at midnight and fell asleep
+full of rosy visions of the joys of a</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>Life on the ocean wave.</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>'Deluded child!' sighed Lavinia, closing her dizzy eyes upon the swaying
+garments on the wall, and feebly wishing she had hung herself along with
+them.</p>
+
+<p>In the gray dawn she was awakened by sounds of woe, and peering forth
+beheld the festive Matilda with one red stocking on and one off, her
+blonde locks wildly dishevelled, her face of a pale green, and her hands
+clasping lemons, cologne, and salts, as she lay with her brow upon the
+cool marble of the toilet-table.</p>
+
+<p>'How do you like it, dear?' asked the unfeeling Lavinia.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p><p>'Oh, what is it? I feel as if I was dying. If somebody would only stop
+the swing <i>one</i> minute. Is it sea-sickness? It's awful, but it will do
+me good. Oh, yes! I hope so. I've tried everything, and feel worse and
+worse. Hold me! save me! Oh, I wish I hadn't come!'</p>
+
+<p>'Shipmates ahoy! how are you, my loves?' and Amanda appeared, rosy,
+calm, and gay, with her pea-jacket on, skirts close reefed, hat well to
+windward, and everything taut and ship-shape; for she was a fine sailor,
+and never missed a meal.</p>
+
+<p>Wails greeted her, and faint inquiries as to the state of things in the
+upper world.</p>
+
+<p>'Blowing a gale; rain, hail, and snow,&mdash;very dirty weather; and we are
+flying off the coast in fine style,' was the cheerful reply.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>'Have we split any sails?' asked Lavinia, not daring to open her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>'Dozens, I dare say. Shipping seas every five minutes. All the
+passengers ill but me, and every prospect of a north-easter all the way
+over,' continued the lively Amanda, lurching briskly about the passage
+with her hands in her pockets.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda dropped her lemons and her bottles to wring her hands, and
+Lavinia softly murmured&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'Lord, what fools we mortals be,</div>
+<div>That we ever go to sea!'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>'Breakfast, ladies?' cried the pretty French stewardess, prancing in
+with tea-cups, bowls of gruel, and piles of toast balanced in some
+miraculous manner all over her arms.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, take it away! I shall never eat again,' moaned Matilda, clinging
+frantically to the marble, as the water-pitcher went down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> middle
+with a hair-brush, and all the boots and shoes had a grand promenade
+round the room.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't speak to me; don't look at me; don't even <i>think</i> of me for three
+days at least. Go and enjoy yourself, and leave us to our doom;' with
+which tragical remark Lavinia drew her curtains, and was seen no more.</p>
+
+<p>Great heavens, what a week that was! Rain, wind, fog; creak, pitch,
+toss; noise, smells, cold. Broken sleep by day, woe in every variety by
+night; food and drink a delusion and a snare; society an affliction;
+life a burden; death a far-off blessing not to be had at any price.
+Slowly, slowly the victims emerge from the lower depths of gloom, feebly
+smile, faintly joke, pick fearfully but wistfully at once-rejected
+dishes; talk about getting up, but don't do it; read a little, look at
+their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> sallow countenances in hand-glasses, and speculate upon the good
+effects of travel upon the constitution. Then they suddenly become
+daring, gay, and social; rise, adorn themselves, pervade the cabins,
+sniff the odours of engine and kitchen without qualms, play games, go to
+table; and, just as the voyage is over, begin to enjoy it.</p>
+
+<p>Alas for poor Lavinia! no such resurrection was possible for her. Long
+after Mat had bravely donned the scarlet hose, cocked up her beaver and
+gone forth to festive scenes, her shipmate remained below in chrysalis
+state, fed by faithful Marie, visited by the ever-cheerful Amanda, and
+enlivened by notes and messages from fellow-sufferers in far-off cells.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walmars, jun., called, and had private theatricals in
+the passage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> Dried-ginger parties were held about the invalid's berth,
+poems were composed, and conundrums circulated. A little newspaper was
+concocted, replete with wit and spirit, by these secluded ladies, and
+called the 'Sherald,' to distinguish it from the 'Herald,' got up by
+sundry gentlemen whose shining hours were devoted to flirtation, cards,
+and wine.</p>
+
+<p>'Perfect gentlemen, I assure you, my dear; for, drunk or sober, they
+wear yellow kids from morning till night, smoke the best cigars, and
+dance divinely,' as Mrs. Twaddle said, sitting erect in the saloon,
+shrouded in fur and velvet, with five diamond-rings well displayed, as
+she recounted the diseases she had enjoyed, and did the honours of a
+remarkable work-basket, containing eight different sorts of scissors.</p>
+
+<p>'We shall be in to-morrow, so you'd better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> be digging up the treasures
+you have buried, you old magpie,' said Mat, appearing to the pensive
+Livy on the eleventh day.</p>
+
+<p>'The sun is out; come on deck, and help us get up the last edition of
+our paper. How will this do? Query&mdash;If steamers are named the "Asia,"
+the "Russia," and the "Scotia," why not call one the "Nausea?"' added
+Amanda, popping her head into the den. Lavinia threw a pillow at her,
+but the undaunted joker continued&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Also this: Financial&mdash;This being a feminine paper, gold is no longer at
+Pa, but at Ma.'</p>
+
+<p>'Good! Add this: Argument in favour of the Superiority of Women&mdash;The
+sluggard was <i>not</i> told to go to his uncle.'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you,' and Amanda departed to twine with her forty-third bosom
+friend, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Lavinia disinterred, from holes and corners of her berth,
+money, nuts, and raisins; books, biscuits, and literary efforts much the
+worse for deluges of soap and daubs of butter.</p>
+
+<p>The cry of 'Land!' on the morrow caused passengers unseen before to
+appear like worms after a shower; all heroically did up their back hair,
+put on their best suits, and walked forth with the delusive hope that no
+one would know how ill they had been.</p>
+
+<p>A French Marquis, with a sickly little son, whose diet of fried potatoes
+and sour wine accounted for his having the temper of a young fiend,
+appeared, and were made much of by dear, title-loving Americans.</p>
+
+<p>A Spanish opera-singer, stout, saffron-coloured, and imperious, likewise
+emerged from obscurity, with a meek little husband, who waited on her
+like a servant, and a big bald parrot, who swore like a trooper.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p><p>Several nuns languished in corners of the saloon, surveying the
+vanities of life with interest, and telling their beads devoutly when
+they saw anyone looking at them.</p>
+
+<p>A mysterious lady in green velvet with many diamonds, and a shabby,
+speechless companion, sailed about the ship, regardless of the rumours
+told of her&mdash;deserted husbands, stolen jewellery, lovers waiting on the
+other side, and many equally pleasant little tales.</p>
+
+<p>The gentlemen with orange gloves and copper-coloured noses got
+themselves up in the most superb style, though few were going to land at
+Brest, and took tender farewells of such ladies as did, each professing
+desolation and despair at the termination of a twelve days' flirtation.</p>
+
+<p>'I am not fond of dirt, but I could kneel down and kiss this mud, so
+grateful am I to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> feel solid ground under my feet, after leading the
+life of a fly for so long,' said Lavinia with emotion, as the three
+trudged up the wharf at Brest into a sort of barn which served for a
+custom-house.</p>
+
+<p>'Now let each sit upon her luggage and clamour till some one comes and
+examines it, else it will get whisked away heaven only knows where,'
+ordered Amanda, who was the leader in right of her knowledge of tongues.</p>
+
+<p>Each perched accordingly on her one big trunk, and tried to 'clamour.'
+But nothing came of it save loss of time and temper, for no one paid the
+slightest heed to them; and it was maddening to see trunk after trunk
+passed and sent off, followed by its rejoicing owner. Especially hard to
+bear was the sight of the green-velvet sinner, who, with a smile or two,
+won the sternest official to pass her five trunks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> without turning a
+key, and sailed away with a scornful glance at the virtuous Three
+planted on their property and feebly beckoning for help.</p>
+
+<p>'I shall bear this no longer. Mat, sit there and guard the small things,
+while you and I, Livy, charge boldly among these imbeciles and drag them
+to their duty;' and Amanda marched away to clutch a cockaded victim by
+the shoulder with an awe-inspiring countenance.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia picked out a feeble, gray officer, and dogged him like an
+Indian, smiling affably, and pointing to her luggage with a persistent
+mildness that nearly drove the poor man mad.</p>
+
+<p>No matter where he went, or what he did; no matter how thick the crowd
+about him, or how loud the din; still, like a relentless ghost, that
+mild old lady was ever at his side,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> mutely pointing and affably
+smiling. Of course he gave in, lifted one tray, saw much flannel, nearly
+blew his venerable nose off sniffing at one suspicious bottle, and
+slamming down the lid, scrawled a mysterious cross, bowed and fled.</p>
+
+<p>Proudly returning to Amanda, the victorious one found her friend in a
+high state of indignation; for no officer there would touch her trunk
+because some American Express had put little leaden stamps here and
+there for some unknown purpose. Not even in her best French could the
+irate lady make the thick-headed men understand that it was not a high
+crime against the nation to undo a strap till some superior officer
+arrived to take the responsibility of so rash a step.</p>
+
+<p>If they had comprehended the dire threats, the personal remarks, and
+unmitigated scorn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> of those three fair travellers, the blue-coated
+imbeciles would have been reduced to submission. Fortunately the great
+man came in time to save them from utter rout; for the ladies were just
+trying to decide whether to go and leave the luggage to its fate, or to
+haul it forth and depart <i>vi et armis</i>, when a stout old party came,
+saw, said, 'It is nothing; pass the trunk; a thousand pardons, Madame,'
+and peace was restored.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the porters, who till then had stood back, eyeing the
+innocent, black ark, as if it was an infernal machine liable to explode
+at a touch, threw themselves upon it, bore it forth, and heaving it atop
+of an omnibus, returned to demand vast sums for having waited so long.</p>
+
+<p>Then was Amanda sublime; then did her comrades for the first time learn
+the magnitude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> of her powers, and realise the treasure they possessed.
+Stowing Matilda and the smaller traps in the bus, and saying to Lavinia,
+'Stand by me,' this dauntless maid faced one dozen blue-bloused,
+black-bearded, vociferous, demonstrative Frenchmen; and, calmly offering
+the proper sum, refused to add one sou more.</p>
+
+<p>Vainly the drivers perjured themselves in behalf of the porters; vainly
+the guard looked on, with imposing uniforms, and impertinent
+observations; vainly Mat cried imploringly, 'Pay anything, and let us
+get off before there is a mob'&mdash;still the indomitable Amanda held forth
+the honest franc; and, when no one would take it, laid it on the post,
+and entering the omnibus, drove calmly away.</p>
+
+<p>'What should we do without you?' sighed Lavinia, with fervent gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>'Be cheated right and left, and never know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> it, dear,' responded Amanda,
+preparing for another fight with the omnibus-driver.</p>
+
+<p>And she had it; for, unwarned by the fate of the porters, this
+short-sighted man insisted on carrying the ladies to a dirty little
+hotel to dine, though expressly ordered to go at once to the station.
+Nothing would induce them to alight, though the landlord came out in
+person and begged them to do so; and, after a protracted struggle and a
+drive all over the town, they finally reached the dep&ocirc;t.</p>
+
+<p>Here another demand for double fare was promptly quenched by an appeal
+to the <i>chef de station</i>, who, finding that Mademoiselle was wide awake,
+crushed the driver and saw justice done.</p>
+
+<p>Exhausted but triumphant, the three at length found themselves rolling
+slowly towards Morlaix through a green and blooming country, so unlike
+the New England they had left behind, that they rejoiced like
+butterflies in the sunshine.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>BRITTANY.</i></h3>
+
+<p>After a late dinner, at which their appetites were pretty effectually
+taken away by seeing dishes of snails passed round and eaten like nuts,
+with large pins to pick out the squirming meat; a night's rest somewhat
+disturbed by the incessant clatter of <i>sabots</i> in the market-place, and
+a breakfast rendered merry by being served by a <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> whom Dickens
+would have immortalised, our travellers went on to Caulnes-Dinan.</p>
+
+<p>Here began their adventures, properly speaking. They were obliged to
+drive fourteen miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> to Dinan in a ram-shackle carriage drawn by three
+fierce little horses, with their tails done up in braided chignons, and
+driven by a humpback. This elegant equipage was likewise occupied by a
+sleepy old priest, who smoked his pipe without stopping the whole way;
+also by a large, loquacious, beery man, who talked incessantly,
+informing the company that he was a friend of Victor Hugo, a child of
+nature aged sixty, and obliged to drink much ale because it went to his
+head and gave him commercial ideas.</p>
+
+<p>If it had given him no others it would have done well; but, after each
+draught, and he took many, this child of nature became so friendly that
+even the free and easy Americans were abashed. Matilda quailed before
+the languishing glances he gave her, and tied her head up like a bundle
+in a thick veil. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> scandalised Lavinia, informing him that she did
+not understand French, assumed the demeanour of a griffin, and glared
+stonily into space, when she was not dislocating her neck trying to see
+if the top-heavy luggage had not tumbled off behind.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Amanda was thus left a prey to the beery one; for, having at first
+courteously responded to his paternal remarks and expressed an interest
+in the state of France, she could not drop the conversation all at once,
+even when the friend of Victor Hugo became so disagreeable that it is to
+be hoped the poet has not many such. He recited poems, he sung songs, he
+made tender confidences, and finished by pressing the hand of
+Mademoiselle to his lips. On being told that such demonstrations were
+not permitted to strangers in America, he beat his breast and cried
+out,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> 'My God, so beautiful and so cold! You do not comprehend that I am
+but a child. Pardon, and smile again I conjure you.'</p>
+
+<p>But Mademoiselle would not smile; and, folding her hands in her cloak,
+appeared to slumber. Whereat the gray-headed infant groaned
+pathetically, cast his eyes heavenward, and drank more ale, muttering to
+himself, and shaking his head as if his emotions could not be entirely
+suppressed.</p>
+
+<p>These proceedings caused Lavinia to keep her eye on him, being prepared
+for any outbreak, from a bullet all round to proposals to both her
+charges at once.</p>
+
+<p>With this smouldering bomb-shell inside, and the firm conviction that
+one if not all the trunks were lying in the dust some miles behind, it
+may be inferred that duenna Livy did not enjoy that break-neck drive,
+lurching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> and bumping up hill and down, with nothing between them and
+destruction apparently but the little humpback, who drove recklessly.</p>
+
+<p>In this style they rattled up to the Porte de Brest, feeling that they
+had reached Dinan 'only by the grace of God,' as the beery man expressed
+it, when he bowed and vanished, still oppressed with the gloomy
+discovery that American women did not appreciate him.</p>
+
+<p>While Amanda made inquiries at an office, and Matilda had raptures over
+the massive archway crowned with yellow flowers, Lavinia was edified by
+a new example of woman's right to labour.</p>
+
+<p>Close by was a clean, rosy old woman, whose unusual occupation attracted
+our spinster's attention. Whisking off the wheels of a <i>diligence</i>, the
+old lady greased them one by one, and put them on again with the skill
+and speed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> of a regular blacksmith, and then began to pile many parcels
+into a <i>char</i> apparently waiting for them.</p>
+
+<p>She was a brisk, cheery old soul, with the colour of a winter-apple in
+her face, plenty of fire in her quick black eyes, and a mouthful of fine
+teeth, though she must have been sixty. She was dressed in the costume
+of the place: a linen cap with several sharp gables to it, a gay
+kerchief over her shoulders, a blue woollen gown short enough to display
+a pair of sturdy feet and legs in neat shoes with bunches of ribbons on
+the instep and black hose. A gray apron, with pockets and a bib,
+finished her off; making a very sensible as well as picturesque costume.</p>
+
+<p>She was still hard at it when a big boy appeared, and began to heave the
+trunks into another <i>char</i>; but gave out at the second,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> which was
+large. Instantly the brisk old woman put him aside, hoisted in the big
+boxes without help, and, catching up the shafts of the heavily laden
+cart, trotted away with it at a pace which caused the Americans (who
+prided themselves on their muscle) to stare after her in blank
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>When next seen she was toiling up a steep street, still ahead of the
+lazy boy, who slowly followed with the lighter load. It did not suit
+Lavinia's ideas of the fitness of things to have an old woman trundle
+three heavy trunks while she herself carried nothing but a parasol, and
+she would certainly have lent a hand if the vigorous creature had not
+gone at such a pace that it was impossible to overtake her till she
+backed her cart up before a door in most scientific style, and with a
+bow, a smile, and a courteous wave of the hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> informed them that
+'here the ladies would behold the excellent Madame C.'</p>
+
+<p>They did behold and also receive a most cordial welcome from the good
+lady, who not only embraced them with effusion, but turned her house
+upside down for their accommodation, merely because they came
+recommended to her hospitality by a former lodger who had won her kind
+old heart.</p>
+
+<p>While she purred over them, the luggage was being bumped upstairs, the
+old woman shouldering trunk after trunk, and trudging up two steep
+flights in the most marvellous way. But best of all was her surprise and
+gratitude on receiving a larger fee than usual, for the ladies were much
+interested in this dear old Hercules in a cap of seven gables.</p>
+
+<p>When she had blessed them all round, and trotted briskly away with her
+carts, Madame C.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> informed the new-comers that the worthy soul was a
+widow with many children, whom she brought up excellently, supporting
+them by acting as porter at the hotel. Her strength was wonderful, and
+she was very proud of it&mdash;finding no work too hard, yet always neat,
+cheery, and active; asking no help, and literally earning her daily
+bread by the sweat of her brow. The ladies often saw her afterward,
+always trotting and tugging, smiling and content, as if some unseen
+hands kept well greased the wheels of her own diligence, which carried
+such a heavy load and never broke down.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Lavinia being interested in Woman's Rights and Wrongs, was much
+impressed by the new revelations of the capabilities of her sex, and
+soon ceased to be surprised at any demonstration of feminine strength,
+skill, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> independence, for everywhere the women took the lead.</p>
+
+<p>They not only kept house, reared children, and knit every imaginable
+garment the human frame can wear, but kept the shops and the markets,
+tilled the gardens, cleaned the streets, and bought and sold cattle,
+leaving the men free to enjoy the only pursuits they seemed inclined to
+follow&mdash;breaking horses, mending roads, and getting drunk.</p>
+
+<p>The markets seemed entirely in the hands of the women, and lively scenes
+they presented to unaccustomed eyes, especially the pig-market, held
+every week, in the square before Madame C.'s house. At dawn the
+squealing began, and was kept up till sunset. The carts came in from all
+the neighbouring hamlets, with tubs full of infant pigs, over which the
+women watched with maternal care till they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> were safely deposited among
+the rows of tubs that stood along the walk facing Anne of Bretaigne's
+grey old tower, and the pleasant promenade which was once the <i>fosse</i>
+about the city walls.</p>
+
+<p>Here Madame would seat herself and knit briskly till a purchaser
+applied, when she would drop her work, dive among the pink innocents,
+and hold one up by its unhappy leg, undisturbed by its doleful cries,
+while she settled its price with a blue-gowned, white-capped neighbour
+as sharp-witted and shrill-tongued as herself. If the bargain was
+struck, they slapped their hands together in a peculiar way, and the new
+owner clapped her purchase into a meal-bag, slung it over her shoulder,
+and departed with her squirming, squealing treasure as calmly as a
+Boston lady with a satchel full of ribbons and gloves.</p>
+
+<p>More mature pigs came to market on their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> own legs, and very long,
+feeble legs they were, for a more unsightly beast than a Breton pig was
+never seen out of a toy Noah's ark. Tall, thin, high-backed, and
+sharp-nosed, these porcine victims tottered to their doom, with dismal
+wailings, and not a vestige of spirit till the trials and excitement of
+the day goaded them to rebellion, when their antics furnished fun for
+the public. Miss Livy observed that the women could manage the pigs when
+men failed entirely. The latter hustled, lugged, or lashed, unmercifully
+and unsuccessfully; the former, with that fine tact which helps them to
+lead nobler animals than pigs, would soothe, sympathise, coax, and
+gently beguile the poor beasts, or devise ways of mitigating their
+bewilderment and woe, which did honour to the sex, and triumphantly
+illustrated the power of moral suasion.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>One amiable lady, who had purchased two small pigs and a coop full of
+fowls, attempted to carry them all on one donkey. But the piggies
+rebelled lustily in the bags, the ducks remonstrated against their
+unquiet neighbours, and the donkey indignantly refused to stir a step
+till the unseemly uproar was calmed. But the Bretonne was equal to the
+occasion; for, after a pause of meditation, she solved the problem by
+tying the bags round the necks of the pigs, so that they could enjoy the
+prospect. This appeased them at once, and produced a general lull; for
+when the pigs stopped squealing, the ducks stopped quacking, the donkey
+ceased his bray, and the party moved on in dignified silence, with the
+youthful pigs, one black, one white, serenely regarding life from their
+bags.</p>
+
+<p>Another time, a woman leading a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>newly-bought cow came through the
+square, where the noise alarmed the beast so much that she became
+unruly, and pranced in a most dangerous manner. Miss Livy hung out of
+the window, breathless with interest, and ready to fly with brandy and
+bandages at a minute's notice, for it seemed inevitable that the woman
+would be tossed up among the lindens before the cow was conquered. The
+few men who were lounging about stood with their hands in their pockets,
+watching the struggle without offering to help, till the cow scooped the
+lady up on her horns, ready for a toss. Livy shrieked, but Madame just
+held on, kicking so vigorously that the cow was glad to set her down,
+when, instead of fainting, she coolly informed the men, who, seeing her
+danger, had approached, that she 'could arrange her cow for herself, and
+did not want any help,' which she proved by tying a big<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> blue
+handkerchief over the animal's eyes, producing instant docility, and
+then she was led away by her flushed but triumphant mistress, who calmly
+settled her cap, and took a pinch of snuff to refresh herself, after a
+scuffle which would have annihilated most women.</p>
+
+<p>When Madame C.'s wood was put in, the new-comers were interested in
+watching the job, for it was done in a truly Bretonesque manner. It
+arrived in several odd carts, each drawn by four great horses, with two
+men to each team; and as the carts were clumsy, the horses wild, and the
+men stupid, the square presented a lively spectacle. At one time there
+were three carts, twelve horses, and six men, all in a snarl, while a
+dozen women stood at their doors and gave advice. One was washing a
+lettuce, another dressing her baby, a third twirling her distaff, and a
+fourth with her little bowl of soup, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> she ate in public while
+gesticulating so frantically that her <i>sabots</i> clattered on the stones.</p>
+
+<p>The horses had a free fight, and the men swore and shouted in vain, till
+the lady with the baby suddenly went to the rescue. Planting the naked
+cherub on the door-step, this energetic matron charged in among the
+rampant animals, and by some magic touch untangled the teams, quieted
+the most fractious, a big grey brute, prancing like a mad elephant; then
+returned to her baby, who was placidly eating dirt, and with a polite
+'<i>Voil&agrave;, messieurs!</i>' she whipped little Jean into his shirt, while the
+men sat down to smoke.</p>
+
+<p>It took two deliberate men nearly a week to split the gnarled logs, and
+one brisk woman carried them into the cellar and piled them neatly. The
+men stopped about once an hour to smoke, drink cider, or rest. The
+woman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> worked steadily from morning till night, only pausing at noon for
+a bit of bread and the soup good Coste sent out to her. The men got two
+francs a day, the woman half a franc; and as nothing was taken out of it
+for wine or tobacco, her ten cents probably went further than their
+forty.</p>
+
+<p>This same capable lady used to come to market with a baby on one arm, a
+basket of fruit on the other, leading a pig, driving a donkey, and
+surrounded by sheep, while her head bore a pannier of vegetables, and
+her hands spun busily with a distaff. How she ever got on with these
+trifling incumbrances was a mystery; but there she was, busy, placid,
+and smiling, in the midst of the crowd, and at night went home with her
+shopping well content.</p>
+
+<p>The washerwomen were among the happiest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> of these happy souls, and
+nowhere were seen prettier pictures than they made, clustered round the
+fountains or tanks by the way, scrubbing, slapping, singing, and
+gossiping, as they washed or spread their linen on the green hedges and
+daisied grass in the bright spring weather. One envied the cheery faces
+under the queer caps, the stout arms that scrubbed all day, and were not
+too tired to carry home some chubby Jean or little Marie when night
+came; and, most of all, the contented hearts in the broad bosoms under
+the white kerchiefs, for no complaint did one hear from these
+hard-working, happy women. The same brave spirit seems to possess them
+now as that which carried them heroically to their fate in the
+Revolution, when hundreds of mothers and children were shot at Nantes
+and died without a murmur.</p>
+
+<p>But of all the friends the strangers made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> among them they liked old
+M&egrave;re Oudon best&mdash;a shrivelled leaf of a woman, who at ninety-two still
+supported her old husband of ninety-eight. He was nearly helpless, and
+lay in bed most of the time, smoking, while she peeled willows at a sou
+a day, trudged up and down with herbs, cresses, or any little thing she
+could find to sell. Very proud was she of her 'master,' his great age,
+his senses still quite perfect, and most of all his strength, for now
+and then the old tyrant left his bed to beat her, which token of
+conjugal regard she seemed to enjoy as a relic of early days, and a
+proof that he would long be spared to her.</p>
+
+<p>She kept him exquisitely neat, and if anyone gave her a plate of food, a
+little snuff, or any small comfort for her patient old age, she took it
+straight to the 'master,' and found a double happiness in giving and
+seeing him enjoy it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>She had but one eye, her amiable husband having put out the other once
+on a time as she was leading him home tipsy from market. The kind soul
+bore no malice, and always made light of it when forced to tell how the
+affliction befell her.</p>
+
+<p>'My Yvon was so gay in his young days, truly, yes, a fine man, and now
+most beautiful to see in his clean bed, with the new pipe that
+Mademoiselle sent him. Come, then, and behold him, my superb master, who
+at ninety-eight has still this strength so wonderful.'</p>
+
+<p>The ladies never cared to see him more than once, but often met the
+truly beautiful old wife as she toiled to and fro, finding her faithful
+love more wonderful than his strength, and feeling sure that when she
+lies at last on her 'clean bed,' some good angel will repay these
+ninety-two hard years with the youth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> and beauty, happiness and rest,
+which nothing can destroy.</p>
+
+<p>Not only did the women manage the affairs of this world, but had more
+influence than men with the good powers of heaven. A long drought
+parched France that year, and even fertile Brittany suffered. More than
+once processions of women, led by priests, poured through the gates to
+go to the Croix du Saint Esprit and pray for rain.</p>
+
+<p>'Why don't the men go also?' Miss Livy asked.</p>
+
+<p>'Ah! they pray to the Virgin, and she listens best to women,' was the
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>She certainly seemed to do so, for gracious showers soon fell, and the
+little gardens bloomed freshly where the mothers' hard hands had planted
+cabbages, onions, and potatoes to feed the children through the long
+winter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p><p>Nor were these the only tasks the women did. The good ladies had a
+hospital, and a neater, cheerier place was never seen; few invalids, but
+many old people sitting in the sunny gardens, or at work in the clean
+rooms. La Garaye is in ruins now, but the memory of its gentle lady
+still lives, and is preserved in this benevolent institution for the
+sick, the old, and poor.</p>
+
+<p>A school for girls was kept by the good nuns, and the streets at certain
+hours were full of little damsels, with round caps on their braided
+hair, queer long gowns of blue, white aprons and handkerchiefs, who went
+clattering by in their wooden shoes, bobbing little curtsies to their
+friends, and readily answering any questions inquisitive strangers asked
+them. They learned to read, write, sew, and say the catechism. Also to
+sing; for, often as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> ladies passed the little chapel of Our Lady, a
+chorus of sweet young voices came to us, making the flowery garden
+behind the church of St. Sauveur a favourite resting-place.</p>
+
+<p>In endeavouring to account for the freedom of the women here, it was
+decided that it was owing to Anne of Brittany, the 'gentle and generous
+Duchesse,' to whom her husband Louis XII. allowed the uncontrolled
+government of the duchy. Relics of the '<i>fi&egrave;re Bretonne</i>,' as Louis
+called her, are still treasured everywhere, and it was pleasant to know
+not only that she was an accomplished woman, writing tender letters in
+Latin verse to her husband, but also a wise and just Princess to her
+people, 'showing herself by spirit and independence to be the most
+worthy of all her race to wear the ducal crown.' So three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> cheers for
+good Duchesse Anne, and long life to the hardy, happy women of Brittany!</p>
+
+<p>While Miss Lavinia was making these observations and moralizing upon
+them, the younger ladies were enjoying discoveries and experiences more
+to their tastes.</p>
+
+<p>They had not been in the house half a day before Madame C. informed them
+that 'Mademoiselle, the so charming miss whom they beheld at dinner, was
+to be married very soon; and they should have the rapture of witnessing
+a wedding the most beautiful.'</p>
+
+<p>They welcomed the prospect with pleasure, for Dinan is not a whirl of
+gaiety at the best of times: and that spring the drought, rumours of
+war, and fears of small-pox, cast a shadow upon the sunny little town.
+So they surveyed Mademoiselle Pelagie with interest, and longed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> to
+behold the happy man who was to be blessed with the hand of this little,
+yellow-faced girl, with red eyes, dirty hands, and a frizzled crop, so
+like a wig they never could make up their minds that it was not.</p>
+
+<p>Madame, the mamma, a buxom, comely widow, who breakfasted in black
+moire, with a diadem of glossy braids on her sleek head, and many jet
+ornaments rattling and glistening about her person, informed them, with
+voluble affability, of the whole affair.</p>
+
+<p>'My brother, M. le Pr&eacute;sident, had arranged the marriage. Pelagie was
+twenty, and beautiful, as you behold. It was time to establish her. <i>Mon
+Dieu!</i> yes; though my heart is lacerated to lose my angel, I consent. I
+conduct her to a ball, that she may be seen by the young man whose
+parents desire that he should espouse my infant. He beholds her. He
+says:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> "Great heavens, I adore her! My father, I consent." He is
+presented to me; we converse. She regards him with the angelic modesty
+of a young girl, but speaks not. I approve, the parents meet, it is
+arranged, and Jules is betrothed to my Pelagie. They have not met since;
+but next week he comes for the marriage, and he will be permitted to
+address her in my presence. Ah, yes! your customs are not as ours, and
+to us seem of a deplorable freedom. Pardon that I say it.'</p>
+
+<p>On inquiring how Pelagie regarded her future lord, they found that she
+thought very little about him, but was absorbed in her <i>trousseau</i>,
+which she proudly displayed. To those accustomed to see and hear of
+American outfits, with their lavish profusion and extravagant elegance,
+poor little Pelagie's modest stores were not at all imposing. Half a
+dozen pretty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> dresses from Paris; several amazing hats, all rosebuds,
+lace, and blue ribbon; a good deal of embroidery; and a few prophetic
+caps,&mdash;completed the outfit.</p>
+
+<p>One treasure, however, she was never tired of displaying,&mdash;a gift from
+Jules,&mdash;a camels'-hair shawl, in a black walnut case, on which was
+carved the Clomadoc arms. A set of pearls were also from the bridegroom;
+but the shawl was her pride, for married women alone could wear such,
+and she seemed to think this right of more importance than any the
+wedding-ring could confer upon her.</p>
+
+<p>To the young ladies, both of whom had known many of the romantic
+experiences which befall comely American girls, the idea of marrying a
+man whom they had only seen twice seemed horrible; and to have but one
+week of courtship, and that in Mamma's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>presence, was simply an insult
+and a wrong which they would not bear to think of.</p>
+
+<p>But Pelagie seemed quite content, and brooded over her finery like a
+true Frenchwoman, showing very little interest in her Jules, and only
+anxious for the time to come when she could wear her shawl and be
+addressed as Madame.</p>
+
+<p>While waiting for the grand event, the girls amused themselves with
+Gaston, the brother of the bride-elect. He was a languid, good-looking
+youth of three-and-twenty, who assumed <i>blas&eacute;</i> airs and attitudinized
+for their benefit. Sometimes he was lost in fits of Byronic gloom, when
+he frowned over his coffee, sighed gustily, and clutched his brow,
+regardless of the curls, usually in ambrosial order. The damsels,
+instead of being impressed by this display of inward agony, only laughed
+at him, and soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> rallied him out of his heroics. Then he would try
+another plan, and become all devotion, presenting green tulips, ancient
+coins, early fruit, or sketches of his own, so very small that the
+design was quite obscure. If these delicate attentions failed to touch
+the stony hearts of the blonde Americans, he would air his entire
+wardrobe, appearing before them one day in full Breton costume of white
+cloth, embroidered in gay silks, buckled shoes, and hat adorned with
+streaming ribbons and flowers. Quite Arcadian was Gaston in this attire;
+and very effective on the croquet ground, where sundry English families
+disported themselves on certain afternoons. Another time he would get
+himself up like a Parisian dandy bound for a ride in the Bois de
+Boulogne; and, mounting with much difficulty a rampant horse, he would
+caracole about the Place St. Louis, to the great delight of the natives.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><p>But this proved a failure; for one of the fair but cruel strangers
+donned hat and habit, and entirely eclipsed his glories by galloping
+about the country like an Amazon. The only time Gaston played escort she
+was nearly the death of him, for he seldom did more than amble a mile or
+two, and a hard trot of some six or eight miles reduced our Adonis to
+such a state of exhaustion that he fell into his mother's arms on
+dismounting, and was borne away to bed with much lamentation.</p>
+
+<p>After that he contented himself with coming to show himself in full
+dress whenever he went to a party; and, as that was nearly every other
+evening, they soon got accustomed to hearing a tap at their door, and
+beholding the comely youth in all the bravery of glossy broadcloth, a
+lavish shirt-bosom, miraculous tie, primrose gloves, varnished shoes,
+and curls and moustache anointed and perfumed in the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>exquisite
+style. He would bow and say '<i>Bon soir</i>,' then stand to be admired, with
+the artless satisfaction of a child; after which he would smile
+complacently, wave his crush hat, and depart with a flourish.</p>
+
+<p>Dear, dandified, vain Gaston! His great desire was to go to Paris, and
+when the war came he had his wish; but found sterner work to do than to
+dress and dance and languish at the feet of ladies. I hope it made a man
+of him, and fancy it did; for the French fight well and suffer bravely
+for the country they love in their melodramatic fashion.</p>
+
+<p>As the day approached for the advent of the bridegroom, great excitement
+prevailed in the quiet household. Madame C. and her handmaid, dear old
+Marie, cackled and bustled like a pair of important hens. Madame F., the
+widow, lived at the milliner's, so to speak, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> had several dress
+rehearsals for her own satisfaction. Gaston mounted guard over his
+sister, lest some enamoured man should rend her from them ere her Jules
+could secure the prize. And Pelagie placidly ate and slept, kept her
+hair in crimping-pins from morning till night, wore out her old clothes,
+and whiled away the time munching <i>bonbons</i> and displaying her shawl.</p>
+
+<p>'Mercy on us! I should feel like a lamb being fattened for the sacrifice
+if I were in her place,' cried one of the freeborn American
+citizenesses, with an air of unmitigated scorn for French ways of
+conducting this interesting ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>'I should feel like a galley-slave,' said the other. 'For she can't go
+anywhere without Gaston or Mamma at her elbow. Only yesterday she went
+into a shop alone, while Gaston waited at the door. And when she told it
+at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> home as a great exploit all the ladies shrieked with horror at the
+idea, and Mamma said, wringing her hands: "<i>Mon Dieu!</i> but they will
+think thou art a married woman, for it is inconceivable that any girl
+should do so bold a thing." And Pelagie wept, and implored them not to
+tell Jules, lest he should discard her.'</p>
+
+<p>Here the Americans all groaned over the pathetic absurdity of the whole
+affair, and wondered with unrighteous glee what the decorous ladies
+below would say to some of their pranks at home. But, fearing that M. le
+Pr&eacute;sident might feel it his duty to eject them from the town as
+dangerous persons, they shrouded their past sins in the most discreet
+silence, and assumed their primmest demeanour in public.</p>
+
+<p>'He has come! Look quick, girls!' cried Lavinia, as a carriage stopped
+at the door, and a rushing sound, as of many agitated skirts, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> heard
+in the hall. Three heads peeped from the window of the blue parlour, and
+three pairs of curious eyes were rewarded by a sight of the bridegroom,
+as he alighted.</p>
+
+<p>Such a little man! Such a fierce moustache! Such a dignified strut! And
+such an imposing uniform as he wore! For Jules Gustave Adolphe Marie
+Clomadoc was a colonel in some regiment stationed at Boulogne. Out he
+skipped; in he marched; and, peeping over the banisters, they saw him
+salute Madame F. with a stately kiss on the hand, then escort her up to
+her <i>salon</i>, bowing loftily, and twisting his tawny moustache with an
+air that gave him the effect of being six feet in height, and broad in
+proportion.</p>
+
+<p>How he greeted his <i>fianc&eacute;e</i> they knew not, but the murmur of voices
+came from the room in steady flow for hours, and Gaston flew in and out
+with an air of immense importance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><p>At dinner the strangers were proudly presented to M. le Colonel, and
+received affable bows from the little man, who flattered himself that he
+could talk English, and insisted on speaking an unknown tongue,
+evidently wondering at their stupidity in not understanding their own
+language.</p>
+
+<p>He escorted Madame down, sat between her and Pelagie, but talked only to
+her; while the girl sat silent and ate her dinner with an appetite which
+no emotion could diminish. It was very funny to see the small warrior do
+his wooing of the daughter through the mother; and the buxom widow
+played her part so well that an unenlightened observer would have said
+<i>she</i> was the bride-elect. She smiled, she sighed, she discoursed, she
+coquetted, and now and then plucked out her handkerchief and wept at the
+thought of losing the angel, who was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> placidly gnawing bones and wiping
+up the gravy on her plate with bits of bread.</p>
+
+<p>Jules responded with spirit, talked, jested, quoted poetry, paid
+compliments right and left, and now and then passed the salt, filled a
+glass, or offered a napkin to his <i>fianc&eacute;e</i> with a French shrug and a
+tender glance.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner Madame F. begged him to recite one of his poems; for it
+appeared this all-accomplished man was beloved of the muse, and twanged
+the lyre as well as wielded the sword. With much persuasion and many
+modest apologies, Jules at length consented, took his place upon the
+rug, thrust one hand into his bosom, turned up his eyes, and, in a
+tremendous voice, declaimed a pensive poem of some twenty stanzas,
+called 'Adieu to my past.'</p>
+
+<p>The poet's friends listened with rapt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>countenances and frequent bursts
+of emotion or applause; but the Americans suffered agonies, for the
+whole thing was so absurdly melodramatic that it was with great
+difficulty they kept themselves from explosions of laughter. When the
+little man dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, in bidding adieu to
+the lost loves of his youth, tender-hearted old C. sobbed in her napkin;
+while Livy only saved herself from hysterics by drinking a glass of
+water, and Pelagie ate sugar, with her round eyes fixed on her lover's
+face, without the slightest expression whatever.</p>
+
+<p>When the poet mourned his blighted hopes, and asked wildly of all the
+elements if he should live or die, Gaston cast reproachful glances at
+the alien charmer who had nipped his passion in the bud; and when Jules
+gave a sudden start, slapped his brow, and declared that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> he would live
+for his country, old Marie choked in her coffee, while Madame F. clapped
+her fat hands, and cried: 'It is sublime!'</p>
+
+<p>The poem closed there, and the providential appearance of their donkeys
+gave the ladies an excuse for retiring to their room, where they laughed
+till they could laugh no more.</p>
+
+<p>Each meal was as good as a play, and every glimpse they had of the
+little pair gave fresh food for mirth. Everything was so formal and
+polite, so utterly unlike the free-and-easy customs of their native
+land, that they were kept in alternate states of indignation and
+amusement the whole time. Jules never was alone with his Pelagie for an
+instant; such a breach of etiquette would have shocked the entire town.
+In the walks and drives which the family took together, Madame was
+always at the Colonel's side; while Gaston escorted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> his sister, looking
+as if he was fast reaching a state of mind when he would give her away
+without a pang. Many guests came and went, much kissing and bowing,
+prancing and rustling, went on, up and down stairs. Stately old
+gentlemen called, papers were signed, fortunes discussed, and gifts
+displayed. Pelagie went much to mass; also to the barber's and the bath.
+Agitated milliners flew in and out. A great load of trunks arrived from
+Nantes, where Madame formerly lived; and the day before the wedding a
+whole carriage full of Clomadocs appeared, and Babel seemed to have come
+again.</p>
+
+<p>A great supper was given that evening, and the Three were banished to
+their own rooms; where, however, they fared sumptuously, for Madame C.
+and good old Marie ate with them, having no place left them but the
+kitchen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> Madame C. was much hurt that she had not been asked to the
+wedding. It seemed the least Madame F. could do after taking possession
+of the house, and turning its rightful owner out of every room but the
+attic. Madame C. was a gentlewoman; and though a meek old soul, this
+rudeness hurt her very much. She said nothing; but Marie fumed and
+scolded fiercely, and proposed that the neglected ones should all go
+away on the wedding-day, and make a <i>f&ecirc;te</i> for themselves somewhere. So
+they decided to drive to Dinare, enjoy the fine views of the sea and St.
+Malo, dine, and return at dusk, leaving the house free for the wedding
+festivities.</p>
+
+<p>The day was fine, and the ladies were graciously invited to behold the
+bride before she left for church. She looked as much like a
+fashion-plate as it was possible for a living<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> girl to look; and they
+dutifully kissed her on both cheeks, paid their compliments and retired,
+thanking their stars that they were not in her place.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma was gorgeous to behold, in royal purple and black lace. Gaston was
+so glossy and beruffled and begemmed, that they gazed with awe upon the
+French Adonis. But the bridegroom was a sight for gods and men. In full
+regimentals with a big sword, so many orders that there was hardly room
+for them on his little breast, and a cocked hat, with a forest of
+feathers, in which he extinguished himself at intervals. How his tiny
+boots shone, his tawny moustache bristled with importance, and his
+golden epaulets glittered as he shrugged and pranced! His honoured papa
+and mamma were both tall, portly people, beside whom the manikin looked
+like a child. Livy quite longed to see Madame Clomadoc take little Jules
+on her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> knee, and amuse him with <i>bonbons</i> when he got impatient at the
+delay of the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>The Three peeped out of windows, and over the banisters, and got fine
+glimpses of the splendours below. Flocks of elegant ladies went sailing
+up the narrow stairs. Gentlemen with orders, dandies wonderful to
+behold, and a few children (to play with the bridegroom, as Livy
+wickedly said), adorned the hall and <i>salon</i>. Every one talked at the
+top of his or her voice. Shrieks of rapture, groans of despair, greeted
+a fine toilette or a torn glove. Peals of laughter from the gentlemen,
+and shrill cries from the infants, echoed through the once peaceful
+halls. As Fran&ccedil;oise said 'It was truly divine.'</p>
+
+<p>At eleven, every one trooped into the carriages again. How they ever got
+so many full-dressed people into one carriage is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>mystery to this day.
+But in they piled, regardless of trains, corpulency, or height; and
+coach after coach lumbered away to the church.</p>
+
+<p>The bride's carriage could not be got very near the door. So she tripped
+out to it, leaning on her uncle's arm, while the devoted Gaston bore her
+train. Mamma sailed after in a purple cloud; and when two young damsels,
+in arsenic green, were packed in, away they went, leaving the bridegroom
+to follow.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the catastrophe! Stout papa and mamma were safely in; a friend
+of Jules, some six feet high, shut himself up like a jack-knife; and
+with a farewell wave of the cocked hat, the small bridegroom skipped in
+after them. The coachman cracked his whip, intending to dash under the
+arched gateway in fine style. But alas! the harness was old, the big
+horses clumsy, and the road half paved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> The traces gave way, the beasts
+reared, the big coach lurched, and dismal wails arose. Out burst the
+fierce little hero of the day, and the tall friend followed by
+instalments.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the excitement as the natives gathered about the carriage with
+offers of help, murmurs of sympathy, and unseemly mirth on the part of
+the boys. Jules did the swearing; and never were heard such big oaths as
+fell from the lips of this irate little man. It really seemed as if he
+would explode with wrath. He dashed the impressive cocked hat upon the
+stones, laid his hand upon his sword, tore his hair, and clutched his
+moustache in paroxysms of despair.</p>
+
+<p>His bride was gone, waiting in agitated suspense for him. No other coach
+could be had, as the resources of the town had been exhausted. The
+harness was in a desperate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> state, the men at their wit's end how to
+mend it, and time flying fast. <i>Maire</i> and priest were waiting, the
+whole effect of the wedding was being ruined by this delay, and 'ten
+thousand devils' seemed to possess the awkward coachman.</p>
+
+<p>During the flurry, Papa Clomadoc appeared to slumber tranquilly in the
+recesses of the carriage. Mamma endeavoured to soothe her boy with cries
+of 'Tranquillize yourself, my cherished son. It is nothing.' 'Come,
+then, and reassure papa.' 'Inhale the odour of my vinaigrette. It will
+compose your lacerated nerves, my angel.'</p>
+
+<p>But the angel wouldn't come, and continued to dance and swear, and slap
+his hat about until the damages were repaired, when he flung himself,
+exhausted, into the carriage, and was borne away to his bride.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>'A lively prospect for poor Pelagie.' 'What a little fiend he is!'
+'Spinsters for ever!'</p>
+
+<p>With these remarks, the ladies ordered their own equipage, an infant
+omnibus, much in vogue in Dinan, where retired army officers, English or
+Scotch, drive about with their little families of eighteen or twenty.
+One Colonel Newcome, a grave-looking man, used to come to church in a
+bus of this sort, with nine daughters and four sons, like a patriarch.
+The strangers thought it was a boarding-school, till he presented the
+entire flock, with paternal pride, as 'my treasures.'</p>
+
+<p>Madame C., in a large Leghorn bonnet, trembling with yellow bows, led
+the way with an air of lofty indifference as to what became of her house
+that day. Marie bore a big basket, full of cold fowls, salad, and wines;
+she also was in a new spring hat of purple, which made her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> rosy old
+face look like a china aster. Lavinia reposed upon the other seat; and
+the infants insisted on sharing the driver's seat, up aloft, that they
+might enjoy the prospect, which freak caused Flabeau's boy to beam and
+blush till his youthful countenance was a deep scarlet.</p>
+
+<p>They had a pleasant day; for good old Madame soon recovered her temper,
+and beguiled the time with lively tales of her mother's trials during
+the Revolution.</p>
+
+<p>Marie concocted spiced drinks, salad that was a thing to dream of, not
+to tell, and produced such edible treasures that her big basket seemed
+bottomless.</p>
+
+<p>The frisky damsels explored ruins, ran races on the hard beach, sniffed
+the salt breezes, and astonished the natives by swarming up and down
+'precipices,' as they called the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>That was a fatal day for Flabeau's boy (they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> never knew his name); for,
+as if the wedding had flown to his head, he lost his youthful heart to
+one of the lively damsels who invaded his perch. Such tender glances as
+his China-blue eyes cast upon her; such grins of joy as he gave when she
+spoke to him; such feats of agility as he performed, leaping down to
+gather flowers, or hurling himself over thorny hedges, to point out a
+<i>dolmen</i> or a <i>menhir</i> (they never could remember which was which).
+Alas, alas! for Flabeau's boy! Deeply was he wounded that day by the
+unconscious charmer, who would as soon have thought of inspiring love in
+the bosom of the broken-nosed saint by the wayside as in the heart that
+beat under the blue blouse.</p>
+
+<p>I regret to say that 'the infants,' as Madame C. always called Miss
+Livy's charges, behaved themselves with less decorum than could have
+been wished. But the proud consciousness that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> <i>they</i> never could be
+disposed of as Pelagie had been had such an exhilarating effect upon
+them that they frisked like the lambs in the field.</p>
+
+<p>One drove the bus in a retired spot and astonished the stout horses by
+the way in which she bowled them along the fine, hard road. The other
+sang college songs, to the intense delight of the old ladies, who
+admired the '<i>chants Am&eacute;riques</i> so gay,' and to the horror of their
+duenna, who knew what they meant. A shower came up, and they <i>would</i>
+remain outside; so the boy put up a leathern hood, and they sat inside
+in such a merry mood that the silent youth suddenly caught the
+infection, and burst forth into a Breton melody, which he continued to
+drone till they got home.</p>
+
+<p>The house was a blaze of light when they arrived, and Fran&ccedil;oise, the
+maid, came flying out to report sundry breakages and mishaps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> How the
+salad had precipitated itself downstairs, dish and all. How Monsieur
+Gaston was so gay, so inconceivably gay, that he could hardly stand, and
+insisted on kissing her clandestinely. That Mademoiselle Pelagie had
+wept much because her veil was torn; and Madame F. had made a fresh
+toilette, ravishing to behold. Would the dear ladies survey the party,
+still at table? Regard them from the little window in the garden, and
+see if it is not truly a spectacle the most superb!</p>
+
+<p>They did regard them, and saw the bride at the head of the table, eating
+steadily through the dessert; the bridegroom reciting poems with
+tremendous effect; Gaston almost invisible behind a barricade of
+bottles; and Madame F., in violet velvet, diamonds, plumes, and lace,
+more sleek and buxom than ever. The ladies all talked at once, and the
+gentlemen drank healths<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> every five minutes. A very French and festive
+scene it was; for the room was small, and twenty mortals were stowed
+therein. One fat lady sat in the fireplace, Papa Clomadoc leaned his
+heavy head upon the sideboard, and the plump shoulders of Madame F. were
+half out of the front window. 'But it was genteel. Oh! I assure you,
+yes,' as Fran&ccedil;oise said.</p>
+
+<p>How long they kept it up the weary trio did not wait to see, but retired
+to their beds, and slumbered peacefully, waking only when Gaston was
+borne up to his room, chanting the 'Marseillaise' at the top of his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>Next day M. and Madame Clomadoc, Jr., made calls, and Pelagie had the
+joy of wearing her shawl. For three days she astonished the natives by
+promenading with her lord in a fresh toilette each day. On the fourth
+they all piled into a big carriage, and went away to make a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> round of
+visits, before the young people settled down at Boulogne.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans never thought to hear any more of Pelagie; but, as dear
+old Madame C. wrote to them several times after they left, the little
+story may be finished here, though the sequel did not actually come till
+a year later.</p>
+
+<p>Many were the sage predictions of the Three as to the success of this
+marriage&mdash;Amanda approving of that style of thing, Matilda objecting
+fiercely to the entire affair, and Lavinia firmly believing in the good
+old doctrine of love as your only firm basis for so solemn a bargain.</p>
+
+<p>Wagers were laid that the fiery little Colonel would shoot some one in a
+jealous fit, or that Pelagie would elope, or both charcoal themselves to
+death, as the best way out of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> predicament. But none of them guessed
+how tragically it would really end.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the following spring came a letter from Madame C., telling them
+that Jules had gone to the war, and been shot in his first battle; that
+Pelagie was with her mother again, comforting herself for her loss with
+a still smaller Jules, who never saw his father, and, it is to be hoped,
+did not resemble him. So little Pelagie's brief romance ended; and one
+would fancy that the experiences of that year would make her quite
+content to remain under mamma's wing, with no lord and master but the
+little son, to whom she was a very tender mother.</p>
+
+<p>Pleasant days those were in quaint old Dinan; for spring's soft magic
+glorified earth and sky, and a delicious sense of rest and freedom gave
+a charm to that quiet life. Legends of romance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and chivalry hung about
+the ruins of castle and <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, as green and golden as the ivy and
+bright wall-flowers that tapestried the crumbling walls, and waved like
+banners from the turret tops. Lovely walks into woods, starred with pale
+primroses, and fragrant with wild hyacinths; down green lanes, leading
+to quaint cottages, or over wide meadows full of pink-tipped daisies and
+dear familiar buttercups, the same all the world over.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes they took gay donkey-drives to visit a solemn dolmen in a
+gloomy pine-wood, with mistletoe hanging from the trees, and the ghosts
+of ancient Druids haunting the spot. The cavalcade on such occasions was
+an imposing spectacle. Matilda being fond of horses likewise affected
+donkeys (or thought she did, till she tried to drive one), and usually
+went first in a small vehicle like a chair on wheels,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> drawn by an
+animal who looked about the size of a mouse, when the stately Mat in
+full array, yellow parasol, long whip, camp-stool, and sketch-book, sat
+bolt upright on her perch, driving in the most approved manner.</p>
+
+<p>The small beast, after much whipping, would break into a trot, and go
+pattering over the hard, white road, with his long ears wagging, and his
+tiny hoofs raising a great dust for the benefit of the other turnout
+just behind.</p>
+
+<p>In a double chair sat Lavinia, bundled up as usual, and the amiable
+Amanda, both flushed with constant pokings and thrashings of their
+steed. A venerable ass, so like an old whity-brown hair trunk as to his
+body, and Nick Bottom's mask as to his head, that he was a constant
+source of mirth to the ladies. Mild and venerable as he looked, however,
+he was a most incorrigible beast, and it took two immortal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> souls, and
+four arms, to get the ancient donkey along.</p>
+
+<p>Vain all the appeals to his conscience, pity, or pride: nothing but a
+sharp poke among his ribs, a steady shower of blows on his fuzzy old
+back, and frequent 'yanks' of the reins produced any effect. It was
+impossible to turn out for anything, and the ladies resigned themselves
+to the ignominy of sitting still, in the middle of the road, and letting
+other carriages drive over or round them.</p>
+
+<p>On rare occasions the beast would bolt into the ditch as a vehicle drew
+near; but usually he paused abruptly, put his head down, and apparently
+went to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda got on better, because little Bernard Du Guesclin, as she named
+her mouse, was so very small, that she could take him up, and turn him
+round bodily, when other means failed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> or pull him half into the chair
+if danger threatened in front. He was a sprightly little fellow, and had
+not yet lost all the ardour of youth, or developed the fiendish
+obstinacy of his kind; so he frequently ran little races&mdash;now and then
+pranced, and was not quite dead to the emotion of gratitude in return
+for bits of bread.</p>
+
+<p>Truly, yes; the fair Mat with her five feet seven inches, and little
+Bernard, whose longest ear, when most erect, did not reach much above
+her waist, were a sweet pair of friends, and caused her mates great
+amusement.</p>
+
+<p>'I must have some one to play with, for I can't improve my mind <i>all</i>
+the time as 'Mandy does, or cuddle and doze like Livy. I've had
+experience with young donkeys of all sorts, and I give you my word
+little Bernie is much better fun than some I've known with shorter ears
+and fewer legs.'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p><p>Thus Matilda, regardless of the jeers of her friends, when they
+proposed having the small beast into the <i>salon</i> to beguile the tedium
+of a rainy day.</p>
+
+<p>As the summer came on, picnics were introduced, and gay parties would
+pile into and on to Flabeau's small omnibus, and drive off to Hunandaye,
+Co&eacute;tqu&euml;n, La Belli&egrave;re, Guingamp, or some other unpronounceable but most
+charming spot, for a day of sunshine and merrymaking.</p>
+
+<p>The hospitable English came out strong on these occasions, with ''ampers
+of 'am-sandwiches, bottled porter and so on, don't you know?' all in
+fine style. Even the stout doctor donned his knickerbockers and grey
+hose, unfurled his Japanese umbrella, and, with a pretty niece on either
+arm, disported himself like a boy.</p>
+
+<p>But pleasantest of all were the daily strolls<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> through the little town
+and its environs, getting glimpses of Breton manners and customs.</p>
+
+<p>The houses were usually composed of one room, where, near the open fire,
+and fixed against the wall, stands the bedstead or <i>lit clos</i>, of old
+oak, shut in by carved sliding panels, often bearing an inscription or
+some sacred symbol. The mattresses and feather-beds are so piled up,
+that there is hardly room to creep in. Before it is the big chest
+containing the family wardrobe, answering the double purpose of a seat
+and a step by which to ascend the lofty bed. Cupboards on each side
+often have wide shelves, where the children sleep. Settles and a long
+table complete the furniture; the latter often has little wells hollowed
+out in the top to hold the soup instead of plates. Over the table,
+suspended by pulleys, are two indispensable articles in a Breton
+house,&mdash;a large round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> basket to cover the bread, and a wooden frame to
+hold the spoons. Festoons of sausages, hams, candles, onions,
+horse-shoes, harness, and tools, all hang from the ceiling. The floor is
+of beaten earth. One narrow window lets in the light. There are no
+out-houses, and pigs and poultry mingle freely with the family.</p>
+
+<p>The gardens are well kept, and produce quantities of fruit and
+vegetables. The chief food of the poorer class is bread or porridge of
+buckwheat, with cabbage soup, made by pouring hot water over cabbage
+leaves and adding a bit of butter.</p>
+
+<p>They are a home-loving people, and pine like the Swiss, if forced to
+leave their native land. They are brave soldiers and good sailors.
+'Their vices,' as a Breton writer says, 'are avarice, contempt for
+women, and drunkenness; their virtues, love of home and country,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>resignation to the will of God, loyalty to each other, and
+hospitality.' Their motto is, 'En tout chemin loyaut&eacute;.'</p>
+
+<p>They are very superstitious, and some of their customs are curious. At
+New Year pieces of bread and butter are thrown into the fountains, and
+from the way in which they swim the future is foretold. If the buttered
+side turns under, it forebodes death; if two pieces adhere together, it
+is a sign of sickness; and if a piece floats properly, it is an
+assurance of long life and prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>Girls throw pins into the fountain of Saloun to tell, by their manner of
+sinking, when they will be married. If the pin goes down head-foremost,
+there is little hope; but, if the point goes first, it is a sure sign of
+being married that year.</p>
+
+<p>Their veneration for healing-springs is very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> great, and, though at
+times forbidden by the Church, is still felt. Pounded snails, worn in a
+bag on the neck, is believed to be a cure for fever; and a certain holy
+bell rung over the head, a cure for head-ache. 'If we believe in that
+last remedy, what a ceaseless tingling that bell would keep up in
+America!' said Lavinia, when these facts were mentioned to her.</p>
+
+<p>In some towns they have, in the cemetery, a bone-house or reliquary. It
+is the custom, after a certain time, to dig up the bones of the dead,
+and preserve the skulls in little square boxes like bird-houses, with a
+heart-shaped opening, to show the relic within. The names and dates of
+the deceased are inscribed outside.</p>
+
+<p>Saint Ives or Yves is a favourite saint, and images of him are in all
+churches and over many doors. He was one of the remarkable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>characters
+of the thirteenth century. He studied law in Paris, and devoted his
+talents to defending the poor; hence, he was called 'the poor man's
+advocate:' and so great is the confidence placed in his justice, that,
+even now, when a debtor falsely denies his debt, a peasant will pay
+twenty <i>sous</i> for a mass to St. Ives, sure that the Saint will cause the
+faithless creditor to die within the year or pay up.</p>
+
+<p>His truthfulness was such that he was called 'St. Yves de v&eacute;rit&eacute;.' He
+was the special patron of lawyers, but he does not seem to be their
+model.</p>
+
+<p>The early monks taught the people to work, and their motto was 'The
+Cross and the plough, labour and prayer.' They introduced apples, now
+the principal fruit of Brittany. Much cider is made and drank; and in
+old times they got their wine from France in exchange for wax and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+honey, as they were famous bee-keepers. Great fields of buck-wheat still
+afford food for the 'yellow-breeched philosophers,' and in many cottage
+gardens a row of queerly shaped hives stand in sunny nooks.</p>
+
+<p>These monks were the model farmers of those days, and their abbeys were
+fine farms. One had twenty piggeries, of three hundred pigs each, in its
+forests. The monks also reared sheep and horses, and bred fish in their
+ponds.</p>
+
+<p>Many were also brewers, weavers, carpenters, and so on. Evidently they
+lived up to their motto and laboured quite as much as they prayed, and
+doubtless were saved by works as well as by faith.</p>
+
+<p>The little Place Du Guesclin, with a stumpy statue of the famous knight
+in the middle and chestnut trees all around, was a favourite
+resting-place of the ladies&mdash;especially when the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> weekly fair was held
+and booths of all sorts were raised at one end. Here Amanda bought a
+remarkable jack-knife, which would cut nothing but her fingers: Matilda
+speculated in curious kinds of cake; one sort being made into gigantic
+jumbles so light that they did excellently for grace-hoops; another sort
+being used by these vandals as catch-alls, so deep and tough were they.
+Lavinia examined the various fabrics, and got bits of linen as samples,
+also queer earthen pots and pans impossible to carry away.</p>
+
+<p>The church of St. Sauveur, a dim and ancient little place with Du
+Guesclin's heart buried by the side of his wife, was another haunt. The
+castle, now a prison, contained the arm-chair in which Duchess Anne sat,
+and the dungeons where were crammed two thousand English prisoners of
+war in the last century. The view<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> from the platform of the keep was
+magnificent, extending to Mont Dol and the distant sea.</p>
+
+<p>The sunny promenade on the <i>fosse</i>, that goes half round the town, was
+very charming, with the old grey walls on one side, and, on the other,
+the green valley with its luxuriant gardens, and leafy lanes, winding up
+to the ruined <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, or the undulating hills with picturesque
+windmills whirling on the heights.</p>
+
+<p>On the other side of the town, from the high gardens of the church, one
+looked down into the deeper valley of the Rance, with the airy viaduct
+striding from hill to hill, and the old part of the town nestling at its
+base.</p>
+
+<p>Soft and summery, fertile and reposeful, was the scene; and the busy
+peasants at their work added to the charm. Pretty English children with
+Breton nurses, each in the costume of her native town, played under the
+lindens all abloom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> with odorous flowers and alive with bees. Workmen
+came to these green places to eat the black bread and drink the thin
+wine that was all their dinner. Invalids strolled here after their baths
+at the little house in the rose-garden below. Pretty girls walked there
+in the twilight with long-haired lovers in knee breeches and round hats.
+Nuns in their grey gowns went to and fro from hospital and the insane
+asylum or charity school; and the beautiful old priest sometimes went
+feebly by, smiling paternally on his flock, who rose and uncovered
+reverently as he passed.</p>
+
+<p>Flowers were everywhere,&mdash;in the gardens of the rich, at the windows of
+the poor. The stalls in the market were gay with plumy lilacs, splendid
+tulips, roses of every shade, and hyacinths heavy with odour. All along
+the borders of the river waved the blossoming grass; every green bank
+about the mills at Lehon was yellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> with dandelions, and the sunny
+heads of little children welcoming the flower of the poor. Even the
+neglected churchyard of the ruined abbey, where the tombs of the stately
+Beaumanoirs still stand, was bright with cheerful daisies and blue-eyed
+forget-me-nots.</p>
+
+<p>The willows in the valley were covered with fragrant tassels, and the
+old women and children sat all day on door-stones and by the wayside
+stripping the long, white wands for basket-making. Flax fields were
+blooming in the meadows, and acres of buckwheat, with its rosy stems and
+snowy blossoms, whitened the uplands with a fair prophecy of bread for
+all.</p>
+
+<p>So, garlanded about with early flowers and painted in spring's softest,
+freshest colours, Brittany remains for ever a pleasant picture in the
+memory of those who have been welcomed to its hospitable homes, and
+found friends among its brave and loyal people.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>FRANCE.</i></h3>
+
+<p>'Girls, I have had a scintillation in the night: listen and approve!'
+said Amanda, coming into the room where her comrades sat upon the floor,
+in the first stages of despair, at the impossibility of getting the
+accumulated rubbish of three months' travel into a couple of immense
+trunks.</p>
+
+<p>'Blessed girl! you always bring a ray of light just at the darkest
+moment,' returned Lavinia, with a sigh of relief, while Matilda looked
+over a barricade of sketch-books bristling with paint-brushes, and added
+anxiously,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p><p>'If you <i>could</i> suggest how I am to work this miracle, you will be a
+public benefactor.'</p>
+
+<p>'Behold the amendment I propose,' began Amanda, perching herself on one
+of the arks. 'We have decided to travel slowly and comfortably through
+France to Switzerland, stopping where we like, and staying as long as we
+please at any place we fancy, being as free as air, and having all the
+world before us where to choose, as it were.'</p>
+
+<p>'The route you have laid out is a charming one, and I don't see how you
+can improve it,' said Lavinia, who, though she was supposed to be the
+matron, guide, and protector of the younger girls, was in reality
+nothing but a dummy, used for Mrs. Grundy's sake, and let the girls do
+just as they pleased, only claiming the right to groan and moan as much
+as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> liked when neuralgia, her familiar demon, claimed her for its
+own.</p>
+
+<p>'One improvement remains to be made. Are these trunks a burden, a
+vexation of spirit, a curse?' demanded Amanda, tapping one with her
+carefully cherished finger-tips.</p>
+
+<p>'They are! they are!' groaned the others, regarding the monsters with
+abhorrence.</p>
+
+<p>'Then let us get rid of them, and set out with no luggage but a few
+necessaries in a shawl-strap.'</p>
+
+<p>'We will! we will!' returned the chorus.</p>
+
+<p>'Shall we burn up our rubbish, or give it away?' asked Lavinia, who
+liked energetic measures, and was ready to cast her garments to the four
+winds of heaven, to save herself from the agonies of packing.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>I</i> shall never give up my pictures, nor my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> boots!' cried Matilda,
+gathering her idols to her breast in a promiscuous heap.</p>
+
+<p>'Be calm and listen,' returned the scintillator. 'Pack away all but the
+merest necessaries, and we will send the trunk by express to Lyons. Then
+with our travelling-bags and bundles, we can follow at our leisure.'</p>
+
+<p>''Tis well! 'tis well!' replied the chorus, and they all returned to
+their packing, which was performed in the most characteristic manner.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda never seemed to have any clothes, yet was always well and
+appropriately dressed; so it did not take her long to lay a few
+garments, a book or two, a box of Roman-coin lockets, scarab&aelig; brooches,
+and cinque-cento rings, likewise a swell hat and habit, into her vast
+trunk; then lock and label it in the most business-like and thorough
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda found much difficulty in reconciling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> paint-pots and silk gowns,
+blue hats and statuary, French boots and Yankee notions. But order was
+at length produced from chaos, and the young lady refreshed her weary
+soul by painting large red M's all over the trunk to mark it for her
+own.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Lavinia packed and repacked four or five times, forgetting
+needfuls, which, of course, were always at the very bottom. At the fifth
+plunge into the depths her patience gave out, and with a vow to be a
+slave no longer to her treacherous memory, she tumbled every thing in,
+performed a solemn jig on the lid till it locked, then pasted large, but
+illegible placards in every available spot, and rested from her labours
+with every nerve in a throbbing condition.</p>
+
+<p>Shawl-straps of the largest, strongest sort were next procured, and the
+three bundles made up with much discussion and merriment.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>Into Amanda's went a volume of Shakspeare of great size and weight, but
+as indispensable as a tooth-brush to its owner; toilette-articles tied
+up in a handkerchief, a few necessary garments, and much paper,&mdash;for
+Amanda was inspired with poetic fire at unexpected moments, also had
+five hundred bosom friends, in answering whose epistolary gushings much
+stationery was consumed. A pistol, a massive crust of bread, and an oval
+box containing all the dainty appliances for the culture, preservation,
+and ornamentation of the finger-nails, made up her store.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda's bundle consisted of sketch-books, a trifle of haberdashery, a
+curling-stick that was always tumbling out at inopportune moments, yards
+of blue ribbon, and a camp-stool strapped outside in company with a
+Japanese umbrella, a gift from the stout doctor, destined to be cursed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+in many languages by the unhappy beings into whose backs, eyes, and
+stomachs it was poked before its wanderings ended.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia confined herself to a choice collection of bottles and
+pill-boxes, fur boots, a grey cloud, and several French novels,&mdash;the
+solace of wakeful nights. A scarlet army blanket, with U. S. in big
+black letters on it, enveloped her travelling medicine-chest, and lent a
+cheerful air to the sombre spinster, whose black attire and hoarse voice
+made the <i>sobriquet</i> of Raven most appropriate.</p>
+
+<p>With these imposing bundles in one hand, little pouches slung over the
+shoulder, plain travelling-suits, subdued hats, and resolute but benign
+countenances, our three errant damsels set forth one bright June day, to
+wander through France at their own sweet will. Not a fear assailed them;
+for all men were civil, all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> women friendly, and the world wore its
+sunniest aspect. Not a doubt perplexed them; for the gifted Amanda spoke
+many tongues, understood all sorts of money, could grapple successfully
+with Murray and Bradshaw, and never got into the wrong corporation when
+she traced a route with unerring accuracy through the mysteries of an
+Indicator. No lord and master, in the shape of brother, spouse, or
+courier, ordered their outgoings and incomings; but liberty the most
+entire was theirs, and they enjoyed it heartily. Wisely and well too;
+for, though off the grand route, they behaved themselves in public as
+decorously as if the eyes of all prim Boston were upon them, and proved
+by their triumphant success, that the unprotected might go where they
+liked, if they conducted themselves with the courtesy and discretion of
+gentlewomen.</p>
+
+<p>How pleasant were the early sail down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Ranee from Dinan to St. Malo,
+the comfortable breakfast in the flowery little court of H&ocirc;tel Franklin,
+and the stroll afterward about the quaint old town, looking at the
+churches, buying fruit, and stoutly resisting the temptations of antique
+jewelry displayed in the dingy shops! Lavinia never forgave herself,
+however, for not securing a remarkable watch, and Amanda sighed months
+afterward for a Breton collar and cross of charming antiquity and
+ugliness.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda boldly planted her camp-stool, unfurled her umbrella, and,
+undaunted by the crowd of round-capped, blue-bloused, wooden-shoed
+children about her, began to draw the church.</p>
+
+<p>'I intend to study architecture, and to sketch <i>all</i> the cathedrals we
+see,' said the ardent art-student, struggling manfully with the unruly
+umbrella, the unsavoury odours from the gutter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> and the garrulous crowd
+leaning over her shoulder, peering under her hat-brim, and examining all
+her belongings with a confiding freedom rather embarrassing.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you know what impertinent things these little scamps are saying to
+you?' asked Amanda, pausing in a lecture on surface drainage which she
+was delivering to Lavinia, who was vainly struggling to cram a fat wine
+bottle, a cabbage leaf of strawberries, and some remarkable cakes into
+the lunch-basket.</p>
+
+<p>'No: I don't; and that is the advantage of not knowing any language but
+my own,' complacently replied Matilda, who considered all study but that
+of art as time wasted, and made her small store of French answer
+admirably by talking very loud and fast, and saying, '<i>Oui, oui, oui</i>,'
+on all occasions with much gesticulation, and bows and smiles of great
+suavity and sweetness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p><p>'Clear out this rabble, or come back to the hotel and wait for the bus.
+We shall have the whole town round us soon, and I can't stand it,' said
+Amanda, who had no romantic admiration for the Great Unwashed.</p>
+
+<p>'You think I can't do it? <i>Voil&agrave;!</i>' and, rising suddenly to an
+unexpected height, Matilda waved the umbrella like a <i>b&acirc;ton</i>, cried
+'<i>Allez!</i>' in a stern voice, and the children fled like chaff before the
+wind.</p>
+
+<p>'You see how little is needed, so don't vex me with learning your old
+verbs any more!' and Matilda closed her book with an air of calm
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>'Come home and rest. It is so warm here I am fairly melted,' prayed
+Lavinia, who had been longing for summer, and of course was not suited
+when she got it.</p>
+
+<p>'Now, do remember one thing: don't let us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> be gregarious. We never know
+who we may pick up if we talk to people; and stray acquaintances are sad
+bores sometimes. Granny is such a cross old dear she won't say a word to
+any one if she can help it; but you, Mat, can't be trusted if we meet
+any one who talks English. So be on your guard, or the peace of this
+party is lost,' said Amanda, impressively.</p>
+
+<p>'We are not likely to meet any but natives in this wilderness; so don't
+excite yourself, Mandy, dear,' replied Matilda, who, being of a social
+turn and an attractive presence, was continually making friends, to the
+great annoyance of her more prudent comrades.</p>
+
+<p>In the flowery courtyard sat the group that one meets everywhere on the
+Continent,&mdash;even in the wilds of Brittany. The father and mother stout,
+tired, and rather subdued by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> newness of things; the son, Young
+America personified, loud, important, and inquisitive; the daughter,
+pretty, affected, and over-dressed; all on the lookout for adventures
+and titles, fellow-countrymen to impress, and foreigners eager to get
+the better of them.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing the peril from afar, Amanda buried herself in Murray, to read up
+the tomb of Chateaubriand, the tides, population, and any other useful
+bit of history; for Amanda was a thrifty soul, and</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'Gathered honey all the day</div>
+<div>From every opening flower.'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Lavinia, finding the court damp, shrouded herself in the grey cloud, put
+her feet on the red bundle, and fortified herself with a Turner's pill.</p>
+
+<p>But Matilda, guileless girl, roamed to and fro, patted the horses at the
+gate, picked flowers that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> no French hand would have dared to touch, and
+studied the effect of light and shade on the red head of the <i>gar&ccedil;on</i>,
+who gazed sentimentally at 'the blonde "Mees,"' as he artlessly watered
+the wine for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans had their eye upon her, and felt that, though the others
+might be forbidding English women, this one could be made to talk. So
+they pounced upon their prey, to the dismay of her mates, and proceeded
+to ask fifty questions to the minute. Poor Mat, glad to hear the sound
+of her native tongue, fell into the snare, and grew more confiding every
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>'She is telling the family history,' whispered Lavinia, in a tone of
+despair.</p>
+
+<p>'Now they are asking where we came from,' added Amanda, casting down her
+book in agony.</p>
+
+<p>'Wink at her,' sighed Lavinia.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><p>'Call to her,' groaned Amanda, as they heard their treasured secret
+betrayed, and the enemy clamouring for further information about this
+charming trip.</p>
+
+<p>'Matilda, bring me my shawl,' commanded the Dowager.</p>
+
+<p>'Come and see if you don't think we had better go direct to Tours,' said
+the wary Amanda, hoping to put the enemy off the track.</p>
+
+<p>The victim came, and vials of wrath were poured upon her head in one
+unceasing flow till the omnibus started, and the ladies were appeased by
+finding that the enemy did not follow.</p>
+
+<p>'Promise that you won't talk to any but natives, or I decline to lead
+this expedition,' said Amanda firmly.</p>
+
+<p>'I promise,' returned Mat, with penitent meekness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p><p>'Now we've got her!' croaked the Raven; 'for she will have to learn
+French or hold her tongue.'</p>
+
+<p>'The language of the eye remains to me, and I am a proficient in that,
+ma'am,' said Mat, roused by these efforts to deny her the right of free
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>'You are welcome to it, dear;' and Amanda departed to buy tickets and
+despatch the trunks, with secret misgivings that they would never be
+found again.</p>
+
+<p>'Now we are fairly started, with no more weighing of luggage, fussing
+over checks, or packing of traps to afflict us. What a heavenly sense of
+freedom it gives one, to have nothing but an independent shawl-strap!'
+said Matilda, as they settled themselves in a vacant car, and stowed
+away the bundles.</p>
+
+<p>What a jolly day that was, to be sure!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> Whether it was the air, the good
+coffee, or the liberty, certain it is that three merrier maids never
+travelled from St. Malo to Le Mans on a summer's day. Even the Raven
+forgot her woes, and became so exhilarated that she smashed her bromide
+bottle out of the window, declaring herself cured, and tried to sing
+'Hail Columbia,' in a voice like an asthmatic bagpipe.</p>
+
+<p>Mat amused herself and her comrades by picking up the different articles
+that kept tumbling down on her head from her badly built bundle; while
+Amanda scintillated to such an extent that the others laughed themselves
+into hysterics, and lay exhausted, prone upon the seats.</p>
+
+<p>They ate, drank, sung, gossiped, slept, read, and revelled, till another
+passenger got in, when propriety clothed them as with a garment, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+the mirthful damsels became three studious statues.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer was a little priest; so rosy and young that they called
+him the 'Reverend Boy.' He seemed rather dismayed at first; but, finding
+the ladies silent and demure, he took heart, and read diligently in a
+dingy little prayer-book, stealing shy glances now and then from under
+his broad-brimmed hat at Amanda's white hands, or Matilda's yellow
+locks, as if these vanities of the flesh had not quite lost their charms
+for him. By and by he fell asleep, and leaned in his corner, making
+quite a pretty picture; for the ugly hat was off, his boyish face as
+placid as a child's, his buckled shoes and neat black-stockinged legs
+stretched comfortably out, his plump hands folded over the dingy book,
+and the little bands lay peacefully on his breast.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p><p>He was quite at their mercy now; so the three women looked as much as
+they liked, wondering if the poor dear boy was satisfied with the life
+he had chosen, and getting tenderly pitiful over the losses he might
+learn to regret when it was too late. His dreams seemed to be pleasant
+ones, however; for once he laughed a blithe, boyish laugh, good to hear;
+and when he woke, he rubbed his blue eyes and stared about, smiling like
+a newly roused baby.</p>
+
+<p>He got out all too soon, was joined by several other clerical youths,
+and disappeared with much touching of big beavers, and wafting of
+cassocks.</p>
+
+<p>Innocent, reverend little boy! I wonder what became of him, and hope his
+sleep is as quiet now as then,&mdash;his awakening as happy as it seemed that
+summer day.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>Six o'clock saw our damsels at Le Mans; and, after dinner, a sunset
+walk took them to the grand old cathedral, where they wandered till
+moonrise. Pure Gothic of the twelfth century, rich in stained glass,
+carved screens, tombs of kings and queens, dim little chapels, where
+devout souls told their beads before shadowy pictures of saints and
+martyrs, while over all the wonderful arches seemed to soar, one above
+the other, light and graceful as the natural curves of drooping
+branches, or the rise and fall of some great fountain.</p>
+
+<p>'We shall not see anything finer than this, I'm sure. It's a perfect
+revelation to me,' said Matilda, in a calm rapture at the beauty all
+about her.</p>
+
+<p>'This is a pious-feeling church, and I could say my prayers here with
+all my soul; for it seems as if the religion of centuries had got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> built
+into it,' added Lavinia, thinking of the ugly imitations at home.</p>
+
+<p>'You will both turn Catholic before we get through,' prophesied Amanda,
+retiring to study the tomb of Berengaria, C&oelig;ur de Lion's wife.</p>
+
+<p>The square before the hotel was gay with a market, many soldiers
+lounging about, and flocks of people eating ices before the <i>caf&eacute;s</i>. The
+ladies enjoyed it from the balcony, and then slumbered peacefully in a
+great room with three alcoves, much muslin drapery, and a bowl and
+pitcher like a good-sized cup and saucer.</p>
+
+<p>Another look at the cathedral in the early morning, and then away to
+Tours, which place they found a big, clean, handsome city, all astir for
+the <i>F&ecirc;te-Dieu</i>.</p>
+
+<p>'We will stay over Sunday and see it,' was the general vote as the trio
+headed for the great church, and, catching sight of it, they subsided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+into a seat by the fountain opposite, and sat looking silently at the
+magnificent pile.</p>
+
+<p>How strangely impressive and eloquent it was! The evening red touched
+its grey towers with a mellow light, like sunshine on a venerable head.
+Lower down, flights of rooks circled round the fretted niches, quaint
+windows, and grotesque gargoyles, while the great steps below swarmed
+with priests and soldiers, gay strangers and black-robed nuns, children
+and beggars.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour our pilgrims sat and studied the wonderful <i>fa&ccedil;ade</i>, or
+walked round the outside, examining the rich carvings that covered every
+inch of the walls. Twilight fell before they had thought of entering,
+and feeling that they had seen enough for that night, they went
+thoughtfully home to dream of solemn shadows and saintly faces, for the
+cathedral haunted them still.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p><p>Next day was spent in viewing Charlemagne's Tower, and seeing the grand
+procession in honour of the day. The streets were hung with garlands,
+gay tapestries and banners, strewn with fresh boughs, and lined with
+people in festival array. As the procession passed, women ran out and
+scattered rose-leaves before it, and one young mother set her blooming
+baby on a heap of greenery in the middle of the street, leaving it
+there, that the Holy Ghost under its canopy might pass over it. A pretty
+sight, the rosy little creature smiling in the sunshine as it sat
+playing with its own blue shoes, while the golden pageant went by; the
+chanting priests stepping carefully, and looking down with sudden
+benignity in their tired faces as the holy shadow fell on the bright
+head, making baby blessed, and saved for ever in its pious mother's
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>A great band played finely, scarlet soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> followed, then the banners
+of patron saints were borne by children. Saint Agnes and her lamb led a
+troop of pretty little girls carrying tall white lilies, filling the air
+with their sweetness. Mary, Our Mother, was followed by many orphans
+with black ribbons crossed over the young hearts that had lost so much.
+Saint Martin led the charity boys in purple suits of just the colour of
+the mantle he was dividing with the beggar on the banner. A pleasant
+emblem of the charitable cloak that covers so many.</p>
+
+<p>Priests in full splendour paced solemnly along with censers swinging,
+candles flickering, sweet-voiced boys singing, and hundreds kneeling as
+they passed. Most impressive figures, unless one caught a glimpse of
+something comically human to disturb the effect of the heavenly pageant.
+Lavinia had an eye for the ludicrous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> and though she dropped a tear over
+the orphans, and with difficulty resisted a strong desire to catch and
+kiss the pretty baby, she scandalized her neighbours by laughing
+outright the next minute. A particularly portly, pious-looking priest,
+who was marching with superb dignity, and chanting like a devout
+bumble-bee, suddenly mislaid his temper, and injured the effect by
+boxing a charity boy's ears with his gilded missal, and then capped the
+climax by taking a pinch of snuff with a sonorous satisfaction that
+convulsed the heretic.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon was spent in the church, wandering to and fro, each alone
+to study and enjoy in her own way. Matilda lost her head entirely, and
+had silent raptures over the old pictures. Amanda said her prayers,
+looked up her dates, and imparted her facts in a proper and decorous
+manner, while Lavinia went up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> and down, finding for herself little
+pictures not painted by hands, and reading histories more interesting to
+her than those of saints and martyrs.</p>
+
+<p>In one dim chapel, with a single candle lighting up the divine sorrow of
+the Mater Dolorosa, knelt a woman in deep black, weeping and praying all
+alone. In another flowery nook dedicated to the Infant Jesus, a peasant
+girl was telling her beads over the baby asleep in her lap; her sunburnt
+face refined and beautiful by the tenderness of mother-love. In a third
+chapel a pale, wasted old man sat propped in a chair, while his rosy old
+wife prayed heartily to St. Gratien, the patron saint of the church, for
+the recovery of her John Anderson. And most striking of all was a dark,
+handsome young man, well-dressed and elegant, who was waiting at the
+door of a confessional with some great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> trouble in his face, as he
+muttered and crossed himself, while his haggard eyes were fixed on the
+benignant figure of St. Francis, as if asking himself if it were
+possible for him also to put away the pleasant sins and follies of the
+world, and lead a life like that which embalms the memory of that good
+man.</p>
+
+<p>'If we don't go away to-morrow we never shall, for this church will
+bewitch us, and make it impossible to leave,' said Amanda, when at
+length they tore themselves away.</p>
+
+<p>'I give up trying to sketch cathedrals. It can't be done, and seems
+impious to try,' said Matilda, quite exhausted by something deeper than
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>'I think the "Reminiscences of a Rook" would make a capital story. They
+are long-lived birds, and could tell tales of the past that would
+entirely eclipse our modern rubbish,' said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> Lavinia, taking a last look
+at the solemn towers, and the shadowy birds that had haunted them for
+ages.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies agreed to be off early in the morning, that they might reach
+Amboise in time for the eleven o'clock breakfast. Amanda was to pay the
+bill, and to make certain enquiries at the office; Mat to fly out and do
+a trifle of shopping; while Lavinia packed up the bundles and mounted
+guard over them. They separated, but in half-an-hour all met again, not
+in their room according to agreement, but before the cathedral, which
+all had decided not to revisit on any account.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda was there first, and as each of the others came stealing round
+the corner, she greeted them with a laugh, in which all joined after the
+first surprise was over.</p>
+
+<p>'I told you it would bewitch us,' said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> Amanda; and then all took a
+farewell look, which lasted so long that they had to rush back to the
+hotel in most unseemly haste.</p>
+
+<p>'Now to fresh <i>ch&acirc;teaux</i> and churches new,' sang Lavinia, as they rolled
+away on the fourth stage of their summer journey. A very short stage it
+was, and soon they were in an entirely new scene, for Amboise was a
+little, old-time village on the banks of the Loire, looking as if it had
+been asleep for a hundred years. The Lion d'Or was a quaint place, so
+like the inns described in French novels, that one kept expecting to see
+some of Dumas' heroes come dashing up, all boots, plumes, and pistols,
+with a love-letter for some court beauty in the castle on the hill
+beyond.</p>
+
+<p>Queer galleries and stairs led up outside the house to the rooms above.
+The <i>salle-&agrave;-manger</i> was across a court, and every dish came from a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+kitchen round the corner. The <i>gar&ccedil;on</i>, a beaming, ubiquitous creature,
+trotted perpetually, diving down steps, darting into dark corners, or
+skipping up ladders, producing needfuls from most unexpected places. The
+bread came from the stable, soup from the cellar, coffee out of a
+meal-chest, and napkins from the housetop, apparently, for Adolphe went
+up among the weather-cocks to get them.</p>
+
+<p>'No one knows us, no one can speak a word of English, and if we happen
+to die here it will never be known. How romantic and nice it is!'
+exclaimed Mat, in good spirits, for the people treated the ladies as if
+they were duchesses in disguise, and the young women liked it.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm not so sure that the romance is all it looks. We should be in a
+sweet quandary if anything happened to our sheet-anchor here. Just
+remember, in any danger, save Amanda<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> first, then she will save us. But
+if she is lost, all is lost,' replied Lavinia, darkly, for she always
+took tragical views of life when her bones ached.</p>
+
+<p>Up the hill they went after breakfast; and balm was found for the old
+lady's woes in the sight of many Angora cats, of great size and beauty.
+White as snow, with tails like plumes, and mild, yellow eyes, were these
+charmers. At every window sat one; on every door-step sprawled a bunch
+of down; and frequently the eye of the tabby-loving spinster was
+gladdened by the touching spectacle of a blonde mamma in the bosom of
+her young family.</p>
+
+<p>'If I could only carry it, I'd have one of those dears, no matter what
+it cost!' cried Lavinia, more captivated by a live cat than by all the
+dead Huguenots that Catherine de Medicis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> hung over the castle walls on
+a certain memorable occasion.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, you can't, so come on and improve your mind with some good,
+useful history,' said Amanda, leading them forward. 'You <i>must</i> remember
+that Charles VII. was born here in 1470&mdash;that Anne of Brittany married
+him for her first husband, and that he bumped his head against a low
+door in the garden here above, as he was running through to play bowls
+with his Anne, and it killed him.'</p>
+
+<p>'Which? the bump or the bowls?' asked Mat, who liked to have things
+clearly stated.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't be frivolous, child. Here Margaret of Anjou and her son were
+reconciled to Warwick. Abd-el Kader and his family were kept prisoners
+here, and in the garden is a tomb with a crescent on it; likewise a
+"pleached walk," and a winding drive inside the great tower, up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> which
+lords and ladies used to ride straight into the hall,' continued the
+sage Amanda, who yearned to enlighten the darkness of her careless
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>A brisk old woman did the honours of the castle, showing them mouldy
+chapels, sepulchral halls, rickety stairs, grubby cells, and pitch-dark
+passages, till even the romantic Matilda was glad to see the light of
+day, and repose in the pleasant gardens while removing the cobwebs from
+her countenance and the dust from her raiment.</p>
+
+<p>A lovely view gladdened their eyes as they stood on the balcony whence
+the amiable Catherine surveyed the walls hung thick, and the river
+choked up with the dead. Below, the broad Loire rolled slowly by between
+its green banks. Little boys, in the costume of Cupid, were riding great
+horses in to bathe after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> day's work. The grey roofs of the town
+nestled to the hillside, and far away stretched the summer landscape,
+full of vague suggestions of new scenes and pleasures to the pilgrims.</p>
+
+<p>'We start for Chenonceaux at seven in the morning; so, ladies, I beg
+that you will be ready punctually,' was the command issued by Amanda, as
+they went to their rooms, after a festive dinner of what Lavinia called
+'earth-worms and cacti,' not being fond of stewed brains, baked eels, or
+thistles and pigweed chopped up in oil.</p>
+
+<p>Such a droll night as the wanderers spent! No locks on the doors and no
+bells. Stairs leading straight up the gallery from the courtyard, carts
+going and coming, soft footsteps stealing up and down, whispers that
+sounded suspicious (though they were only orders to kill chickens and
+pick salad for the morrow), and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> ghostly whistle that disturbed
+Lavinia so much, she at last draped herself in the green coverlet, and
+went boldly forth upon the balcony to see what it meant.</p>
+
+<p>She intended to demand silence in French that would strike terror to the
+soul of the bravest native. But when she saw that poor, dear,
+hard-worked <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> blacking boots by the light of the moon, her heart
+melted with pity; and, resolving to give him an extra fee, she silently
+retired to her stone-floored bower, and fell asleep in a stuffy little
+bed, whose orange curtains filled her dreams with volcanic eruptions and
+conflagrations of the most lurid description.</p>
+
+<p>At seven, an open carriage with a stout pair of horses and a sleepy
+driver rolled out of the court-yard of the Lion d'Or. Within it sat
+three ladies, who gazed at one another with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> cheerful countenances, and
+surveyed the world with an air of bland content, beautiful to behold.</p>
+
+<p>'I am fairly faint with happiness,' sighed Matilda, as they drove
+through fields scarlet with poppies, starred with daisies, or yellow
+with buttercups, while birds piped gaily, and trees wore their early
+green.</p>
+
+<p>'You did not eat any breakfast. That accounts for it. Have a crust, do,'
+said Amanda, who seldom stirred without a good, sweet crust or two; for
+they were easy to carry, wholesome to chew, and always ready at a
+moment's notice.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us save our "entusymusy" till we get to the <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, and enjoy
+this lovely drive in a peaceful manner,' said Lavinia, still a little
+sleepy after her adventures in the glimpses of the moon.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><p>So, for an hour or two, they rolled along the smooth road, luxuriating
+in the summer sights and sounds about them; the wayside cottages, with
+women working in the gardens; villages clustered round some tiny,
+picturesque church; windmills whirling on the distant hill-tops;
+vineyards full of peasants tying up the young vines, or trudging by with
+baskets on their backs, heaped with green cuttings for the goats at
+home. Old men, breaking stone by the roadside, touched their red caps to
+the pilgrims, jolly boys shouted at them from the cherry trees, and
+little children peeped from behind the rose-bushes blooming everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Soon, glimpses of the winding Cher began to appear, then an avenue of
+stately trees, and then, standing directly in the river, rose the lovely
+<i>ch&acirc;teau</i> built for Diane de Poictiers by her royal lover. Leaving the
+carriage at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> lodge, our sight-seers crossed the moat, and, led by a
+wooden-faced girl with a lisp, entered the famous pleasure-house, which
+its present owner (a pensive man in black velvet, who played fitfully on
+a French-horn in a pepper-pot tower) is carefully restoring to its
+former splendour.</p>
+
+<p>The great picture-gallery was the chief attraction; and beginning with
+Diane herself&mdash;a tall, simpering baggage, with a bow, hounds, crescent,
+and a blue sash for drapery&mdash;they were led through a rapid review of all
+sorts of worthies and unworthies, relics and rubbish, without end.
+Portraits are always interesting. Even Lavinia, who 'had no soul for
+Art,' as Mat said, looked with real pleasure at a bass-relief of Agnes
+of Sorel, and pictures of Montaigne, Rabelais, Ninon d'Enclos, Madame de
+S&eacute;vign&eacute;, and miniatures of La Fayette and Ben Franklin. The latter
+gentleman looked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> rather out of place in such society; but, perhaps, his
+good old face preached the Dianes and Ninons a silent sermon. His plain
+suit certainly was a relief to the eye, wearied with periwigged sages
+and bejewelled sinners.</p>
+
+<p>Here was the little theatre where Rousseau's plays were acted. Here were
+the gilded chairs in which kings had sat, swords heroes had held, books
+philosophers had pored over, mirrors that had reflected famous beauties,
+and painted walls that had looked down on royal revels long ago.</p>
+
+<p>The old kitchen had a fireplace big enough for a dozen cooks to have
+spoiled gallons of broth in, queer pots and pans, and a handy little
+window, out of which they could fish at any moment, for the river ran
+below.</p>
+
+<p>The chapel, chambers, balconies, and terraces were all being repaired;
+for, thanks to George<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Sand's grandmother, who owned the place in the
+time of the Revolution, it was spared out of respect to her, and is
+still a charming relic of the past.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies went down the mossy steps, leading from the gallery to the
+further shore, and, lying under the oaks, whiled away the noon-time by
+re-peopling the spot with the shapes that used to inhabit it. A very
+happy hour it was, dreaming there by the little river, with the scent of
+new-mown hay in the fresh wind, and before them the airy towers and
+gables of the old <i>ch&acirc;teau</i> rising from the stream like a vision of
+departed splendour, love, and romance.</p>
+
+<p>Having seen every thing, and bought photographs <i>ad libitum</i> of the
+wooden-faced lisper, who cheated awfully, the pilgrims drove away,
+satiated with relics, royalty, and '<i>regardez</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>Another night in the stony-hearted, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>orange-coloured rooms, with the
+sleepless <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> sweeping and murmuring outside like a Banshee, while
+the hens roosted sociably in the gallery, the horses seemed to be
+champing directly under the bed, and the dead Huguenots bumping down
+upon the roof from the castle-walls. Another curious meal wafted from
+the bowels of the earth and cooled by all the airs that blow,&mdash;then the
+shawl-straps were girded anew, the carriage (a half-grown omnibus with
+the jaundice) mounted, the farewell bows and adieux received, and forth
+rumbled the duchesses <i>en route</i> for Blois.</p>
+
+<p>'My heart is rent at leaving that lovely <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>,' said Mat, as they
+crossed the bridge.</p>
+
+<p>'I mourn the earth-worms, the cacti, and the tireless "gossoon,"' added
+Amanda, who appreciated French cookery and had enjoyed confidences with
+Adolphe.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p><p>'The cats, the cats, the cats! I could die happy if I had one,'
+murmured Lavinia; and with these laments they left the town behind them.</p>
+
+<p>Any thing hotter than Blois, with its half dried-up river, dusty
+boulevards, and baked streets, can hardly be imagined. But these
+indomitable women 'did' the church and the castle without flinching. The
+former was pronounced a failure, but the latter was entirely
+satisfactory. The Emperor was having it restored in the most splendid
+manner. The interior seemed rather fresh and gay when contrasted with
+the time-worn exterior, but the stamped leathern hangings, tiled floors,
+emblazoned beams, and carved fireplaces were quite correct. Dragons and
+crowns, porcupines and salamanders, monograms and flowers, shone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+everywhere in a maze of scarlet and gold, brown and silver, purple and
+white.</p>
+
+<p>Here the historical Amanda revelled, and quenched the meek old guide
+with a burst of information which caused him to stare humbly at 'the mad
+English.'</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Regardez</i>, my dears, the chamber and oratory of Catherine de Medicis,
+who here plotted the death of the Duc de Guise. This is the cabinet of
+her son, Henri III., where he gave the daggers to the gentlemen who were
+to rid him of his enemy, the hero of the barricades. This is the Salle
+des Gardes, where Guise was leaning on the chimney-piece when summoned
+to the king. This is the little room at the entrance of which he was set
+upon in the act of lifting the drapery, and stabbed with forty wounds.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh! how horrid!' gasped Matilda, staring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> about as if she saw the
+sanguinary gentlemen approaching.</p>
+
+<p>'So interesting! Do go on!' cried Lavinia, who was fond of woe, and
+enjoyed horrors.</p>
+
+<p>'This is the hall where the body lay for two hours, covered with a cloak
+and a cross of straw on the breast,' cut in Amanda, as the guide opened
+his mouth. 'Here the king came to look upon the corpse of the once
+mighty Henri le Balafr&eacute;, and spurned it with his foot, saying, I shall
+not translate it for you, Mat,&mdash;"<i>Je ne le croyais pas aussi grand</i>" and
+then ordered it to be burnt, and the ashes cast into the river. Remember
+the date, I implore you, December 23, 1588.'</p>
+
+<p>As Amanda paused for breath the little man took the word, and rattled
+off a jumble of facts and fictions about the window from which Marie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> de
+Medicis lowered herself when imprisoned here by her dutiful son, Louis
+XIII.</p>
+
+<p>'I wish the entire lot had been tossed out after her, for I do think
+kings and queens are a set of rascals,' cried Mat, scandalized by the
+royal iniquities to which she had been listening, till the hair stood
+erect upon her innocent head.</p>
+
+<p>The Salle des &Eacute;tats was being prepared for the trial of the men who had
+lately attempted the Emperor's life, and a most theatrical display of
+justice was to be presented to the public. The richly carved stair-case,
+with Francis the First's salamanders squirming up and down it, was a
+relic worth seeing; but the parched pilgrims found the little pots of
+clotted cream quite as interesting, and much more refreshing, when they
+were served up at lunch (the pots, not the pilgrims), each covered with
+a fresh vine-leaf,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> and delicately flavoured with butter-cups and
+clover.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda won the favour of the stately <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> by praising them warmly,
+and he kept bringing in fresh relays, and urging her to eat a third, a
+fourth, with a persuasive dignity hard to resist.</p>
+
+<p>'But yes, Mademoiselle, one more, for nowhere else can <i>cr&ecirc;me de St.
+Gervais</i> be achieved. They are desired, ardently desired, in Paris; but,
+alas! it is impossible to convey them so far, such is their exquisite
+delicacy.'</p>
+
+<p>How many the appreciative ladies consumed, the muse saith not; but the
+susceptible heart of the great <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> was deeply touched, and it was
+with difficulty that they finally escaped from his attentions.</p>
+
+<p>On being presented with a cast-off camp-stool, and a pair of old boots
+to dispose of, he instantly appropriated them as graceful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>souvenirs,
+and clasping his hands, declared with effusion that he would seat his
+infant upon the so-useful stool, and offer the charming boots to Madame
+my wife, who would weep for joy at this touching <i>tableau</i>.</p>
+
+<p>With this melodramatic valedictory, he suffered the guests to depart,
+and the last they saw of him, he was still waving a dirty napkin as he
+stood at the gate, big, bland, and devoted to the end, though the drops
+stood thick upon his manly brow, and the sun glared fiercely on his
+uncovered head.</p>
+
+<p>'I shall write an article on <i>gar&ccedil;ons</i> when I get home,' said Lavinia,
+who was always planning great works and never executing them. 'We have
+known such a nice variety, and all have been so good to us that we owe
+them a tribute. You remember the dear, tow-headed one at Morlaix, who
+insisted on handing us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> dishes of snails, and papers of pins with which
+to pick out the repulsive delicacy?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, and the gloomy one with black linen sleeves who glowered at us,
+sighed gustily in our ears, and anointed us with gravy as he waited at
+table,' added Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't forget the dark one with languid, Spanish eyes and curly hair, on
+the boat going down the Rance. How picturesque and polite he was, to be
+sure, as he kept picking up our beer-bottles when they rolled about the
+deck!' put in Mat, who had the dark youth safely in her sketch-book,
+with eyes as big and black as blots.</p>
+
+<p>'The solemn one at Tours, who squirted seltzer-water out of window at
+the beggars, without a smile, was very funny. So was the little one with
+grubby hands, who tottered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> under the big dishes, but insisted on
+carrying the heaviest.'</p>
+
+<p>'The fast-trotter at Amboise won my heart, he was so supernaturally
+lively, and so full of hurried amiability. A very dear <i>gar&ccedil;on</i> indeed.'</p>
+
+<p>'Be sure you remember the superb being at Brest, whose eyes threatened
+to fall out of his head at exciting moments. Also, Flabot's chubby boy
+who adored Mat, and languished at her, over the onions, like a Cupid in
+a blue blouse.'</p>
+
+<p>'I will do justice to everyone,' and Lavinia took copious notes on the
+spot.</p>
+
+<p>Orleans was a prim, tidy town, and after taking a look at the fine
+statue of the Maid, and laughing at some funny little soldiers drumming
+wildly in the <i>Place</i>, our travellers went on to Bourges.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>'This, now, is a nice, dingy old place, and we will take our walks
+abroad directly, for it looks like rain, and we must make the most of
+our time and money,' said Amanda;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'For, though on pleasure she was bent,</div>
+<div>She had a frugal mind.'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Forth they went, as soon as dinner was over, and found the waters all
+abroad also; for every man was playing away with a hose, every woman
+scrubbing her door-steps, and the children gaily playing leap-frog in
+the puddles.</p>
+
+<p>'Nasty, damp place!' croaked the Raven, obscuring her disgusted
+countenance behind the inevitable grey cloud, and gathering her garments
+about her, as they hopped painfully over the wet stones, for sidewalks
+there were none.</p>
+
+<p>'I find it refreshing after the dust and heat. Please detach Mat from
+that shop window, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> come on, or we shall see nothing before dark,'
+replied the ever amiable Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda <i>would</i> glue herself to every jeweller's window, and remain
+fascinated by the richness there displayed, till led away by force. On
+this occasion, however, her mania led to good results; for, at the ninth
+window, as her keepers were about to drag her away, a ring of peculiar
+antiquity caught their eyes simultaneously, and, to Mat's amazement,
+both plunged into the little shop, clamouring to see it. A pale emerald,
+surrounded by diamond chippings set in silver, with a wide gold band cut
+in a leafy pattern, composed this gem of price.</p>
+
+<p>'A Francis First ring, sold by a noble but impoverished family, and only
+a hundred francs, Madame,' said the man, politely anxious to cheat the
+fair foreigners out of four times its value.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>'Can't afford it,' and Lavinia retired. But the shrewd Amanda, with
+inimitable shrugs and pensive sighs, regretted that it was so costly. 'A
+sweet ring; but, alas! forty francs is all I have to give.'</p>
+
+<p>The man was desolated to think that eighty francs was the lowest he was
+permitted to receive. Would Madame call again, and perhaps it might be
+arranged?</p>
+
+<p>Ah, no! Madame is forced to depart early, to return no more.</p>
+
+<p><i>Mon Dieu!</i> how afflicting! In that case, sixty would be possible for so
+rare a relic.</p>
+
+<p>Madame is <i>ab&icirc;m&eacute;</i>, but it is not to be. Forty is the utmost; therefore
+<i>Merci</i>, and <i>Bonjour</i>.</p>
+
+<p>'Hold! Where shall it be sent?' cries the man, giving in, but not
+confessing it, with awkward frankness.</p>
+
+<p>A thousand thanks! Madame will pay for it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> at once; and laying down the
+money, she sweetly bows herself away, with the ring upon her finger.</p>
+
+<p>'What a people!' ejaculated Lavinia, who always felt like a fly in a
+cobweb when she attempted to deal with the French, in her blunt,
+confiding way.</p>
+
+<p>'It is great fun,' answered Amanda, flashing her ring with satisfaction
+after the skirmish. 'Will Madame kindly direct me to the house of
+Jacques C&oelig;ur?' she added, addressing an old woman clattering by in
+<i>sabots</i>.</p>
+
+<p>'Allez toujours &agrave; droit en vous appuyant sur la gauche,' replied the
+native, beaming and bowing till the streamers of her cap waved in the
+wind.</p>
+
+<p>They followed these directions, but failed to find the place, and
+applied to another old woman eating soup on her door-step.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p><p>'Suivez le chemin droit en tombant &agrave; gauche' was the reply, with a wave
+of the spoon to all the points of the compass.</p>
+
+<p>'Great heavens, what a language!' cried Lavinia, who had been vainly
+endeavouring to 'support' herself, as she 'fell' in every direction over
+and into the full gutters.</p>
+
+<p>The house was found at last, an ancient, mysterious place, with a very
+curious window, carved to look as if the shutters were half open, and
+from behind one peeped a man's head, from the other a woman's, both so
+life-like that it quite startled the strangers. Murray informed the
+observers that these servants are supposed to be looking anxiously for
+their master's return, Jacques having suddenly disappeared, after
+lending much money to the king, who took that medi&aelig;val way of paying his
+debts.</p>
+
+<p>Service was being held in the church, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>ladies went in to rest
+and listen, for the music was fine. Much red and white drapery gave the
+sanctuary the appearance of a gay drawing-room, and the profane Lavinia
+compared the officiating clergy to a set of red furniture. The biggest
+priest was the sofa, four deacons the arm-chairs, and three little boys
+the foot-stools, all upholstered in crimson silk, and neatly covered
+with lace tidies.</p>
+
+<p>As if to rebuke her frivolity, a lovely fresh voice from the hidden
+choir suddenly soared up like a lark, singing so wonderfully that a
+great stillness fell on the listeners, and while it lasted the tawdry
+church and its mummery were quite forgotten, as the ear led the heart up
+that ladder of sweet sounds to heaven. Even when the others joined in,
+one could still hear that child-voice soaring and singing far above the
+rest, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> if some little angel were playing with the echoes among the
+arches of the roof.</p>
+
+<p>A proud native informed the strangers that it was a poor boy whose
+exquisite voice was the pride of the town, and would in time make his
+fortune. As the choir-boys came racing down stairs after service,
+pulling off their dingy robes as they ran, Lavinia tried to pick out the
+little angel, but gave it up in despair, for a more uninteresting set of
+bullet-headed, copper-coloured sprigs she never saw.</p>
+
+<p>Rain drove the wanderers back to the hotel, and there they made a night
+of it. Ordering a fire in the largest of the three stuffy little cells
+which they occupied, they set about being comfortable, for it had turned
+chilly, and a furious wind disported itself in and out through
+numberless crevices. Lavinia was inspired to mull some wine, and brewed
+a mild jorum that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> cheered, but did not inebriate. Amanda produced her
+Shakspeare, and read aloud while the simmering and sipping went on.
+Matilda sketched the noble commander as she lay upon the sofa, with her
+Egyptian profile in fine relief, and her aristocratic red slippers
+gracefully visible. A large grey cat of a social turn joined the party,
+and added much to the domesticity of the scene by sitting on the hearth
+in a cosy bunch and purring blissfully.</p>
+
+<p>'Now it is your turn to propose something for the general amusement,
+Mandy,' said Mat, when the beakers were drained dry and the Montagues
+and Capulets comfortably buried.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us attend to the culture of our nails,' replied Amanda, producing
+her <i>polissoir</i>, powder, and knife.</p>
+
+<p>Three cups of tepid water were produced, and the company sat eagerly
+soaking their finger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> tips for a time, after which much pruning and
+polishing went on, to the great bewilderment of Puss, who poked her own
+paws into the cups, as if trying to test the advantages of this
+remarkable American custom.</p>
+
+<p>'What <i>would</i> our blessed mother say if she saw us now?' said Mat,
+proudly examining ten pointed pink nails at the tips of her long
+fingers.</p>
+
+<p>'People told us we should get demoralised if we came abroad, and this is
+the first step on the downward road,' returned Lavinia, shaking her head
+over her own backslidings.</p>
+
+<p>'No: it's the second step. We ate calves' brains for dinner, and what
+I'm sure were frogs' legs with mushrooms. You know we vowed we wouldn't
+touch their horrid messes, but I really begin to like them,' confessed
+Mat, who had pronounced every dish at dinner 'De-licious!'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>'Ha! I will write a poem!' cried Amanda, and leaping from the sofa she
+grasped her pen, flung open her portfolio, and in a few brief moments
+produced these inspired stanzas.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i3">THE DOWNWARD ROAD.</div></div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<div>Two Yankee maids of simple mien,</div>
+<div class="i1">And earnest, high endeavour,</div>
+<div>Come sailing to the land of France,</div>
+<div class="i1">To escape the winter weather.</div>
+<div>When first they reached that vicious shore</div>
+<div class="i1">They scorned the native ways,</div>
+<div>Refused to eat the native grub,</div>
+<div class="i1">Or ride in native shays.</div>
+<div>'Oh, for the puddings of our home!</div>
+<div class="i1">Oh, for some simple food!</div>
+<div>These horrid, greasy, unknown things,</div>
+<div class="i1">How can you think them good?'</div>
+<div>Thus to Amanda did they say,</div>
+<div class="i1">An uncomplaining maid,</div>
+<div>Who ate in peace and answered not</div>
+<div class="i1">Until one day they said&mdash;</div>
+<div>How <i>can</i> you eat this garbage vile</div>
+<div class="i1">Against all nature's laws?</div>
+<div>How <i>can</i> you eat your nails in points,</div>
+<div class="i1">Until they look like claws?'</div>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span><div>Then patiently Amanda said,</div>
+<div class="i1">'My loves, just wait a while,</div>
+<div>The time will come you will not think</div>
+<div class="i1">The nails or victuals vile.'</div>
+<div>A month has passed, and now we see</div>
+<div class="i1">That prophecy fulfilled;</div>
+<div>The ardour of those carping maids</div>
+<div class="i1">Is most completely chilled.</div>
+<div>Matilda was the first to fall,</div>
+<div class="i1">Lured by the dark gossoon,</div>
+<div>In awful dishes one by one</div>
+<div class="i1">She dipped her timid spoon.</div>
+<div>She promised for one little week</div>
+<div class="i1">To let her nails grow long,</div>
+<div>But added in a saving clause</div>
+<div class="i1">She thought it very wrong.</div>
+<div>Thus did she take the fatal plunge,</div>
+<div class="i1">Did compromise with sin,</div>
+<div>Then all was lost; from that day forth</div>
+<div class="i1">French ways were sure to win.</div>
+<div>Lavinia followed in her train,</div>
+<div class="i1">And ran the self-same road,</div>
+<div>Ate sweet-bread first, then chopped-up brains,</div>
+<div class="i1">Eels, mushrooms, pickled toad.</div>
+<div>She cries, 'How flat the home <i>cuisine</i></div>
+<div class="i1">After this luscious food!</div>
+<div>Puddings and brutal joints of meat,</div>
+<div class="i1">That once we fancied good!'</div>
+<div>And now in all their leisure hours</div>
+<div class="i1">One resource never fails,</div>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span><div>Morning and noon and night they sit</div>
+<div class="i1">And polish up their nails.</div>
+<div>Then if in one short fatal month</div>
+<div class="i1">A change like this appears,</div>
+<div>Oh, what will be the next result</div>
+<div class="i1">When they have stayed for years?</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Tremendous applause greeted this masterly effort, and other poems were
+produced with the rapidity of genius by Amanda and Lavinia, each writing
+the alternate verse, <i>&agrave; la</i> Beaumont and Fletcher, which gave a peculiar
+charm to these effusions.</p>
+
+<p>When Matilda was called upon for a festive suggestion, she promptly
+replied, with a graceful yawn:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Let's go to bed.'</p>
+
+<p>The meeting, therefore, broke up, and the younger ladies retired to
+their cells in good order. But the Raven, excited by the jocund hour,
+continued to rustle and patter about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> warm room in a state of
+inexpressible hilarity, most exasperating to the others, who desired to
+sleep. Not content with upsetting the fire-irons occasionally, singing
+to the cat, and slamming the furniture about, this restless bird kept
+appearing first at one cell door with a conundrum, then at the other
+with a joke, or insisted on telling funny stories in her den, till the
+exhausted victims implored her to take an opium pill and subside before
+they became furious. She obeyed, and after a few relapses into wandering
+and joking, finally slumbered.</p>
+
+<p>Then occurred the one thrilling adventure of this happy journey. In the
+darkest hour before dawn Mat awoke, heard a suspicious noise in the
+middle room, and asked if Lavinia was on the rampage again. No reply,
+and, listening, a low, rasping, rustling sound was heard.</p>
+
+<p>'Thieves, of course. Our watches and purses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> are on the table, and
+Lavinia has probably forgotten to lock the door. I must attend to this.'
+And up rose the dauntless Matilda, who feared neither man nor ghost.</p>
+
+<p>Grasping her dagger, hitherto used as a paper cutter, but always eager
+to be steeped in the gore of brigands, robbers, or beasts of prey, she
+crept to the door and peeped in. The pale glow of the fire showed her a
+dark figure crouching in the opposite door-way. The click of a pistol
+caught her ear, but dodging quickly, the heroic girl cried sternly from
+the shelter of Lavinia's bed-curtain,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Come out, or I'll fire!'</p>
+
+<p>'Mio Dio! is it only you?' answered a familiar voice, as Amanda,
+shrouded in a waterproof, sprang up and lit a match.</p>
+
+<p>'What are you prowling about for?' demanded Mat.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p><p>'To blow your brains out, apparently,' answered Mandy, lowering her
+arms. 'Why are you abroad?'</p>
+
+<p>'To stab you, I fancy,' and Mat sheathed her dagger balked of its prey.</p>
+
+<p>'I heard a noise.'</p>
+
+<p>'So did I.'</p>
+
+<p>'Let's see what it is,' and lighting a candle, the fair Amazons looked
+boldly about the shadowy room.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia lay wrapt in slumber, with only the end of her sarcastic nose
+visible beyond the misty cloud that enveloped her venerable countenance.
+The outer door was fast, and the shutters closed. No booted feet
+appeared below the curtains, no living eyes rolled awfully in the
+portrait of the salmon-coloured saint upon the wall. Yet the rustling
+and rasping went on, and with one impulse the defenders of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> sleeping
+innocence made for the table in the corner.</p>
+
+<p>There was the midnight robber at his fell work!&mdash;the big cat peacefully
+gnawing the cold chicken, and knocking about the treasured crusts
+dragged from the luncheon-basket carefully packed for an early start.</p>
+
+<p>'Wake and behold the ruin your pet has made!'</p>
+
+<p>'We might be murdered or carried off a dozen times over without her
+knowing it. Here's a nice duenna!'</p>
+
+<p>And the indignant ladies shook, pinched, and shouted till the hapless
+sleeper opened one eye, and wrathfully demanded what the matter was.</p>
+
+<p>They told her with eloquent brevity, but instead of praising their
+prowess, and thanking them with fervour, the ungrateful woman shut<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> her
+eye again, merely saying with drowsy irascibility,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You told me to go to sleep, and I went; next time fight it out among
+yourselves, but don't wake me.'</p>
+
+<p>'Throw the cat out of window and go to bed, Mat,' and Amanda uncocked
+her pistol with the resignation of one who had learned not to expect
+gratitude in this world.</p>
+
+<p>'Touch a hair of that dear creature and I'll raise the house!' cried
+Lavinia, roused at once.</p>
+
+<p>Puss, who had viewed the fray sitting bolt upright on the table, now
+settled the vexed question by skipping into Lavinia's arms, feeling with
+the instinct of her race that her surest refuge was there. Mat retired
+in silent disgust, and the Raven fell asleep soothed by the grateful
+purring of her furry friend.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p><p>'Last night's experiences have given me a longing for adventures,' said
+Mat, as they journeyed on next morning.</p>
+
+<p>'I've had quite enough of that sort,' growled Lavinia.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us read our papers, and wait for time to send us something in the
+way of a lark,' and Amanda obscured herself in a grove of damp
+newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia also took one and read bits aloud to Mat, who was mending her
+gloves, bright yellow, four-buttoned, and very dirty.</p>
+
+<p>'Translate as you go along&mdash;I do so hate that gabble,' begged Mat, who
+would <i>not</i> improve her mind.</p>
+
+<p>So Lavinia gave her a free translation which convulsed Amanda behind her
+paper. Coming to this passage, 'Plusieurs faits graves sont arriv&eacute;s,'
+the reader rendered it, 'Several made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> graves have arrived,' adding,
+'Dear me, what singular customs the French have, to be sure!' A little
+farther on she read, 'Un portrait de feu Monsieur mon p&egrave;re,' adding, 'A
+fire portrait means a poker sketch, I suppose.'</p>
+
+<p>Here a smothered giggle from Amanda caused the old lady to say 'Bless
+you!' thinking the dear girl had sneezed.</p>
+
+<p>'I must have some blue cotton to mend my dress with. Remind me to get
+some at Moulins. By the way, how do you ask for it in French?' said Mat,
+surveying a rent in her skirts.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, just go in and say, "Avez-vous le fils bleu?"' replied Lavinia,
+with a superior air.</p>
+
+<p>'A blue son! My precious granny, what will you say next?' murmured
+Amanda, faint with suppressed laughter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p>'What are you muttering about?' asked Granny, sharply.</p>
+
+<p>'Trying to recall those fine lines in "Wilhelm Meister;" don't you
+remember? "Wer nie sein Brod mit Thr&auml;nen ass,"' replied Amanda, polite
+even at the last gasp.</p>
+
+<p>'I read my Goethe in decent English, and don't know anything about
+training asses,' returned Lavinia, severely.</p>
+
+<p>That was too much! Amanda cast her paper down, and had her laugh out, as
+the only means of saving herself from suffocation. The others gazed upon
+her in blank amazement, till she found breath enough to enlighten them,
+when such peals of merriment arose, that the guard popped his head in to
+see if he had not unwittingly shipped a load of lunatics.</p>
+
+<p>'That was splendid! But now we must sober<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> down, for a gorgeous being is
+about to get in,' said Amanda, as they stopped at a station.</p>
+
+<p>The gorgeous being entered, and found three demure ladies rapt in
+newspapers. They apparently saw nothing but the words before them; yet
+every one of them knew that the handsome young man had bowed in the most
+superior manner; also, that he was dressed in brown velvet, long
+gaiters, buttoned to the knee, a ravishing blue tie, buff gloves, and
+pouch and powder-horn slung over his shoulder. Also, that a servant with
+two dogs and a gun had touched his hat and said, 'Oui, monsieur le
+comte,' as he shut the door.</p>
+
+<p>A slight thrill pervaded the statues as this fact was made known, and
+each began to wonder how the elegant aristocrat would behave. To say
+that he stared, feebly expresses the fixity of his noble gaze, as it
+rested in turn upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> the three faces opposite. When satisfied, he also
+produced a paper and began to read. But Matilda caught a big, black eye
+peering over the sheet more than once, as she peered over the top of her
+own.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't like him. Remember, we don't speak French,' whispered the
+discreet Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'I can swear that I don't,' said Lavinia, with an irrepressible smile,
+as she remembered the 'blue son.'</p>
+
+<p>'The language of the eye is not forbidden me, and I can't sit baking
+under a newspaper all the way,' returned Matilda, whose blond curls had
+evidently met with the great creature's approval.</p>
+
+<p>A slight pucker about the Comte's lips caused a thrill of horror to
+pervade the ladies, as Amanda murmured under her breath,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'He may understand English!'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p><p>'Then we are lost!' returned the tragic Raven.</p>
+
+<p>'Wish he did. I really pine for a little attention. It gives such a
+relish to life,' said Matilda, thinking regretfully of the devoted
+beings left behind.</p>
+
+<p>The prudent Amanda and the stern Lavinia steeled their hearts, and iced
+their countenances to the comely gentleman. But the social Matilda could
+not refrain from responding to his polite advances, with a modest
+'Merci, Monsieur,' as he drew the curtain for her, a smile when he
+picked up the unruly curling-stick, and her best bow as he offered his
+paper with a soft glance of the black eyes.</p>
+
+<p>In vain Amanda tried to appal her with awful frowns; in vain Lavinia
+trod warningly upon her foot: she paid no heed, and left them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> no hope
+but the saving remembrance that she couldn't talk French.</p>
+
+<p>'If the man don't get out soon, I'll tie her up in my shawl, and tell
+him she is mad,' resolved Lavinia, whose spinster soul was always
+scandalised at the faintest approach to a flirtation.</p>
+
+<p>'If the man does speak English, Mat will have it all her own way,'
+thought Amanda, remembering the vow imposed upon the reckless girl.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, alas for the anxious twain! The man did <i>not</i> get out soon, the
+man <i>did</i> speak English, and in ten minutes Matilda was off, like a colt
+without a halter. The anguish of her keepers added zest to the fun, and
+finding that the gentleman evidently thought her the lady of the party
+(owing to the yellow gloves, smartest hat, and irreproachable boots),
+and the others in sober gray and black, were maid and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> duenna, this
+reprehensible girl kept up the joke, put on airs, and enjoyed that
+flirtatious hour to her heart's content.</p>
+
+<p>As if to punish the others for their distrust, and to reward Mat's
+interest in him, M. le Comte devoted himself to Mademoiselle, telling
+her about his hunting, his estate, and finished by inviting her and her
+party to call and view his <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, if they ever paused at the town,
+which had the honour of being his summer residence. Mat responded to all
+these courtesies with confiding sweetness, and when at length he was
+desolated at being obliged to tear himself away, she</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'Gave sigh for sigh,'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>as he retired with a superb bow, a gallant 'Bon voyage, mesdames,' and a
+wicked twinkle of the black eyes as they rested on the faces of the
+frozen ladies.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>'I got rather the best of the joke in that little affair: didn't I?'
+said Mat, gayly, as the brown velvet Adonis vanished.</p>
+
+<p>'You are a disgrace to your party and your nation,' sternly responded
+Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia spoke not, but shook her little sister till the hat flew off her
+head, and she had only breath enough left to declare with unquenched
+ardour that she would do it again the very next chance she got.</p>
+
+<p>Lectures, laughter, and longings for 'my Comte' beguiled the remainder
+of the way, and <i>Moulang</i> (as Mat pronounced Moulins) was reached after
+a pleasant trip through a green country, picturesque with the white
+cattle of Berri. There was not much to see, but the town was so quaint
+and quiet, that Amanda was seized with one of her remarkable projects.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us find a little house somewhere and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> stay a week or two. I fain
+would rest and ruminate among the white cows for a while; have a little
+washing done, and slowly prepare to emerge into the world again. Lyons
+is our next point, and there we must bid adieu to freedom and
+shawl-straps.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well, dear,' responded Lavinia, with resignation, having learned
+that the best way to curb these aberrations of genius was to give in,
+and let circumstances prove their impracticability.</p>
+
+<p>So Amanda inquired of the landlady if such a rustic cot could be found.
+Whereupon the dingy little woman clasped her dingy little hands, and
+declared that she had exactly the charming retreat desired. Truly yes,
+and she would at once make her toilette, order out the carriage, and
+display this lovely villa to the dear ladies.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p><p>With many misgivings the three squeezed themselves into a square
+clothes-basket on wheels, drawn by an immense, bony, white horse, driven
+by a striped boy, and adorned by Madame, in a towering bonnet, laden
+with amazing fruit, flowers, and vegetables. Lavinia counted three
+tomatoes, a bunch of grapes, poppies and pansies, wheat ears and
+blackberry-vines, a red, red rose, and one small lettuce, with glass
+dewdrops and green grubs lavishly sprinkled over it. A truly superb
+<i>chapeau</i> and a memorable one.</p>
+
+<p>Away they trundled through stony streets, dusty roads, waste grounds,
+marshy meadows, and tumbled-down pleasure-gardens, till the
+clothes-basket turned down a lane, and the bony horse stopped at length
+before a door in a high red wall.</p>
+
+<p>'Behold!' cried madame, leading them with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> much clanking of keys, into a
+cabbage-garden. A small tool-house stood among the garden-stuff, with
+brick floors, very dirty windows, and the atmosphere of a tomb. Bags of
+seed, wheel-barrows, onions, and dust cumbered the ground. Empty bottles
+stood on the old table, cigar ends lay thick upon the hearth, and a
+trifle of gay crockery adorned the mantel-piece.</p>
+
+<p>'See, then, here is a <i>salon</i>, so cool, so calm. Above is a room with
+beds, and around the garden where the ladies can sit all day. A maid can
+achieve the breakfast here, and my carriage can come for them to dine at
+the hotel. Is it not charmingly arranged?</p>
+
+<p>'It is simply awful,' said Mat, aghast at the prospect.</p>
+
+<p>'Settle it as you like, dear, only I'm afraid I couldn't stay <i>very</i>
+long on account of the dampness,' observed Lavinia, cheerfully, as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+put a hoe-handle under her feet and wiped the blue mould from a
+three-legged chair.</p>
+
+<p>'It won't do, so I'll tell her you are an invalid and very particular,'
+said Amanda, with another inspiration, as she led the landlady forth to
+break the blow tenderly.</p>
+
+<p>'My neuralgia is useful if it isn't ornamental; and what a comfort that
+is!' said Lavinia, as she lightly threw a large cockroach out of window,
+dodged a wasp, and crushed a fat spider.</p>
+
+<p>And so it was in many ways. If the party wanted a car to themselves,
+Granny was ordered to lie down and groan dismally, which caused other
+travellers to shun the poor invalid. If rooms did not suit, suffering
+Madame <i>must</i> have sun or perish. Late lunches, easy carriages, extra
+blankets, every sort of comfort was for her, whether she wanted them or
+not.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p><p>'Shall I be sick or well?' was always the first question when an
+invitation came, for 'my sister's delicate health' was the standing
+excuse when parties palled, or best gowns were not get-at-able.</p>
+
+<p>While Amanda conferred with the hostess among the cabbages, Mat
+discovered that the picturesque white cattle in the field close by were
+extremely fierce and unsocial; that there was no house in sight, and the
+venerable horse and shay would never sustain many trips to and fro to
+dinner at the hotel. Lavinia poked about the house, and soon satisfied
+herself that it abounded in every species of what Fanny Kemble calls
+'entomological inconvenience,' and an atmosphere admirably calculated to
+introduce cholera to the inhabitants of Moulins.</p>
+
+<p>'It is all settled; let us return,' said Amanda, appearing at last with
+an air of triumph, having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> appeased the old lady by eating green
+currants, and admiring an earwiggy arbour, commanding a fine view of a
+marsh where frogs were piping and cool mists rising as the sun set.</p>
+
+<p>The chickens were tough at dinner, the wine bitter, the bread sour, but
+no one reproached Amanda as the cause of this change. And when the
+hostess bowed them out, next day, without a smile, they drove away,
+conscious only of deep gratitude that they were saved from leaving their
+bones to moulder among the cabbages of Moulins.</p>
+
+<p>'Now we return to civilisation, good clothes, and Christian food,' said
+Lavinia, as they surveyed their fine rooms at the Grand Hotel, Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>'Likewise letters and luggage,' added Amanda, as the maid brought in a
+bundle of letters, and two porters came bumping up with the trunks.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p>'Well, I've enjoyed the trip immensely, though nothing very remarkable
+has happened,' said Mat, diving into her private ark with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>'I should like to wander in the wilderness for years, if I could hear
+from my family at intervals,' said Lavinia, briskly breaking open the
+plump, travel-worn letters.</p>
+
+<p>'Then you consider our trip a success?' asked Amanda, pausing in the act
+of removing the dust from her noble countenance.</p>
+
+<p>'A perfect success! We have done what we planned, had no mishaps, seen
+and enjoyed much, quarrelled not at all, laughed a great deal, and been
+altogether festive, thanks to you. I shall hang my shawl-strap on the
+castle wall as a trophy of the prowess of my Amanda, and the success of
+the last Declaration of American Independence,' replied Lavinia.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p><p>'I, also,' said Mat, opening her bundle for the one hundreth and last
+time.</p>
+
+<p>'You do me proud; I humbly thank you,' and with a superb curtsy the
+commander-in-chief modestly retired behind the towel.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>SWITZERLAND.</i></h3>
+
+<p>'My children, listen to the words of wisdom ere it is too late,' began
+Lavinia, as the three sat about in dressing-gowns after a busy day in
+Geneva.</p>
+
+<p>'We listen, go on, Granny,' replied the irreverent girls.</p>
+
+<p>'If we stay here a week longer, we are ruined. Firstly, this Metropole
+is an expensive hotel; also noisy and full of fashionable people, whom I
+hate. Secondly, the allurements of the jewellers' shops are too much for
+us, and we had better flee before we spend all our money.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> Thirdly, if
+war does break out along the Rhine, as rumour now predicts, Geneva will
+be crammed with people whose plans, like ours, are upset; therefore we
+had better skip across the lake, and secure a comfortable place for
+ourselves at Vevey or Montreaux, for we shall probably have to winter
+there.'</p>
+
+<p>'Hear, hear! we will do it, and if Italy doesn't get over her revolution
+in time for us to go to Rome, we must content ourselves with some nook
+in this refuge for all wanderers on the face of the continent,' said
+Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>'But I like Geneva so much. It's such fun to watch the splendid waiters
+file in at dinner, looking like young gentlemen ready for a ball; the
+house is so gay, and the shops!&mdash;never did I dream of such richness
+before. Do stay another week and buy a few more things,' prayed Matilda,
+who spent most of her time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> gloating over the jewelry, and tempting her
+sister to buy all manner of useless gauds.</p>
+
+<p>'No: we will go to-morrow. I know of several good <i>pensions</i> at Vevey,
+so we are sure of getting in somewhere. Pack at once, and let us flee,'
+returned Lavinia, who, having bought a watch, a ring, and a locket, felt
+that it was time to go.</p>
+
+<p>And go they did, settling for a month at Bex, a little town up the
+valley of the Rhone, remarkable for its heat, its dirt, its lovely
+scenery, and the remarkable perfection to which its inhabitants had
+brought the <i>go&icirc;tre</i>, nearly every one being blessed with an unsightly
+bunch upon the neck, which they decorated with ribbons and proudly
+displayed to the disgusted traveller.</p>
+
+<p>Here in the rambling old H&ocirc;tel des Bains, with its balconies, gardens,
+and little rooms, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> wanderers reposed for a time. A Polish countess,
+with her lover, daughter, and governess, conferred distinction upon the
+house. An old Hungarian count, who laboured under the delusion that he
+descended in a direct line from Zenobia, also adorned the scene. An
+artist with two pretty boys, named Alfred Constable Landseer Reynolds
+and Allston West Cuyp Vandyke, afforded Matilda much satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>English mammas with prim daughters of thirty or so still tied to their
+apron-strings were to be found, of course, for they are everywhere; also
+wandering French folk raving about the war one minute and tearing their
+hair over bad coffee the next.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda read newspapers and talked politics with the old count; while
+Lavinia, with a paper bag of apricots under one arm and a volume of
+Disraeli's novels under the other, spent her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> shining hours wandering
+from balcony to garden, enjoying the heat, which gave her a short
+respite from her woes.</p>
+
+<p>While here Matilda, in company with a kindred soul, made the ascent of
+Mount St. Bernard with the pleasing accompaniments of wind, rain,
+thunder, and lightning. But the irrepressible Americans went on in spite
+of warnings from more prudent travellers who stopped half-way. With one
+mule and a guide for escort, the two enthusiasts waded swollen streams
+with ice-cold water up to their knees, climbed slippery roads, faced
+what seemed a whirlwind at that height, and, undaunted by the uproar of
+the elements, pressed on to the Hospice, to the great admiration of
+Moritz, the guide, who told them he had seldom taken men up in such a
+storm, never ladies.</p>
+
+<p>At the Hospice the dripping lasses found a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> hospitable welcome from the
+handsome monk who does the honours there. Being provided with dry
+garments, and having much fun over the tall Matilda draped in skirts of
+many colours in the attempt to get any long enough, they were fed and
+warmed by the engaging monk, who entertained them as they sat about a
+roaring fire while the storm raged without, with thrilling tales of the
+travellers they had saved, the wild adventures they had known in the
+dreadful winter time, and the gifts bestowed upon them by grateful
+travellers or generous guests.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince of Wales had sent them a piano, and many fine pictures
+ornamented the walls from famous persons. An old English lady who spends
+her summers up there seemed much amused at the prank of the girls, and
+evidently wondered what their guardians were about.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>A merry and memorable evening; and when, on going to their cells, they
+found the beds nicely warmed, Matilda exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'This is the most delightful of the romantic and the comfortable I ever
+saw. Alps and warming-pans taken "jintly" are delicious!'</p>
+
+<p>At five next morning they were wakened by the chanting of the invisible
+brotherhood, and went down to the chapel for mass. On going out for a
+clamber on the rocks, seven or eight great dogs came baying and leaping
+about them, licking their hands and smelling their garments to see if
+they were hurt. Looking into their bright, benevolent eyes, one could
+well believe the wonderful tales told of their courage and sagacity.
+Though so powerful and large they were gentle as kittens, and the
+dog-loving girls were proud to receive and return the caresses of these
+four-footed heroes.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p><p>Leaving a grateful <i>souvenir</i> in the box intended to receive whatever
+guests choose to leave, the girls descended in the morning sunshine,
+finding it a very different experience from the ascent. All was clear
+and calm now,&mdash;beautiful and grand; and only pausing at M. to send back
+a fine engraving to the comely priest, who had made a deep impression on
+their romantic hearts, the <i>enfants</i> returned to their anxious friends,
+mildewed, rumpled, and weary, but full of enthusiastic delight over
+their successful ascent of St. Bernard.</p>
+
+<p>War broke out, and Alexandre, the all-accomplished head-waiter, dropped
+his napkin, shouldered his gun, and marched away, leaving the H&ocirc;tel des
+Bains desolate. Being pretty thoroughly baked, and very weary of the
+little town, our trio departed to Vevey, and settled down in the best
+<i>pension</i> that ever received the weary traveller.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p><p>Standing in its own pretty grounds, and looking out upon the lake,
+Pension Paradis deserves its name. Clean and cosy within, a good table,
+a kindly hostess, and the jolliest old host ever seen! what more could
+the human heart desire?</p>
+
+<p>Vevey was swarming with refugees. Don Carlos, or the Duke de Madrid, as
+he was called, was there with his Duchess and court, plotting heaven
+knows what up at his villa, with the grave, shabby men who haunted the
+town.</p>
+
+<p>Queen Isabella reigned at one hotel, and Spanish grandees pervaded the
+place. There were several at Pension Paradis, and no one guessed what
+great creatures they were till a <i>f&ecirc;te</i> day arrived, and the grim, gray
+men blossomed out into counts, marquises, and generals covered with
+orders, stars, and crosses splendid to behold.</p>
+
+<p>One particularly silent, shabby little man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> with a shaven head and fine
+black eyes, who was never seen to smile, became an object of interest on
+that occasion by appearing in a gorgeous uniform with a great gilt
+grasshopper hanging down his back from a broad green ribbon. Who was he?
+What did the grasshopper mean? Where did he go to in a fine carriage,
+and what was he plotting with the other Carlists, who dodged in and out
+of his room at all hours?</p>
+
+<p>No one ever knew, and all the artful questions put to the young
+Spaniard, who played croquet with the girls, were unavailing. Nothing
+was discovered, except that little Mirandola had a title, and might be
+sent back to Spain any day to lose his life or liberty in some rash
+plot, which circumstance made the black-eyed boy doubly interesting to
+the free-born Americans. Lavinia bewailed his hard lot, Amanda taught
+him whist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> and told his fortune, and Matilda put him in her sketch-book
+done in the blackest India-ink. It is also to be recorded that the
+doomed little Don was never seen to laugh but once, and that was when
+the girls taught him the classical game of Muggins. The name struck him;
+he went about saying it to himself, and on the first occasion of his
+being 'mugginsed,' he was so tickled that he indulged in a hearty boy's
+laugh; but immediately recovered himself, and never smiled again, as if
+in penance for so forgetting his dignity.</p>
+
+<p>A bashful Russian, who wore remarkably fine broadcloth and had perfect
+manners, was likewise received into the good graces of the ladies, who
+taught him English, called him 'the Baron' in private, and covered him
+with confusion in public by making him talk at table.</p>
+
+<p>But the most amusing of all the family was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> Madame A., a handsome widow
+from Lyons, with two ugly children and a stout old mamma, who wore
+orange stockings and a curious edifice of black lace encircled with
+large purple asters. The widow had married an Italian artist, who was
+mortally jealous of his wife, whose blonde beauty attracted much
+attention at Rome. In some quarrel with a model the husband was stabbed,
+and the handsome widow left in peace.</p>
+
+<p>A tall, fair lady, with a profile like Marie Antoinette; she dressed in
+white with violet ribbons, and wore much ancient jewelry. A loud-voiced,
+energetic woman, who bewailed the sack of her house at Lyons, scolded
+her children, and cursed the Germans with equal volubility and spirit.
+When silent she was the picture of a patrician beauty; but, alas! her
+voice destroyed the charm, and her manners&mdash;great heavens, what things
+that woman did! Picking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> her pearly teeth with a hair-pin, and knocking
+her darlings into their chairs with one sweep of her elbow when they
+annoyed her at table, were the least of the horrors she perpetrated.</p>
+
+<p>But she talked well, devoted herself to her family, and took misfortune
+bravely; so much may be pardoned her.</p>
+
+<p>Her infants were only remarkable for their ugliness and curious
+costumes. The little girl usually wore soiled silk gowns, and had her
+hair tied up with bits of twine. The boy appeared in a suit of yellow
+calico spotted with black, looking very much like a canary bird who had
+fallen into an inkstand. On festival occasions he wore white cloth
+raiment, with red ribbons stuck here and there, and high red boots.</p>
+
+<p>But, on the whole, the old mamma was the queerest of the set; for she
+spent most of her time lumbering up and down stairs, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> amusement
+kept the orange hose constantly before the public. When not disporting
+herself in this way, she dozed in the <i>salon</i>, or consumed much food at
+table with a devotion that caused her to suck her fingers, on every one
+of which shone an antique ring of price. Her head-gear was a perpetual
+puzzle to the observing Lavinia, who could never discover whether it was
+a cap, a bonnet, or a natural production, for it was never off. Madame
+walked out in it, wore it all day, and very likely slept in it. At least
+Lavinia firmly believed so, and often beguiled the watches of the night,
+imagining the old soul placidly slumbering with the perennial asters
+encircling her aged brow like a halo.</p>
+
+<p>One other party there was who much amused the rest of the household. An
+American lady with a sickly daughter, who would have been pretty but for
+her affectation and sentimentality.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> The girl was engaged to a fierce,
+dissipated little Russian, who presented her with a big bouquet every
+morning, followed her about all day like a dog, and glared wrathfully at
+any man who cast an eye upon the languishing damsel in white muslin and
+flowing curls 'bedropt with pearls,' as a romantic lady expressed it.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the Russian without any vowels in his name was going
+to marry Mademoiselle for her money, and the weak Mamma was full of
+satisfaction at the prospect. To others it seemed a doubtful bargain,
+and much pity was felt for the feeble girl doomed to go to Russia with a
+husband who had 'tyrant' written in every line of his bad, <i>blas&eacute;</i>
+little face and figure. French polish could not hide the brute, nor any
+quantity of flowers conceal the chain by which he was leading his new
+serf away to bondage in St. Petersburg.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>Into the midst of this select society came a countryman of our
+three,&mdash;a jocund youth fresh from Algiers, with relics, adventures, and
+tales that utterly eclipsed the 'Arabian Nights.' Festive times
+followed, for the 'Peri' (the pet name of aforesaid youth) gave them the
+fruits of his long wanderings, sung whole operas heard in Paris, danced
+ballets seen in Berlin, recounted perils among the Moors, served up
+gossip from the four corners of the globe, and conversed with each
+member of the household in his or her own language.</p>
+
+<p>A cheerful comrade was the 'Peri,' and a great addition to the party,
+who now spent most of their time sitting about the town, eating grapes,
+and listening to the pranks of this sprightly M.D., who seemed to be
+studying his profession by wandering over Europe with a guitar <i>&agrave; la
+troubadour</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p><p>Sounding the lungs of a veiled princess in Morocco was the least of his
+adventures, and the treasures he had collected supplied Lavinia with
+materials for unlimited romances: cuff-buttons made from bits of marble
+picked up among the ruins of Carthage; diamond crescents and ear-rings
+bought in Toledo, so antique and splendid that relic-loving Amanda raved
+about them; photographs of the <i>belles</i> of Constantinople, Moorish coins
+and pipes, bits of curious Indian embroidery; and, best of all, the
+power of telling how each thing was found in so graphic a manner that
+Eastern bazaars, ruins, and palaces seemed to rise before the listeners
+as in the time of the magic story-tellers. But all too soon he packed
+his knapsack, and promising to bring each of his friends the nose or ear
+of one of the shattered saints from the great cathedral at Strasbourg,
+the 'Peri'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> vanished from Paradis, and left them all lamenting.</p>
+
+<p>The little flurry in Italy ending peacefully, our travellers after much
+discussion resolved to cross the Alps and spend the winter in Rome, if
+possible. So with tragic farewells from those they left behind them,
+who, hoping to keep them longer, predicted all manner of misfortunes,
+the three strong-minded ladies rumbled away in the <i>coup&eacute;</i> of a
+diligence to Brieg.</p>
+
+<p>A lovely day's journey up the valley of the Rhone, and a short night's
+rest in the queer little town at the foot of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Before light the next morning they were called, and, after a hurried
+breakfast in a stony hall, went shivering out into the darkness, and,
+stumbling through the narrow street, came to the starting-point.
+Lanterns were dancing about the square, two great diligences loomed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> up
+before them, horses were tramping, men shouting, and eager travellers
+scrambling for places. In the dimly lighted office, people were
+clamouring for tickets, scolding at the delay, or grimly biding their
+time in corners, with one eye asleep, and the other sharply watching the
+conductor.</p>
+
+<p>'Isn't it romantic?' cried Matilda, wide awake, and in a twitter of
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>'It is frightfully cold; and I don't see how we are going, for both
+those caravans are brimful,' croaked Lavinia, chafing her purple nose,
+and wishing it had occurred to her to buy a muff before going to sunny
+Italy.</p>
+
+<p>'I have got through tickets, and some one is bound to see us over these
+snow-banks, so "trust in Providence and the other man," and we shall
+come out right, I assure you,' replied the energetic Amanda, who had
+conferred with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> a spectral being in the darkness, and blindly put her
+faith in him.</p>
+
+<p>Away lumbered one diligence after the other, the first drawn by seven
+horses, the second by five, while the carrier's little cart with one
+brought up the rear. But still three muffled ladies sat upon a cool
+stone in the dark square, waiting for the spectre to keep his promise.</p>
+
+<p>He did like a man; for suddenly the doors of an old stable flew open,
+and out rattled a comfortable carriage with a pair of stout little
+horses jingling their bells, and a brisk driver, whose voice was
+pleasant, as he touched his hat and invited the ladies to enter,
+assuring them that they would soon overtake and pass the heavy
+diligences before them.</p>
+
+<p>'Never again will I doubt you, my Amanda,' cried the Raven, packing
+herself into the dowager's corner with a grateful heart.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p><p>'I hope the top of this carriage opens, for I <i>must</i> see <i>everything</i>,'
+cried Matilda, prancing about on the front seat in a chaos of wraps,
+books, bottles, and lunch-baskets.</p>
+
+<p>'Of course it does, and when there is anything to see we will see it. It
+is dark and cold now, so we'd better all go to sleep again.'</p>
+
+<p>With which sage remark, Amanda burrowed into her cloaks and slumbered.
+But not the other two. Matilda stuck her head out of one window,
+uttering little cries of wonder and delight at all she saw; while Livy
+watched the solemn stars pale one by one as the sky brightened, and felt
+as if she were climbing up, out of a dark valley of weariness and pain,
+into a new world full of grand repose.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly winding higher and higher through the damp pine forest, softly
+stirring in the morning wind, they saw the sky warm from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> its cold gray
+to a rosy glow, making ready for the sun to rise as they never saw it
+rise before.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'Full many a glorious morning have I seen,</div>
+<div>Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>but never more wonderfully than on that day. Long after the distant
+peaks flamed in the ruddy light, they rode in shadow; but turning
+suddenly round a corner, the sun came dazzling through a great gorge,
+startling them with the splendour it brought.</p>
+
+<p>Down went the carriage-top, and standing bolt upright, three pairs of
+eager eyes drank in the grandeur and the beauty that makes the crossing
+of the Simplon an experience to live for ever in the memory. Peak after
+peak of the Bernese Oberland rose behind them, silver white against a
+wonderful blue sky. Before them Monte Rosa, touched with the morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+red, and all around great glaciers glittering in the sunshine, awful
+gorges with torrents thundering from the heights above, relics of
+land-slides and avalanches still visible in uprooted trees, boulders
+tumbled here and there, and ruins of shepherds' huts in solitary nooks
+where sheep now feed.</p>
+
+<p>The road crept in and out, over frail bridges, spanning chasms that made
+one dizzy to look into, through tunnels of solid rock, or galleries with
+windows over which poured waterfalls from the treacherous glaciers
+above. This road is a miracle in itself, for all nature seems to protest
+against it, and the elements never tire of trying to destroy it. Only a
+Napoleon would have had the audacity to dream of such a path, and it is
+truly a royal road into a lovely land.</p>
+
+<p>Passing the diligences the little carriage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> went rapidly on, and soon
+the three were almost alone. Out leaped Lavinia and Matilda, and walked
+along the level way that curved round a great gorge.</p>
+
+<p>'Go on and let me be. It is all so magnificent it almost takes my breath
+away. I must just sit a minute, like a passive bucket, and let it pour
+into me,' said Lavinia, in a solemn tone.</p>
+
+<p>Mat understood; for her own heart and soul were full, and with a silent
+kiss of sympathy, walked on, leaving her sister to enjoy that early mass
+in a grander cathedral than any built with hands.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the sunshine it was very cold, and when the three met again
+their noses looked like the eldest Miss Pecksniff's, 'as if Aurora had
+nipped and tweaked it with her rosy fingers.' Subsiding into their
+places with pale,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> excited faces, they went silently on for a long time,
+with no sound but the chime of the bells on the horses who were covered
+with a light hoar-frost. Wrapped up to their eyes, like Egyptian women,
+sat Livy and Amanda; while Matilda, having tried to sketch Monte Rosa,
+and given it up, made a capital caricature of them as they ate cold
+chicken, and drank wine, in a primitive manner, out of the bottle.</p>
+
+<p>It was a sudden descent from the sublime to the ridiculous; but the
+feeble human mind cannot bear too much glory at once, and is saved by
+the claims of the prosaic body, that will get tired and hungry even atop
+of the everlasting hills. So the enthusiasts picked their chicken bones,
+sipped their wine, and felt less exhausted and hysterical. A good laugh
+over the carrier's little boy, who sniffed the banquet afar off, and
+came running to offer a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> handful of pale Alpine flowers, with wistful
+glances at the lunch, did them more good still: for the little chap
+caught and bolted the morsels they gave him with such dexterous
+rapidity, it was as good as juggling.</p>
+
+<p>Refuges and the Hospice came in sight one after the other, and while
+waiting to change horses one had time to wonder how the people living
+there managed to be such a stolid, dirty, thriftless-looking set.
+Mountaineers should be intelligent, active, and hardy; but these men
+were a most ungainly crew, and Lavinia's theories got a sad blow.</p>
+
+<p>A bad dinner at Simplon would have been an affliction at any other time;
+but with the Valley of Gondo for dessert, no one cared for other food.
+Following the wild stream that had worn its way between the immense
+cliffs, they drove rapidly down towards Italy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> feeling that this was a
+fit gateway to the promised land.</p>
+
+<p>At Iselle, on the frontier, they enacted a little farce for the benefit
+of the custom-house officers. Lavinia and Amanda had old passports, and
+had been told they would be needed. Mat had none, so she was ordered to
+try the <i>r&ocirc;le</i> of maid. Before they arrived, she took out her ear-rings,
+tied up her curls under a dingy veil, put on a waterproof, and tried to
+assume the demure air of an Abigail.</p>
+
+<p>When they alighted, she was left to guard the wraps in the carriage
+while the others went with the luggage, expecting to have much trouble;
+for all manner of hindrances had been predicted owing to the unsettled
+state of the country. Nothing could be simpler, however; no passports
+were demanded, a very careless search of luggage, and it was all over.
+So Matilda threw off her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> disguise, and ascended the diligence in her
+own character, for here, alas! they left the cozy little carriage with
+the affable driver and the jingling bells.</p>
+
+<p>Only two places could be found in the crowded diligences, and great was
+the fuss till Amanda was invited up aloft by a friendly gentleman who
+had a perch behind, large enough for two. There they discussed theology
+and politics to their hearts' content, and at parting the worthy man cut
+his book in two, and gave Amanda half that she might refresh herself
+with a portion of some delightfully dry work on Druidical Remains,
+Protoplasm, or the state of the church before the flood.</p>
+
+<p>The force of contrast makes the charm of this entry into Italy; for,
+after the grandeur of the Alps and the gloomy wildness of Gondo, the
+smiling scene is doubly lovely as one drives<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> down to Domo d'Ossola.
+Weariness, hunger, and sleep were quite forgotten; and when our
+travellers came to Lago Maggiore, glimmering in the moonlight, they
+could only sigh for happiness, and look and look and look.</p>
+
+<p>'Victory has perched upon our banners so far, I am sure, for never was a
+trip more delightful. It is not every stranger who is fortunate enough
+to see sunrise, noonday, sunset, and moonlight in crossing the Alps,'
+said Matilda, as she fell into her bed quite exhausted by the excitement
+of the day.</p>
+
+<p>'I feel a richer, better woman for it, and don't believe I shall ever
+see anything more satisfactory if I stay in Italy ten years,' responded
+Lavinia, wrapping the red army-blanket</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>'Like a martial cloak around her.'</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>'Wait till the spell of Rome is upon you, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> then see what you will
+feel, my Granny' predicted Amanda, who <i>had</i> felt the spell, and had not
+yet escaped from it.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't believe it will suit me half so well,' persisted Livy, who would
+prefer nature to art, much to Amanda's disgust.</p>
+
+<p>'We shall see,' observed Amanda, with the exasperating mildness of
+superior knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>'We shall!' and Livy tied her cap in a hard knot as if to settle the
+matter.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>ITALY.</i></h3>
+
+<p>Sleep as deep, dreamless, and refreshing as if the beneficent spirit of
+Carlo Borromeo still haunted the enchanted lake, prepared the three for
+a day of calm delights. The morning was spent floating over the lake in
+a luxuriously cushioned boat with a gay awning and a picturesque rower,
+to visit Isola Bella. Everyone knows what a little Paradise has been
+made to blossom on that rock; so raptures over the flowers, the marbles,
+the panniers of lovely fruit, and the dirty, pretty children who offered
+them, are unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p><p>In the afternoon, having despatched the luggage to Florence, our
+travellers sailed away to Luini, catching last glimpses of Monte Rosa,
+and enjoying the glories of an Italian sunset on an Italian lake. At
+Luini the girls caused much excitement by insisting on sitting up with
+the driver instead of sharing the <i>coup&eacute;</i> with their decorous duenna.
+'We <i>must</i> see the lovely views and the moonlight,' said Amanda, and up
+she went.</p>
+
+<p>'To sit aloft with a brigandish driver dressed in a scarlet and black
+uniform, with a curly horn slung over his shoulder, and to go tearing up
+hill and down with four frisky horses, is irresistible,' and up skipped
+Matilda.</p>
+
+<p>'You will both catch your death of cold, if you don't break your necks,
+so it will be well to have some one to nurse or bury you,' and Lavinia,
+finding commands and entreaties vain, entered the <i>coup&eacute;</i> with mournful
+dignity.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p><p>With a toot of the horn, and cheers from the crowd, which the girls
+gracefully acknowledged, away rumbled the diligence, with at least two
+very happy occupants. How lovely it was! First, the soft twilight
+wrapping everything in mysterious shadow, and then the slow uprising of
+a glorious full moon, touching the commonest object with its magical
+light. Cries of rapture from the girls atop were answered by
+exclamations from Livy, hanging half out of the <i>coup&eacute;</i> regardless of
+night air, or raps on the head from overhanging boughs, as they went
+climbing up woody hills, or dashing down steep roads that wound so
+sharply round corners, it was a wonder the airy passengers did not fly
+off at every lurch. Rattling into quiet little towns with a grand
+'tootle-te-too' of the horn was an especial delight, and to see the
+people gather so quickly that they seemed to spring from the ground. A
+moment's chatter, a drink for the horses, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> soft 'Felice notte,'
+another toot, and away thundered the diligence for miles more of
+moonlight, summer air, and the ecstasy of rapid motion.</p>
+
+<p>What that dear, brown driver with the red vest, the bobtailed, buttony
+coat, and the big yellow tassels dancing from his hat brim, thought of
+those two American damsels we shall never know. But it may be imagined
+that, after his first bewilderment, he enjoyed himself; for Amanda aired
+her Italian and asked many questions. Matilda invited him to perform
+national airs on all occasions, and both admired him as openly as if he
+had been a pretty child.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia always cherished a dark suspicion that she narrowly escaped
+destruction on that eventful night; for, judging from the frequent
+melody, and the speed of the horses, she was sure that either Amanda
+tooted and Matilda<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> drove, or that both so bewildered the brigand that
+he lost his head. However, it was all so delightful that even Granny
+felt the charm, and was sure that if they did upset in some romantic
+spot, a Doctor Antonio would spring up as quickly as a mushroom, and
+mend their bones, marry one of her giddy charges, and end the affair in
+the most appropriate manner.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing happened, fortunately, and by nine o'clock they were safely at
+Lugano, and, tearing themselves from the dear brigand, were taken
+possession of by a shadowy being, who fed them in a marble hall with
+statues ten feet high glaring at them as they ate, then led them to a
+bower which had pale green doors, a red carpet, blue walls, and yellow
+bed covers,&mdash;all so gay it was like sleeping in a rainbow.</p>
+
+<p>As if another lovely lake under the windows, and moonlight <i>ad libitum</i>,
+was not enough, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> had music also. Lavinia scorned the idea of sleep,
+and went prowling about the rooms, hanging over the balconies, and doing
+the romantic in a style that was a disgrace to her years. She it was who
+made the superb discovery that the music they heard came from across the
+way, and that by opening a closet window they could look into a theatre
+and see the stage.</p>
+
+<p>All rushed at once and beheld an opera in full blast, heartily enjoying
+the unusual advantages of their position; for not only could they hear
+the warblers, but see them when the curtain was down. What a thing it
+was to see Donna Anna do up her black hair, Don Giovanni dance a jig,
+and stately Ottavio imbibe refreshment out of a black bottle, and the
+ghostly Commander prance like a Punchinello as they got him into
+position.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p><p>The others soon succumbed to sleep; but, till long after midnight, old
+Livy wandered like a ghost from the front balcony, with the lovely lake,
+to the closet window and its dramatic joys, feeling that no moment of
+that memorable night should be lost, for what other traveller could
+boast that she ever went to the opera wrapped in a yellow bedquilt?</p>
+
+<p>On the morrow a few pictures of Luini before breakfast, and then more
+sailing over lakes, and more driving in festive diligences to Menaggio,
+where a boat like a market waggon without wheels bore them genteelly to
+Cadenabbia, and a week of repose on the banks of Lago Como.</p>
+
+<p>Their palace did not 'lift its marble walls to eternal summer' by any
+means; for it rained much, and was so cold that some took to their beds
+for warmth, stone floors looking like castile-soap not being just the
+thing for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>rheumatism. Hand-organs, dancing-bears, two hotels, one
+villa, no road but the lake, and an insinuating boatman with one eye who
+lay in wait among the willows, and popped out to grab a passenger when
+anyone ventured forth, are all that remains in the memory regarding
+Cadenabbia.</p>
+
+<p>A few extracts from Lavinia's note-book may be found useful at this
+point, both as a speedy way of getting our travellers to Rome, and for
+the bold criticisms on famous places and pictures which they contain:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Milan.&mdash;Cathedral like a big wedding-cake. "Last Supper" in the
+barracks&mdash;did not "thrill;" tried to, but couldn't, as the picture is so
+dim it can hardly be seen. Ambrosian Library.&mdash;Lock of L. Borgia's hair;
+tea-coloured and coarse. Don't believe in it a bit. Jolly old books, but
+couldn't touch 'em. Fine window to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> Dante. Saw cathedral illuminated;
+very theatrical, and much howling of people over the deputies from Rome.
+Don't know why they illuminated or why they howled; didn't ask. Men here
+handsome, but rude. Women wear veils and no bonnets,&mdash;fat and ugly.
+Gloves very good.&mdash;Arch of Peace.&mdash;More peace and less arch would be
+better for Italy.</p>
+
+<p>'Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin.&mdash;Stiff and stupid. Can't like
+Raphael. Dear, pious, simple, old Fra Angelico suits me better.</p>
+
+<p>'To the Public Garden with A.; saw a black ostrich with long pink legs,
+who pranced and looked so like an opera dancer that we sat on the fence
+and shrieked with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>'Pavia.&mdash;To the Certosa to see the old Carthusian Convent founded in
+1396; cloisters, gardens, and twenty-four little dwellings, with chapel,
+bedroom, parlour, and yard for each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> monk, who is never to speak, and
+comes out but once a week. A nice way for lazy men to spend their lives
+when there is so much work to be done for the Lord and his poor! Wanted
+to shake them all round, though they did look well in their gowns and
+cowls gliding about the dim cloisters and church. Perhaps they are kept
+for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>'Parma.&mdash;Dome of church frescoed by Correggio. All heaven upsidedown;
+fat angels turning somersaults, saints like butchers, and martyrs
+simpering feebly. Like C.'s babies much better. Heaven can't be painted,
+and they'd better not try. Madonna, by Girolamo, was lovely. Room of the
+Abbess, with rosy children peeping through the lattice, very charming.
+Madonna della Scodella&mdash;the boy Christ very charming. The old Farnese
+Theatre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> most interesting; got a scrap of canvas from a mouldy scene.
+Dead old place is Parma.</p>
+
+<p>'Bologna.&mdash;Drove in a pelting rain to the Academy, and saw many
+pictures. A Piet&agrave;, by Guido, was very striking. The desolate mother,
+with her dead son on her knees, haunted me long afterwards. St. Jerome
+and the infant Christ, by Elizabeth Sirani, I liked. Raphael won't suit
+yet. Sad for me, but I cannot admire Madonnas with faces like
+fashion-plates, or dropsical babies with no baby sweetness about them.</p>
+
+<p>'Florence.&mdash;Bought furs. Nice climate to bring invalids into. Always did
+think Italy a humbug, and I begin to see I was right. Acres of pictures.
+Like about six out of the lot. Can't bear the Venus, or Titian's famous
+hussy hanging over it. Like his portraits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> much. Busts of Roman emperors
+great fun. Such bad heads! The Julias, Faustinas, and Agrippinas, with
+hair dressed like a big sponge on the brow, were so comical I was never
+tired of looking at them. I see now where the present bedlamite style of
+coiffure comes from.</p>
+
+<p>'The philosophers, &amp;c., were very interesting. Cicero so like Wendell
+Phillips that I could hardly help clapping my hands and saying, "Hear!
+hear!"</p>
+
+<p>'Gave A. a sad blow by saying the Campanile looked like an inlaid
+work-box. Did not admire it half so much as I did a magnificent stone
+pine. Best of all, saw in the old Monastery of St. Marco many works of
+Fra Angelico. I love his pictures, for he put his pious heart into them,
+and one sees and feels it, and I don't care if his saints do have six
+joints to their fingers and impossible noses. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> very dear picture of
+"Providenza,"&mdash;poor monks at an empty table and angels bringing bread.</p>
+
+<p>'Angelico's picture of heaven was more to my mind than any I have seen.
+No stern, avenging God, no silly Madonna, but happy souls playing like
+children, or singing and piping with devout energy.</p>
+
+<p>'Relics of Savonarola,&mdash;his cell, bust, beads, hair-cloth shirt, and a
+bit of wood from the pile on which they burnt him. I like relics of one
+man who really lived, worked, and suffered, better than armies of
+angels, or acres of gods and goddesses.</p>
+
+<p>'Pleasant drives. Saw artists, Casa Guidi windows, and a model baby
+house with dolly's name on the door, and steps modelled by hands that
+have made famous statues. "Papa's baby house" was best of all his works
+to me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> A nice little earthquake and a trifle of snow to enhance the
+charms of this sweet spot.</p>
+
+<p>'Visited Parker's grave, and was afflicted to find it in such an
+unlovely, crowded cemetery. It does not matter after all: his best
+monument is in the hearts that love him and the souls he fed. As I stood
+there a little brown bird hopped among the vines that covered the grave,
+pecked its breakfast from a dry seed-pod, perched on the head-stone with
+a grateful twitter, as grace after meat, and flew away, leaving me
+comforted by the little sermon it had preached.'</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>'I don't wish to hurt your feelings, dear, but if this is Rome I must
+say it is a very nasty place,' began Lavinia, as they went stumbling
+through the mud and confusion of a big, unfinished station on their
+arrival at the eternal city.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><p>'People of sense don't judge a place at ten o'clock of a pitch-dark,
+rainy night, especially if they are hungry, tired, and, excuse me, love,
+rather cross,' returned Amanda, severely, as they piled into a carriage
+and drove to Piazzi di Spagna.</p>
+
+<p>'I see a divine fountain! A splendid palace! Now it's a statue of some
+sort! I do believe that dark figure was a monk! I know I shall like it
+in spite of everything,' cried Matilda excitedly, flattening her nose
+against the window.</p>
+
+<p>She had been much disappointed at not being able to enter Rome by
+daylight, so that she might clasp her hands and cry aloud, half-stifled
+with the overpowering emotions of the moment, 'Roma! Roma! the eternal
+city, bursts upon my view!' That was the proper thing to do, and it was
+a blow to make so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> commonplace and ignoble an entry into the city of her
+dreams.</p>
+
+<p>Early next morning, Livy was roused from slumber by cries of delight,
+and, starting up, beheld her artist sister wrapped in a dressing-gown,
+with dishevelled hair, staring out of the window, and murmuring
+incoherently,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Spanish Steps, that's where the models sit. Propaganda, famous Jesuit
+school. Hope I shall see the little students in their funny hats and
+gowns. That's the great monument thing put up to settle the Immaculate
+Conception fuss. Very fine, but the apostles look desperately tired of
+holding it up. Dear old houses! Heavens! there's a <i>trattoria</i> man with
+somebody's breakfast on his head! Don't see any costumes. Where are the
+sheepskin suits? the red skirts and white head-cloths? Girl with
+flowers. Oh, how lovely! Mercy on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> us, there's an officer staring up
+here, and I never saw him!'</p>
+
+<p>In came the blond head, and the blue dressing-gown vanished from the
+eyes of the handsome soldier who had been attitudinizing with his high
+boots, gray and scarlet cloak, jingling sword, and becoming <i>barrette</i>
+cap, for the especial benefit of the enraptured stranger.</p>
+
+<p>'Livy, it is just superb! Get up and come out at once. It is clouding
+up, and I must have one look or lose my mind,' said Matilda, flying
+about with unusual energy.</p>
+
+<p>'You will have to get used to rain if you stay here long, my child,'
+returned the Raven.</p>
+
+<p>And she was right. It poured steadily for two months, with occasional
+flurries of snow, also thunder, likewise hurricanes, the tramont&agrave;na, the
+sirocco, and all the other charming features of an Italian winter. That
+nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> might be wanting, a nice little inundation was got up for their
+benefit, December 28th.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting peacefully at breakfast on the morning of that day, in their
+cosey apartment, with a fire of cones and olive-wood cheerily burning on
+the hearth, Jokerella, the big cat, purring on the rug, the little
+coffee-pot proudly perched among bread and butter, eggs and fruit, while
+the ladies, in dressing-gowns and slippers, lounged luxuriously in
+arm-chairs, one red, one blue, one yellow; they (the ladies, not the
+chairs) were started by Agrippina, the maid, who burst into the room
+like a bomb-shell, announcing, all in one breath, that the Tiber had
+risen, inundated the whole city, and instant death was to be the doom of
+all.</p>
+
+<p>Rushing to the window to see if the flood had quite covered the steps,
+and cut off all retreat, the friends were comforted to observe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> no signs
+of water, except that half-frozen in the basin of the fountain above
+which leaned their favourite old Triton, with an icicle on the end of
+his nose.</p>
+
+<p>'I must go and attend to this. The poor will suffer; we may be able to
+help,' said Livy, forgetting her bones, and beginning to scramble on her
+fur boots as if the safety of the city depended on her.</p>
+
+<p>The others followed suit, and leaving Jokerella to ravage the table,
+they hurried forth to see what Father Tiber was up to. A most
+reprehensible prank, apparently, for the lower parts of the city were
+under water, and many of the great streets already as full of boats as
+Venice.</p>
+
+<p>The Corso was a deep and rapid stream, and the shopkeepers were
+disconsolately paddling about, trying to rescue their property.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p><p>'Our dresses, our beautiful new dresses, where are they now!' wailed
+the girls, surveying Mazzoni's grand store, with water up to the
+balcony, where many milliners wrung their hands, lamenting.</p>
+
+<p>The Piazza del Popolo was a lake, with the four stone lions just
+visible, and still spouting water, though it was a drug in the market.
+In at the open gate rolled a muddy stream, bearing hay-stacks,
+brushwood, and drowned animals along the Corso. People stood on their
+balconies wondering what they should do, many breakfastless; for how
+could the <i>trattoria</i> boys safely waft their coffee-pots across such
+canals of water? Carriages splashed about in shallower parts with
+agitated loads, hurrying to drier quarters; many were coming down
+ladders into boats, and crowds stood waiting their turn with bundles of
+valuables in their hands.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p><p>The soldiers were out in full force, working gallantly to save life and
+property; making rafts, carrying people on their backs, and going
+through the inundated streets with boat-loads of food for the hungry,
+shut up in their ill-provided houses. Usually at such times the priests
+did this work; but now they stood idly looking on, and saying it was a
+judgment on the people for their treatment of the Pope. The people were
+troubled because the priests refused to pray for them: but otherwise
+they snapped their fingers at the sullen old gentlemen in the Vatican;
+and the brisk, brave troops worked for the city quite as well (the
+heretics thought better) than the snuffy priests.</p>
+
+<p>In the Ghetto the disaster was truly terrible, for the flood came so
+suddenly that the whole quarter was under water in an hour. The scene
+was pitiful; for here the Jews live<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> packed like sardines in a box, and
+being washed out with no warning, were utterly destitute. In one street
+a man and woman were seen wading up to their waists in water, pushing an
+old mattress before them, on which were three little children, all they
+had saved.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the day, as boats of provisions came along, women and children
+swarmed at the windows, crying, 'Bread! bread!' and their wants could
+not be supplied in spite of the care of the city authorities. One old
+woman who had lost everything besought the rescuers to bring her a
+little snuff for the love of heaven; which was very characteristic of
+the race. One poor man, in trying to save a sick wife and his little
+ones in a cart, upset them, and the babies were drowned at their own
+door. Comedy and tragedy side by side.</p>
+
+<p>Outside the city, houses were carried off,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> people lost, and bridges
+swept away, so sudden and violent was the flood. The heavy rains and
+warm winds melted the snow on the mountains, and swelled the river till
+it rose higher than at any time since 1805.</p>
+
+<p>Many strangers, who came to Rome for the Christmas holidays, sat in
+their fine apartments without food, fire, light, or company, till taken
+off in boats or supplied by hoisting stores in at the windows.</p>
+
+<p>'We can hold out some time, as we live on a hill, and Pina has laid in
+provisions for several days. But if the flood lasts, we shall come to
+want; for the wood-yards are under water, the railroads down, and the
+peasants can't get into the city to bring supplies, unless the donkeys
+swim,' said Amanda, reviewing the situation.</p>
+
+<p>'Never mind; it's so exciting; only we must not forget that we engaged
+to go and see the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> Roastpig Aurora to-day,' answered Matilda, who
+insisted on pronouncing Rospigliosi in that improper manner.</p>
+
+<p>'I like this infinitely better than any of your picturesque
+refrigerators, and it thrills me more to watch one of those dear, dirty
+soldiers save women and babies than to see a dozen "Dying Gladiators"
+gasping for centuries in immortal marble,' added Lavinia, who had
+shocked her artistic friends by sniffing at the famous statue, and
+wishing the man would die and done with it, and not lie squirming there.</p>
+
+<p>'Come away, Mat: she has no soul for art, and it is all in vain to try
+and breathe one into her,' said Amanda, with the calm pity of one who
+had read up every great picture, studied up every famous statue, and
+knew what to admire, when to thrill, and just where the various emotions
+should come in.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p><p>So they left the outcast perched on a wall, waving her muff at them,
+and calling out, 'Nater for ever!' to the great horror of an English
+lady, who would have seen all Rome upset without any unseemly
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>That night the gas gave out, and mysterious orders were left at houses
+for lamps to be kept burning till morning. Thieves abounded, and the
+ladies prepared their arms&mdash;one pistol, one dagger, and a large
+umbrella&mdash;then slept peacefully, undisturbed by the commotion in the
+kitchen, where cats, live chickens, and Pina's five grandmothers, all
+lived together, rent free.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda's last prediction was, that they would find themselves gently
+floating out at the Porta Pia about midnight. Mat wailed for a submerged
+gallery in which she had hoped to ice herself on the morrow, and Livy
+indulged the sinful hope that the Pope would get his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> pontifical
+petticoats very wet, be a little drowned, and terribly scared by the
+flood, because he spoilt the Christmas festivities, and shut up all the
+cardinals' red coaches.</p>
+
+<p>Next day the water began to abate, and people made up their minds that
+the end of the world was not yet. Gentlemen paid visits on the backs of
+stout soldiers, ladies went shopping in boats, and family dinners were
+handed in at two-story windows without causing any remark, so quickly do
+people adapt themselves to the inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had the watery excitement subsided when a new event set the city
+in an uproar.</p>
+
+<p>The King was not expected till the tenth of January; but the kind soul
+could not wait, and, as soon as the road was passable, he came with
+300,000 francs in his hands to see what he could do for his poor Romans.
+He arrived at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> 4 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and though unexpected, the news flew through the
+city, and a crowd turned out with torches to escort him to the Quirinal.</p>
+
+<p>Again did the explosive Pina burst in upon her mistresses with the news,
+this time in tears of joy, for the people began to think the King would
+never come, and therefore were especially touched by this prompt visit
+in the midst of their trouble. The handsome damsel was a spectacle
+herself, so dramatic was she as she shook her fist at the Pope, and
+cheered for the King, with a ladle in one hand, an artichoke in the
+other, her fine eyes flashing, and her mellow voice trembling, while she
+talked regardless of the <i>polenta</i> going to destruction in the
+frying-pan.</p>
+
+<p>On went the bonnets, out flew the ladies, and rushed up to the Quirinal,
+where stood a great crowd waiting eagerly for a sight of the King.</p>
+
+<p>There was a great bustle among the officials,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> and splendid creatures,
+in new uniforms, ran about in all directions. Grand carriages arrived,
+bringing the high and mighty, gaping but loyal, to greet their lord.
+General Marmora&mdash;a thin, shabby, energetic man&mdash;was everywhere; for the
+new order of things seemed a little hitchy. Dorias and Colonnas
+gladdened plebeian eyes, and the people cheered every thing, from the
+Commander-in-Chief to somebody's breakfast, borne through the crowd by a
+stately 'Jeames' in livery, who graciously acknowledged the homage.</p>
+
+<p>For one mortal hour our ladies stood in a pelting rain, and then
+retired, feeling that the sacrifice of their best hats was all that
+could reasonably be expected of free-born Americans. They consoled
+themselves by putting out Pina's fine Italian banner (made in secret,
+and kept ready for her King, for the <i>padrona</i> was <i>papalino</i>),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> and
+supporting it by two little American flags, the stars and stripes of
+which much perplexed the boys and donkeys disporting themselves in the
+Piazza Barberini.</p>
+
+<p>But the excitement was so infectious that the girls could not resist
+another run after royalty; so, while Livy consoled herself with the fire
+and the cat, they took a carriage and chased the King till they caught
+him at the Capitol. They had a fine view of him as he came down the long
+steps, almost alone, and at the peril of his life, through a mass of
+people cheering frantically, and whitening the streets with waving
+handkerchiefs.</p>
+
+<p>The enthusiastic damsels mounted up beside the driver, and hurrahed with
+all their hearts and voices, as well they might, for it certainly was a
+sight to see. The courage of the King, in trusting himself in a city
+full of enemies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> touched the people quite as much as the kindly motive
+that brought him there, and kept him sacred in their eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The girls had a second view of him on the balcony of the Quirinal; for
+the populace clamoured so for another sight of 'Il R&egrave;,' that the Pope's
+best velvet hangings were hastily spread, and Victor Emmanuel came out
+and bowed to his people, 'who stood on their heads with joy,' as Amanda
+expressed it.</p>
+
+<p>He was in citizen's dress, and looked like a stout, brown, soldierly
+man, not so ugly as the pictures of him, but not an Apollo by any means.</p>
+
+<p>Hating ceremony and splendour, he would not have the fine apartments
+prepared for him, but chose a plain room, saying, 'Keep the finery for
+my son, if you like; I prefer this.'</p>
+
+<p>He drove through the Ghetto, and all the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>desolated parts of the city,
+to see with his own eyes the ruin made; and then desired the city
+fathers to give to the poor the money they had set apart to make a
+splendid welcome for him.</p>
+
+<p>He only spent one day, and returned to Florence at night. All Rome was
+at the station to see him off: ladies with carriages full of flowers,
+troops of soldiers, and throngs of poor people blessing him like a
+saint; for this kingly sympathy of his had won all hearts.</p>
+
+<p>'When he does make his grand entry, we will decorate our balcony, and
+have our six windows packed with loyal Yankees who will hurrah their
+best for "the honest man," as they call Victor Emmanuel&mdash;and that is
+high praise for a king.'</p>
+
+<p>So said the three, and while waiting for the event (which did not occur
+in their day, however,) they indulged in all the pastimes modern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Rome
+afforded. They shivered through endless galleries, getting 'cricks' in
+their necks staring at frescoes, and injuring their optic nerves poring
+over pictures so old that often nothing was visible but a
+mahogany-coloured leg, an oily face, or the dim outline of a green saint
+in a whirlwind of pink angels.</p>
+
+<p>They grubbed in catacombs and came up mouldy. They picnicked in the tomb
+of C&aelig;celia Metella, flirted in the palace of the C&aelig;sars&mdash;not in the
+classical manner, however,&mdash;got cold by moonlight in the Colosseum, and
+went sketching in the Baths of Caracalla, which last amusement generally
+ended in the gentlemen and ladies drawing each other, and returning
+delighted with the study of art in 'dear Rome.'</p>
+
+<p>They went to fancy parties, where artists got themselves up like their
+own statues and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>pictures, and set medi&aelig;val fashions which it was a pity
+the rest of the world did not follow. They drank much social tea with
+titled beings, as thick as blackberries, and, better still, men and
+women who had earned noble names for themselves with pencil, pen, or
+chisel. They paid visits in palaces where the horses lived in the
+basement, rich foreigners on the first floor, artists next, and princes
+in the attic.</p>
+
+<p>They went to the hunt, and saw scarlet coats, fine horses, bad riding,
+many hounds, and no foxes.</p>
+
+<p>As a change they got up game parties <i>&agrave; la</i> Little Athens in their own
+small <i>salon</i>, introduced the Potatoe Pantomime, had charades, and
+enacted the immortal Jarley's waxworks on one of the Seven Hills.</p>
+
+<p>A true Yankee breakfast of fish-balls, johnny-cake, and dip-toast, was
+given in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> honour, and its delights much enhanced by its being
+eaten in a lovely room with reeds and rushes on the pale-green walls,
+shell-shaped chairs, and coral mirror-frames. What a thing it was to
+consume those familiar viands in a famous palace, with Guido's Cenci
+downstairs, a great sculptor next door, three lovely boys as waiters,
+and 'Titian T.' to head the feast, and follow it up with dates from the
+Nile, and Egyptian sketches that caused the company to vote a speedy
+adjournment to the land 'of corkendills' and pyramids.</p>
+
+<p>These and many other joys they tasted, and when all else palled upon
+them they drove on the Campagna and were happy.</p>
+
+<p>It is sad to be obliged to record that these quiet drives were the
+especial delight of the unsocial Lavinia, whose ill-regulated mind soon
+wearied of swell society, classical remains, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> artistic revelry.
+Ancient Rome would have suited her excellently, she thought; but modern
+Rome was such a chaos of frivolity and fanaticism, poverty and
+splendour, dirt and devilry, dead grandeur and living ignorance, that
+she felt as if shut up in a magnificent tomb, the bad air of which was
+poisoning both body and soul.</p>
+
+<p>Her only consolation was the new freedom, that seemed to blow over Rome
+like a wholesome wind. Old residents lamented the loss of the priestly
+pageants, <i>f&ecirc;tes</i>, and ceremonies; but this republican spinster
+preferred to see Rome guarded by her own troops, and governed by her own
+King, who ordered streets to be cleaned, fountains filled, schools
+opened, and all good institutions made possible, rather than any amount
+of Papal purple covering poverty, ignorance, and superstition. Better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+than the sight of all the red coaches that ever rumbled was the
+spectacle of many boys quitting the Jesuit college and demanding
+admittance into the free schools; and sweeter than the music of all the
+silver trumpets that ever blew were the voices of happy men and women
+singing once forbidden songs of liberty in the streets of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>These sentiments, and others equally unfashionable, were only breathed
+into the ear of sister Matilda when the two retired to the Campagna to
+confide to one another the secrets of their souls&mdash;a process necessary
+about once a week; for after visiting studios, going to parties, and
+telling polite fibs about everything they saw, it was impossible to
+exist without finding a vent of some sort. Once out among the aqueducts,
+Matilda could freely own that she thought genius a rare article in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+studios, where she expected to learn so much; and Lavinia could make the
+awful avowal that parties at which the order of performance was gossip,
+tea, music&mdash;then music, tea, and gossip, all together&mdash;were not her idea
+of intellectual society. Their criticisms on pictures and statues cannot
+be recorded without covering their humble names with infamy; and why the
+sky did not fall upon, or the stones rise up and smite these Vandals, is
+a mystery to this day.</p>
+
+<p>They did enjoy much in their own improper manner, but poor Amanda's
+sufferings can better be imagined than described. So when Lavinia, early
+in March, proposed to flee to the mountains before they became quite
+demoralized, and learned to steal and stab, as well as lie and lounge,
+she readily assented, and they retired to Albano.</p>
+
+<p>'The decline and fall of the Roman Empire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> was nothing to this, and
+never have I seen such unappreciative women as you two,' sighed Amanda,
+as they rolled away from Numero Due Piazza Barberini, leaving Agrippina
+sobbing at the top of the stairs and the <i>padrona</i> bobbing little
+curtsies at the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>'I am sure the Cenci will haunt me all my days, and so will many other
+famous things,' said Matilda, while her eye roved fondly from a very
+brown Capuchin monk to a squad of Bersaglieri trotting by with jaunty
+cocks' feathers dancing in the wind, muskets gleaming, and trim boots
+skipping through the mud with martial regularity.</p>
+
+<p>'When I get the contents of my head sorted out, I shall doubtless
+rejoice that I have seen Rome; but just now all that I can clearly
+recall are the three facts that the Pope had a fit, our dear man Romeo
+got very tipsy one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> night, and that we went to see the Sistine Chapel
+the day the eclipse made it as dark as a pocket. Yes,' continued
+Lavinia, with an air of decision, 'I <i>am</i> glad to have seen this
+classical cesspool, and still more glad to have got out of it alive,'
+she added, sniffing the air from the mountains, as if the odour of
+sanctity which pervaded the holy city did not suit her.</p>
+
+<p>It blew great guns up at Albano, and the society consisted chiefly of
+donkeys. But the ladies enjoyed themselves nevertheless, and felt better
+and better every day; for early hours, much exercise, and no &aelig;sthetic
+tea, soon set them up after the dissipation of the winter.</p>
+
+<p>Three pleasing events diversified their stay. The first happened the day
+after they arrived. The girls went forth early to look about them, and
+to see if they could find a little apartment where all could be more
+comfortable than in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> the breezy rooms at the hotel. Following the grassy
+road that winds down the valley below the viaduct, they came to a lovely
+garden, and, finding the gate open, went in. A queer old villa was
+perched on the hill above, and a manly form was observed to be leaning
+from a balcony, as if enjoying the fine view from the height.</p>
+
+<p>'I fancied that house was empty, or we wouldn't have come in. Never
+mind: we won't go back now; and if any one comes after us, we will
+apologize and say we lost our way going to Ajaccio,' said Amanda, as
+they went calmly forward among the posy-beds that lay blooming on the
+hill-side.</p>
+
+<p>It was well they prepared themselves, for the manly form suddenly
+disappeared from the balcony, and a moment afterwards came swiftly
+towards them through the shrubs.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p><p>A comely young gentleman, who greeted them with Italian grace, accepted
+their apology smiling, and begged them to walk in his garden whenever
+they liked. It was always open, he said, and the peasants often used
+that path, admiring but never hurting a leaf. Hearing that they were in
+search of an apartment, he instantly begged them to come up and look at
+some rooms in the villa. His father was a refugee from France, and
+desired to let a part of his house. Come and behold these delightful
+rooms.</p>
+
+<p>So charming was the interest he took in the errant damsels that they
+could not resist, and after rolling up their eyes at one another to
+express their enjoyment of the adventure, they graciously followed the
+handsome youth into the villa.</p>
+
+<p>With confiding hospitality he took them <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>everywhere&mdash;into his mother's
+room, the kitchen, and nursery. In the latter place they found two small
+boys, who bore such a striking resemblance to Napoleon I. that the girls
+spoke of it, and were enraptured at the reply they received.</p>
+
+<p>'Truly yes: we belong to the family. My mother is a Buonaparte, my
+father Count &mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Here's richness and romance!' 'What will Livy say?' whispered the girls
+to one another, as their guide left them in the <i>salon</i> and went to find
+his father.</p>
+
+<p>'She will scold us for coming here,' said Amanda, remembering her own
+lectures on the proprieties.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes; but she will forgive us the minute we say Napoleon, for that bad
+little man is one of her heroes,' added Mat, pretending to be admiring
+the view, while she privately examined a lady in a bower below&mdash;a stout,
+dark lady, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> all the family traits so strongly marked that there
+could be no doubt of the young man's assertion.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he came back with an affable old gentleman, who evidently had
+an eye to the main chance; for, in spite of his elegance and affability,
+he asked a great price for his rooms, and felt that any untitled
+stranger should be glad to pay well for the honour of living under the
+roof of a Buonaparte.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda left the decision to her invisible duenna, and with a profusion
+of compliments and thanks, they got away, being gallantly escorted to
+the gate by the young count, who filled their hands with flowers, and
+gazed pensively after them, as if he found the society of two bright
+American girls very agreeable after that of his lofty parents, or the
+peasantry of the town.</p>
+
+<p>Home they ran and bounced in upon Livy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> blooming and breathless, to
+pour out their tale, and suggest an immediate departure to the blissful
+spot where counts and crocuses flourished with Italian luxuriance.</p>
+
+<p>But after the first excitement had subsided, Lavinia put a wet blanket
+on the entire plan by declaring that she would never board with any
+grasping old patrician, who would charge for every bow, and fall back on
+his ancestors if he was found cheating. She would go and look at the
+place, but not enter it, nor be beholden to the resident Apollo for so
+much as a dandelion.</p>
+
+<p>So the mourning damsels led the griffin over the viaduct, through the
+dirty little town, by the villa on its least attractive side. Up at the
+window were the two little Napoleonic heads, with big, black eyes,
+strong chins, and dark hair streaked across wide, olive-coloured
+foreheads.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> A vision of papa was visible in the garden pruning a vine
+with gloves on his aristocratic hands, and a shabby velvet coat on his
+highly connected back. Also, afar off on the balcony&mdash;oh, sight to touch
+a maiden's heart!&mdash;was the young count gazing wistfully towards Albano.
+He did not see the charmers as they crept down the rough road close to
+the garden wall, and went sadly home, along the blooming path, to the
+'Tomb of the Four Thimbles,' as Livy irreverently called the ruin which
+has an ornament at each of its corners like a gigantic thimble of stone.</p>
+
+<p>A note in Amanda's most elegant French, declining the apartments in the
+name of Madame Duenna, closed the door of this Eden upon the wandering
+peris, who entered never more. Now and then, as they went clattering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> by
+on their donkeys to Lake Nemi, or some other picturesque spot,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>They saw again the crocus bloom,</div>
+<div>And, leaning from that lofty room,</div>
+<div>Sir Launcelot with face of gloom</div>
+<div class="i3">Look down to Camelot.</div>
+<div>Up flew their veils and floated wide,</div>
+<div>But Livy pinned them to her side,</div>
+<div>'The curse has come upon us!' cried</div>
+<div class="i3">The ladies of Shalott.</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The second adventure befell Amanda alone, and in this wise.</p>
+
+<p>Going one day to Rome, on business, she found herself shut up in a car
+with a gorgeous officer and a meek young man, who read papers all the
+way. The tall soldier, in his gray and silver uniform, with a furred,
+frogged, and braided jacket, not to mention the high boots or the
+becoming cap, was so very polite to the lone lady that she could not
+remain dumb without positive rudeness. So Amanda conversed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> in her most
+charming manner, finding inspiration doubtless in the dark eyes and
+musical voice of her handsome <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i>, for the officers from Turin
+are things of beauty and joys for ever to those who love to look on
+manly men.</p>
+
+<p>Among other things, the two had a little joke about the Baron
+Rothschild, who rode about Albano on a tiny donkey with two servants
+behind him; also the Baroness, a painfully plain woman, with an ugly dog
+the image of herself.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at Rome, however, their joke was turned against them,
+by the discovery that the meek man was the Baron's secretary, who would
+doubtless repeat their chat at head-quarters. To see the handsome man
+slap his brow, and then laugh like a boy at the fun, was worth a longer
+journey, Amanda thought, as he put her into a carriage, gave her his
+best martial salute, and went clanking away about his own affairs.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p><p>Amanda returned at 4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and her emotions may be imagined when the
+dark face of her officer peered in at the car window, and the melodious
+voice asked if he might be permitted to enter. Of course he might; and,
+as no secretary now spoilt the <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>, Mars became delightfully
+confidential, and poured his woes into the sympathising bosom of Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>It had been a great affliction to him that his regiment was quartered at
+Albano for some months. <i>Mio Dio!</i> so dull was it, life had already
+become a burden; but now, if the Signorina was to be there, if she
+permitted him to make himself known to her party, what joys were in
+store for him. The Signorina loved to ride. Behold he had superb horses
+languishing in the stables, that henceforth were dedicated to her use.
+His fellow officers were gentlemen of good family, brave as lions, and
+dying of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> <i>ennui</i>; if they might be presented to the ladies, life would
+be worth having, and Albano a paradise, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>To all this devotion the prudent Amanda listened with pleasure, but
+promised nothing till Signore Mars had made the acquaintance of certain
+American gentleman and married ladies, then it would be possible to
+enjoy the delights of which he spoke. The Colonel vowed he would
+instantly devote himself to this task, and thus they came to the lonely
+little station at Albano.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda had ordered the carriage to meet her; but it was not there, and
+she was forced to wait till all her fellow-passengers were gone. All but
+the gallant officer, who decorously remained outside, marching to and
+fro as if on guard, till his servant came with his horse. Then he begged
+to be allowed to see why the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> carriage did not come, and Amanda
+consented, for night was falling, and two miles of mud lay between her
+and home.</p>
+
+<p>Away dashed the servant, but his master did not follow: standing in the
+doorway, he declared that he must remain as the Signorina's protector,
+for no trains were due for hours; the d&eacute;p&ocirc;t man was gone, and it was too
+late for any lady to stay there alone. Again Amanda gratefully
+consented, wondering what would be the end of her adventure; and again
+the stately Colonel resumed his march outside, singing as he tramped,
+and evidently enjoying the escort duty that gave him so good an
+opportunity of displaying not only his gallantry, but his fine voice and
+handsome figure.</p>
+
+<p>Down rattled the carriage at last, accompanied, to Amanda's dismay, by
+three of the Colonel's friends, who had evidently received a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> hint of
+the affair, and had come to have a hand in it.</p>
+
+<p>With much bowing of the gentlemen, and much prancing of their fine
+horses, Amanda was handed to her seat, and went lumbering back to the
+hotel with her splendid escort careering about her, to the great
+edification of the town.</p>
+
+<p>When the rescued damsel told the tale to her mates, Matilda tore her
+hair and lamented that she had not been there. Even the stern Livy had
+no lecture for the erring lamb, but was as full of interest as either of
+the girls, for anything in the shape of a soldier was dear to her heart.</p>
+
+<p>When the ladies rode forth next day, three elegant St. Georges in full
+rig saluted as these modern Unas ambled by on their meek donkeys&mdash;a
+performance punctually executed ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> afterward whenever the three blue
+veils appeared. Much curvetting went on before the hotel door; much
+clanking of spurs and sabres was heard in the little lane on to which
+the apartment of the ladies looked, and splendid officers seemed to
+spring up like violets in secluded spots where maidens love to stroll.</p>
+
+<p>It was all very nice; and the girls were beginning to feel that the
+charms of Albano rivalled those of Rome, when a sad blow upset their
+castles in the air, and desolated the knights over the way.</p>
+
+<p>The highly respectable Americans who were to serve as the link between
+the soldiers and the ladies decidedly declined the office, objecting to
+the martial gentleman as being altogether too dangerous to bring into
+the dove-cot. So the poor dears sighed in vain, and the longing damsels
+never rode the fine horses that were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> temptingly paraded before them on
+all occasions.</p>
+
+<p>They did their best; but it was soon evident to Lavinia that in some
+unguarded moment the impetuous Mat would yield to the spell and go
+gambading away for a ride <i>sans</i> duenna, <i>sans</i> habit, <i>sans</i> propriety,
+<i>sans</i> everything. Amanda likewise seemed losing her head, and permitted
+the dark-eyed Colonel to talk to her when they met; only a moment&mdash;but
+what a perilous moment it was!&mdash;when this six-foot Mars leaned over a
+green hedge and talked about the weather in the softest Italian that
+ever melted a woman's heart.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm going to Venice next week; so you may as well make up your minds to
+it, girls. I <i>cannot</i> bear this awful responsibility any longer; for I
+am very sure you will both be off to Turin with those handsome rascals
+if we stay much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> longer. My mind is made up, and I won't hear a word.'</p>
+
+<p>Thus Lavinia, with a stern countenance; for the romantic old lady felt
+the charm as much as the girls did, and decided that discretion was the
+better part of valour for the whole party.</p>
+
+<p>'I should never dare to go home and tell my honoured parents that Mat
+had run away with a man as handsome as Jove, and as poor as Job.
+Amanda's indignant relatives would rise up and stone me if I let her
+canter into matrimony with the fascinating Colonel, who may have a wife
+and ten children in Turin, for all we know. They <i>must</i> be torn away at
+once, or my character as duenna is lost for ever.'</p>
+
+<p>Having made up her mind, Livy steeled her heart to all appeals, and
+wrote letters, packed trunks, and watched her little flock like a
+vigilant sheep-dog.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p><p>How she would ever have got them through that last week is very
+uncertain, if a providential picnic had not helped her.</p>
+
+<p>A fair was held in the town, and a delightful surprise-party was got up
+among the artists of Rome. Twenty-five came driving over in a big
+carriage, with four gaily decorated horses, postilions, hampers of
+lunch, flutes and horns, and much jollity bottled up for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>A very festive spectacle they made as they drove through the narrow
+streets with flowers and streamers in their hats, singing and joking in
+true artistic style.</p>
+
+<p>They meant to have lunched in the open air; but, as it was cloudy,
+decided to spread the feast at the hotel. Such a delightful revel as
+followed! A scene from the 'Decameron,' modernised, would give some idea
+of it; for after the banquet all adjourned to the gardens of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> the Doria
+Villa, and there disported themselves as merrily as if all the plagues
+of life were quite forgotten, and death itself among the lost arts.
+Flirting and dancing, charades and singing, stories and statues, poems
+and pictures, gossip and gambols, absorbed the hours as pleasantly as in
+the olden time. And if the costumes were not as picturesque as those in
+Vedder's fine picture, the ladies were as lovely, the gentlemen as
+gallant, and all much better behaved than those of Boccaccio's party.</p>
+
+<p>A few drops of rain quenched the fun at its height, and sent the
+revellers home as fast as four horses could take them, leaving the town
+gaping after them, and our ladies much enlivened by the delights of the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>This third and last event pleasantly ended their sojourn at Albano; for
+a day or two later they vanished, leaving the dear officers
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>disconsolate till the next batch of travelling ladies came to comfort
+their despair.</p>
+
+<p>A week was spent in Venice, floating about all day from one delightful
+old church to another, or paying visits to Titians and Tintorettos;
+buying little turtles, photographs, or Venetian glass; eating candied
+fruit and seeing the doves fed in the square of San Marco; visiting
+shops full of dusty antiquities, or searching the stalls on the Rialto
+for Moor's-head rings; being rowed to the Lido by Giacomo in a red sash;
+and lulled to sleep at night by the songs of a chorus that floated under
+the windows in the moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia never could get used to seeing the butcher, the baker, and the
+postman go their rounds in boats. Matilda was in bliss, with a gondola
+all to herself, where she sat surrounded with water-colours, trying to
+paint everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> she saw; for here the energy she had lost at Rome
+seemed to return to her. Amanda haunted a certain shop, trying to make
+the man take a reasonable sum for a very ancient and ugly bit of
+jewellery, which she called 'a sprigalario,' for want of a better name;
+and after each failure she went off to compose herself with a visit to
+the Doges.</p>
+
+<p>Of course they all saw the Bridge of Sighs and the dungeons below, with
+their many horrors; likewise a Mass at St. Mark's, where the Patriarch
+was a fat old soul in red silk, even to his shoes and holy
+pocket-handkerchief; and the service appeared to consist in six purple
+priests dressing and undressing him like an old doll, while a dozen
+white-gowned boys droned up in a gold cock-loft, and many beggars whined
+on the dirty floor below.</p>
+
+<p>Do other travellers eat locusts, I wonder, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> ours did one sunny day,
+sitting on church steps, and discover that the food of the Apostle was
+not the insect whose 'zeeing' foretells hot weather; but the long, dry
+pods of the locust-tree, sweet to the taste, but rather 'dry fodder,' as
+the impious Livy remarked after choking herself with a quarter of a yard
+of it.</p>
+
+<p>When the week was up Mat implored to be left behind with Angela, the
+maid, and Brio, a big poodle possessed of the devil. But she was torn
+away, and only consoled by the promise of many new gloves, with as many
+buttons as she pleased, when they got to Munich.</p>
+
+<p>'The lakes are the proper entrance into Italy, and Venice a lovely exit.
+One soon tires of it, and is ready to leave, which is an excellent
+arrangement, though I should prefer to depart in some more cheerful
+vehicle than a hearse,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> observed Lavinia, as they left the long, black
+gondola at the steps of the station.</p>
+
+<p>'Haven't you a sigh for those lovely lakes, a tear for Albano, a pang of
+regret for Rome?' asked Amanda, hoping to wring one moan for Italy from
+the old lady.</p>
+
+<p>'Not a sigh, not a tear, not a regret. I find I like them all better the
+farther I get from them, and by the time I am at home I may be able to
+say "I adore them," but I doubt it,' returned the incorrigible Livy, and
+from that moment Amanda regarded her Granny as one dead to all the dear
+delusions of antiquity.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>LONDON.</i></h3>
+
+<p>'From this moment I cease to be the commander-in-chief. Livy adores
+England, can speak the language, understands the money, and knows all
+about London; so <i>she</i> shall be leader, and I will repose after my long
+labour.' With this remark Amanda retired from office covered with glory,
+and her mates voted to erect a statue in her honour as a token of their
+undying gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Lavinia took the lead from the moment they landed at St. Catherine's
+Warf; and though somewhat demoralized by a rough passage of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> eighteen
+hours from Antwerp, was equal to the occasion. She did love England, and
+thought London the most delightful city in the world, next to Boston.
+Its mud and fog were dear to her; its beef and beer were nectar and
+ambrosia, after the continental slops and messes; its steady-going,
+respectable citizens, beautiful in her eyes, and the words 'home' and'
+comfort' were not an idle mockery here.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore the old lady joyfully sniffed the smoky air, gazed with
+tenderness on the grimy houses, and cast herself, metaphorically
+speaking, into the arms of a stout, ruddy-faced porter, as if at last
+she had found a man and a brother.</p>
+
+<p>Nobly did the burly Briton repay her confidence and earn the shilling
+which in England makes all things possible. He bore them to the station,
+got tickets, checked luggage, put the ladies in a first-class
+compartment, gave them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> all necessary directions about the hotel they
+were after, and when the bell rang touched his cap with a smile upon his
+dear, red face, which caused Lavinia to add a sixpence to the shilling
+she gave him with a mental blessing.</p>
+
+<p>'This is truly a decent country. See how well one is cared for, how
+civil everybody is, how honest, how manly,' began Livy, as she mounted
+her hobby, and prepared for a canter over the prejudices of her friend;
+for Amanda detested England because she knew nothing of it.</p>
+
+<p>'The cabman cheated us, asking double fares,' replied the dear girl,
+wrapping herself in many cloaks and refusing to admire the fog.</p>
+
+<p>'Not at all,' cried Livy; 'the trunks were immense, and you'll find we
+shall have to pay extra for them everywhere. It is the same as having
+them weighed and paying for the pounds,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> only this saves much time and
+trouble. Look at the handsome guard in his silver-plated harness. How
+much nicer he is than a gabbling Italian, or a Frenchman who compliments
+you one minute and behaves like a brute the next! It does my soul good
+to see the clean, rosy faces, and hear good English instead of
+gibberish.'</p>
+
+<p>'Never in my life have I seen such tall, fine-looking men, only they are
+all fair, which isn't my style,' observed Matilda, with a secret sigh
+for the dark-eyed heroes from Turin.</p>
+
+<p>Thus conversing, they soon came to the G&mdash;&mdash; Hotel just at the end of the
+railway, and without going out of the station found themselves settled
+in comfortable rooms.</p>
+
+<p>'Regard, if you please, these toilette arrangements&mdash;two sorts of
+bath-pan, two cans of cold water, one of hot, two big pitchers, much
+soap,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> and six towels about the size of table-cloths. I call that an
+improvement on the continental cup, saucer, and napkin accommodation,'
+said Lavinia, proudly displaying a wash-stand that looked like a
+dinner-table laid for a dozen, such was the display of glass, china, and
+napery.</p>
+
+<p>'The English certainly are a clean people,' replied Amanda, softening a
+little as she remembered her fruitless efforts to find a bath-pan in
+Brittany, where the people said the drought was caused by the English
+using so much water.</p>
+
+<p>'They need more appliances for cleanliness than any other race, because
+they live in such a dirty country,' began Matilda, removing the soot
+from her face in flakes.</p>
+
+<p>What more she might have said is unknown; for Livy closed her mouth with
+a big sponge, and all retired to repose after the trials of the past
+night.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p><p>'Now, my dears, you shall have food fit for Christian women to eat. No
+weak soup, no sour wine, no veal stewed with raisins, nor greasy salad
+made of all the weeds that grow. Beef that will make you feel like
+giants, and beer that will cheer the cockles of your hearts; not to
+mention cheese which will make you wink, and bread with a little round
+button atop of the loaf like the grand Panjandrum in the old story.'</p>
+
+<p>Thus Lavinia enthusiastically, as she led her flock of two into the
+eating-room at luncheon time. Being seated at a little table by one of
+the great windows, the old lady continued to sing the praises of
+Britannia while wafting for the repast.</p>
+
+<p>'Isn't this better than a stone-floored <i>caf&eacute;</i> with nine clocks all
+wrong, seven mirrors all cracked, much drapery all dirty, a flock of
+<i>gar&ccedil;ons</i> who fly about like lunatics, and food<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> which I shudder to
+think of? Look at this lofty room; this grave thick carpet; that
+cheerful coal-fire; these neat little tables; these large, clean
+windows; these quiet, ministerial waiters, who seem to take a paternal
+interest in your wants, and best of all in this simple, wholesome,
+well-cooked food.'</p>
+
+<p>Here the arrival of a glorified beefsteak and a shining pint-pot of
+foaming ale give an appropriate finish to Livy's lecture. She fell upon
+her lunch like a famished woman, and was speechless till much meat had
+vanished, and the ale was low in the pot.</p>
+
+<p>'It <i>is</i> good,' admitted Amanda, who took to her beer like a born
+Englishwoman, and swallowed some of her prejudices with her delicious
+beef.</p>
+
+<p>'It's such a comfort to know that I am not eating a calf's brains or a
+pig's feet, that I can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> enjoy it with a free mind, and the sight of
+those two beautiful old gentlemen gives it an added relish,' said
+Matilda, who had been watching a pair of hale old fellows eat their
+lunch in a solid, leisurely way that would have been impossible to an
+American.</p>
+
+<p>'It is so restful to see people take things calmly, and not bolt their
+meals, or rush about like runaway steam-engines. It is this moderation
+that keeps Englishmen so hearty, jolly, and long-lived. They don't tear
+themselves to pieces as we do, but take time for rest, exercise, food,
+and recreation, like sensible people as they are. It is like reposing on
+a feather-bed to live here, and my tired nerves rejoice in it,' said
+Lavinia, eating bread and cheese as if that was her mission in life.</p>
+
+<p>'A slight amount of haste will be advisable, my Granny, unless we intend
+to spend all our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> substance on these restful comforts of yours. This
+hotel is delightfully cosy, but expensive; so the quicker we go into
+lodgings the better for us,' suggested the thrifty Amanda, seeing that
+Livy was too infatuated to care for cost.</p>
+
+<p>'I'll go the first thing to-morrow and look at the rooms Mrs. Blank
+recommended to us. This afternoon we will rest and write letters, unless
+some one comes to call,' said Livy, leading her girls to the
+reading-room, where sleep-inviting chairs, tables supplied with
+writing-materials, and groves of newspapers, wooed the stranger to
+repose.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly were they seated, however, than Jeames brought in the card of a
+friend who had been told when they would arrive, and hastened at once to
+meet them. How pleasant is the first familiar face one sees in a strange
+land! Doubly pleasant was Mr. C.'s, because he brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> hospitable
+invitations from other friends, kind welcomes, and tickets to several of
+the art exhibitions then open.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had he gone, after a half-hour's chat, than another card was
+handed, and the name it bore caused a slight flutter in the dove-cot. A
+friend of Miss Livy's, in Boston, had sent orders to his brother in
+London to devote himself to the wandering ladies when they came. They
+had never met; the poor man didn't care to have his quiet invaded by
+strange women, and to do the honours of London is no small task: yet
+this heroic gentleman obeyed orders without a murmur; and, leaving his
+artistic seclusion, shouldered his burden with the silent courage of a
+Spartan.</p>
+
+<p>A grave, dark, little man, with fine eyes, quiet manners, and a
+straight-forward way with him that suited blunt Livy excellently. How
+he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> dared to face the three unknown women so calmly, listen to their
+impossible suggestions so politely, and offer himself as a slave so
+cheerfully, will for ever remain a mystery to those grateful souls.</p>
+
+<p>His first service was to pack them into a cab and bear them safely to
+the bankers for letters and money; and this he followed up by several
+weeks of servitude, which must have been worse than Egyptian bondage.</p>
+
+<p>Two more large ladies joined the party after they were settled in
+lodgings at Kensington; but, undaunted by the fact, this long-suffering
+man escorted the whole five to galleries and theatres, trips into the
+city, and picnics in the country; went shopping with them, lugged
+parcels, ran errands, paid bills, and was in fact the sheet-anchor of
+the whole party. Imagine the emotions of one shy man when called upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
+to lead a flock of somewhat imposing ladies everywhere; to have two cabs
+full on all occasions; to be obliged to support the invalids to follow
+the caprices of the giddy, to gratify the demands of the curious, and to
+hear the gabble of the whole five day after day.</p>
+
+<p>B&uuml;rger's Brave Man was a coward compared to him; for he not only gave
+his days, but his evenings also, joining in endless games of whist,
+drinking much weak tea, and listening to any amount of twaddle on all
+subjects.</p>
+
+<p>The society was not such as intelligent men enjoy, being composed of two
+Egyptian boys and three fussy old ladies. One of them was immensely
+stout, wore a bright green cap, with half-a-pint of scarlet cherries
+bobbing on her brow. She talked on all subjects, and handed round an
+album full of her own poems on all occasions. The second must have been
+a sister<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> of 'Mr. T.'s Aunt,' so grim and incoherent was she. Sitting in
+the corner, she stared at the world around her with an utterly
+expressionless countenance, and when least expected broke out with some
+startling remark, such as, 'If that fence had been painted green we
+should get to heaven sooner,' or 'Before I had fits my memory was as
+good as anybody's, but my daughter married a clergyman, and took it with
+her.'</p>
+
+<p>The third antiquity was the hostess, a buxom lady, much given to gay
+attire and reminiscences of past glory, 'Before me 'usband went into
+public life.' The strangers innocently supposed the departed Mr. K. to
+have been an M.P. at least, and were rather taken aback on learning that
+he had been a pawnbroker.</p>
+
+<p>The Egyptian youths were handsome, dark lads, with melodious voices,
+lustrous eyes, and such fiery tempers that one never knew whether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> they
+were going to pass the bread or stab one with the carving-knife.</p>
+
+<p>As a slight mitigation of this slow society, the Russian from Pension
+Paradis appeared with his broadcloth more resplendent than ever. The
+ladies had seen him in Rome; but the fever scared him away, and he was
+now fleeing from another lodging-house, where the hostess evidently
+intended to marry him to her daughter, in the MacStinger fashion.</p>
+
+<p>In this varied circle did the devoted being afore-mentioned pass many
+hours after the day's hard labour was happily over, and when anyone
+pitied him for leading the life of a galley-slave, he hid his anguish
+and answered with a smile,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My brother told me to do it, and I never disobey Tom. In fact, I find I
+rather like it.'</p>
+
+<p>That last fib was truly sublime, and the name of Cassabianca pales
+before that of one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> who obeyed fraternal commands to the letter, and
+tried to love his duty, heavy as it was. If, as has been sometimes
+predicted, England had gone under just then, it might truly have been
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>Though prince and peer and poet rare</div>
+<div class="i1">Were sunk among the piles,</div>
+<div>The noblest man who perished there</div>
+<div class="i1">Was faithful W. N&mdash;&mdash;s.</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The sight-seeing fever raged fiercely at first, and the flock of
+Americans went from Windsor Castle to the Tower of London, from
+Westminster Abbey to Madame Taussaud's Waxwork Show, with a vigour that
+appalled the natives. They would visit two or three galleries in the
+morning, lunch at Dolly's (the dark little chop-house which Johnson,
+Goldsmith, and the other worthies used to frequent in the good old
+times), go to Richmond in the afternoon and dine at the 'Star and
+Garter,' or to Greenwich and eat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> 'white baits fish,' as the Russian
+called that celebrated dish, and finish off the evening at some theatre,
+getting home at midnight, in a procession of two cabs and a hansom.</p>
+
+<p>When the first excitement was over, Lavinia and Matilda took a turn at
+society, having friends in London. Amanda could not conquer her
+prejudices sufficiently to accompany them, and, falling back on the
+climate as her excuse, stayed at home and improved her mind.</p>
+
+<p>'I feel now like girls in novels. You are the Duchess of Devonshire and
+I am Lady Maud Plantagenet, going to a ball at Buckingham Palace. I know
+that I was made to sit in the lap of luxury: it agrees with me so well,'
+said Matilda, as the two rolled away to Aubrey House in a brougham, all
+lamps, glass, and satin. Her long blue train lay piled up before her,
+the light flashed on her best Roman <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>ear-rings, her curls were in their
+most picturesque array, and&mdash;crowning joy of all&mdash;cream-coloured gloves,
+with six buttons, covered her arms, and filled her soul with happiness,
+because they were so elegant and cost so little, being bought in Rome
+just after the flood.</p>
+
+<p>Dowager Livy responded gravely from the depths of her silver-grey silk,
+enlivened with pink azaleas,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My child, thank your stars that you are a free-born Yankee, and have no
+great name or state to keep up. Buckingham Palace is all very well, and
+I shouldn't mind calling on Mrs. Guelph, or Saxe Coburg, whichever it
+is, but I much prefer to be going to the house of a Radical M.P., who is
+lending a hand to all good works. Mrs. T. is a far more interesting
+woman to me than Victoria, for her life is spent in helping her
+fellow-creatures. I consider her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> a model Englishwoman&mdash;simple, sincere,
+and accomplished; full of good sense, intelligence, and energy. Her
+house is open to all, friend and stranger, black and white, rich and
+poor. Great men and earnest women meet there; Mazzini and Frances Power
+Cobbe, John Bright and Jean Ingelow, Rossetti the poet, and Elizabeth
+Garrett the brave little doctor. Though wealthy and living in an
+historical mansion, the host is the most unassuming man in it, and the
+hostess the simplest dressed lady. Their money goes in other ways, and
+the chief ornament of that lovely spot is a school, where poor girls may
+get an education. Mrs. T. gave a piece of her own garden for it, and
+teaches there herself, aided by her friends, who serve the poor girls
+like mothers and sisters, and help to lift them up from the slough of
+despond in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> which so many sink. That beats anything you'll find in
+Buckingham Palace, sister Mat.'</p>
+
+<p>'If they want a drawing-teacher I'll offer myself, for I think that is
+regularly splendid,' said Matilda warmly, as Livy paused for breath
+after her harangue.</p>
+
+<p>With these new ideas in her head, Lady Maud enjoyed her party, while the
+Duchess revelled in radicals to her heart's content; for Aubrey House
+was their head-quarters, and all were out in full force. It was cheering
+to our spinster to find that things had moved a good deal since a former
+visit, five or six years before, when Mill had carried into the House of
+Commons a Woman's Rights petition that filled both arms. People laughed
+then, and the stout-hearted women laughed also, but said, 'Our next
+petition shall be so big it will have to go in a wheel-barrow.' Now the
+same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> people talked over the question soberly, and began to think
+something besides fun might come of it. The pioneers rejoiced over
+several hard-won battles, and the scoffers came to see that the truest
+glory was won by those who did the hard work, and stood by a good cause
+when most unpopular; not by those who kept out of the field till the
+fight was over, and then came in to wave the flags and beat the drums
+over victories they had not helped to win.</p>
+
+<p>'It seems to me that these Englishwomen make less noise and do more work
+than we Americans. I shouldn't dare to say so in public; but their
+quiet, orderly ways suits me better than the more demonstrative
+performances of my friends at home. Slow coaches as we call them, I
+should not be surprised if they got the suffrage before we did, as the
+tortoise won in the fable,' was Lavinia's secret thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> as they drove
+away, after a very charming evening.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the fact that reforms of all sorts had been poured into her ears
+till her head was like a hive of bees, may account for this unpatriotic
+thought. Or it may be the pleasant effect of the healthful aspect of
+these English workers. Old or young, all seemed to have cheerful,
+well-balanced minds, in strong, healthy bodies. No one complained of her
+nerves, or let them unconsciously put a sharp edge to her tongue, give a
+blue tinge to the world, or sour the milk of human kindness in her
+heart. Less quick and bright, perhaps, than the ladies over the sea, but
+more womanly, and full of a quiet tenacity of purpose better than
+eloquence.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Livy's tastes being of a peculiar sort, and pictures having palled
+upon her to such a degree that she couldn't even look at an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>ornamental
+sign-board without disgust, she often left her more artistic friends and
+went forth on excursions of her own. As she never used either map or
+guide book, it was a wonder how she found her way; and the infants were
+often on the point of sending for the city crier, if there is such a
+functionary, to find the lost duenna. But old Livy always turned up at
+last, mud to the eyes, tired out, and more deeply impressed than ever
+with the charms of London.</p>
+
+<p>One day she set forth to hear Spurgeon. Being told that Lambeth was a
+wretched quarter of the city, that the Tabernacle was two or three miles
+away, and very difficult to enter when found, only added zest to the
+thing, and she departed, sure of finding adventures, if not Spurgeon.</p>
+
+<p>If an omnibus conductor had not befriended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> her, she would probably have
+found herself at Hampstead or Chelsea, for London busses are as
+bewildering as London streets. Thanks to this amiable man, who evidently
+felt that the stranger in his gates needed all his care, the old lady
+safely reached the Elephant and Castle, and was dismissed with a moss
+rose-bud from the lips of her friend, a reassuring pat on the shoulder,
+and a paternal ''Ere yer are, my dear,' which unexpected attentions
+caused her to depart with speed.</p>
+
+<p>There certainly was need of a Tabernacle in that quarter, for the
+poverty and wickedness were very dreadful. Boys not yet in their teens
+staggered by half-tipsy, or lounged at the doors of gin-shops.
+Bonnetless girls roamed about singing and squabbling. Forlorn babies
+played in the gutter, and men and women in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> every stage of raggedness
+and degradation marred the beauty of that fair Sunday morning.</p>
+
+<p>Crowds were swarming into the Tabernacle: but, thanks to the order a
+friend had given her, Miss Livy was handed to a comfortable seat, with a
+haggard Magdalen on one side and a palsy-stricken old man on the other.
+Staring about her, she saw an immense building with two galleries
+extending round three sides, and a double sort of platform behind and
+below the pulpit, which was a little pen lifted high that all might see
+and hear.</p>
+
+<p>Every seat, aisle, window-ledge, step, and door-way, was packed with a
+strange congregation; all nations, all colours, all ages, and nearly all
+bearing the sad marks of poverty or sin. They all sung, cried out if
+anything affected or pleased them in the sermon, and listened with
+interest to the plain yet fervent words of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> man who has gathered
+together this flock of black sheep and is so faithful a shepherd to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Every one knows how Spurgeon looks in pictures, but in the pulpit he
+reminded Livy of Martin Luther. A square, florid face, stout figure, a
+fine keen eye, and a natural, decided manner, very impressive. A strong,
+clear voice of much dramatic power, and a way of walking the pulpit like
+Father Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>His sermon was on 'Small Temptations,' and he illustrated it by facts
+and examples taken from real life, pointing out several of his
+congregation, and calling them by name, which original proceeding seemed
+to find favour with his people. He used no notes, but talked rather than
+preached; and leaning over the railing, urged, argued, prayed, and sang
+with a hearty eloquence, very effective, and decidedly refreshing after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
+High Church mummery abroad, and drowsy Unitarianism at home. Now and
+then he stopped to give directions for the comfort of his flock in a
+free and easy manner, which called up irresistible smiles on the faces
+of strangers.</p>
+
+<p>'Mrs. Flacker, you'd better take that child into the ante-room: he's
+tired.' 'Come this way, friends: there's plenty of room.' 'Open all the
+windows, Manning: it's very warm.' And when a sad sort of cry
+interrupted him, he looked down at an old woman shaking with epilepsy,
+and mildly remarked, 'Don't be troubled, brethren: our sister is subject
+to fits,' and preached tranquilly on.</p>
+
+<p>For two hours he held that great gathering, in spite of heat,
+discomfort, and other afflictions of the flesh, and ended by saying, in
+a paternal way,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Now remember what I've said through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> week, and next Sunday show me
+that I haven't talked in vain.'</p>
+
+<p>He read a list of meetings for every night in the week. One especially
+struck Livy, as it was for mothers to meet and talk over with him the
+best ways of teaching and training their children. Spurgeon evidently
+does not spare his own time and strength; and whatever his creed may be,
+he is a good Christian in loving his neighbour <i>better</i> than himself,
+and doing the work his hand finds to do with all his might.</p>
+
+<p>'That is a better church than most of those I enter where respectable
+saints have the best seats, and there is no place for sinners,' said
+Livy when she got home. 'Spurgeon's congregation preached more
+eloquently to me than he did. The Magdalen cried as if her heart was
+broken, and I am sure those tears washed some of her sins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> away. The
+feeble old man looked as if he had found a staff for his trembling hands
+to lay hold upon, and the forlorn souls all about me, for a time at
+least, laid down their burdens and found rest and comfort in their
+Father's house. It did me more good than the preaching of all the
+bishops in London, or the finest pageant at St. Paul's; and I am truly
+glad I went, though the saucy conductor did smirk at me over the
+rosebud.'</p>
+
+<p>In contrast to this serious expedition, the old lady had a very jolly
+one not long afterward. A certain congenial Professor asked her one day
+what person, place, or thing in London she most desired to see.</p>
+
+<p>Clasping her hands with the energy of deep emotion, she replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The home of the immortal Sairy Gamp. Long ago I made a vow, if I ever
+came to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> London I'd visit that spot. Let me keep my vow.'</p>
+
+<p>'You shall!' responded the Professor with a responsive ardour, which
+caused Livy to dive into her waterproof without another word.</p>
+
+<p>Away they went in a pouring rain, and what people thought of the damp
+but enthusiastic couple who pervaded the city that day I can't say; I
+only know a merrier pair of pilgrims never visited those grimy shrines.
+They met several old friends, and passed several familiar spots by the
+way. Major Bagstock and Cousin Phenix stared at them from a club-house
+window. Tigg Montague's cab dashed by them in Regent Street, more
+gorgeous than ever. The brothers Cheeryble went trotting cityward arm in
+arm, with a smile and ha'penny for all the beggars they met; and the
+Micawber family passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> them in a bus, going, I suppose, to accompany
+the blighted Wilkins to gaol.</p>
+
+<p>In a certain grimly genteel street they paused to stare up at a row of
+grimly respectable houses; for, though the name wasn't on any of the
+doors, they were sure Mr. Dombey still lived there. A rough dog lay on
+one of the doorsteps, and a curtain fluttered at an open upper window.
+Poor Di was growling in his sleep, and above there little Paul was
+watching for the golden water on the wall, while faithful Florence sung
+to him, and Susan Nipper put away derisive sniffs and winks in closets
+and behind doors for the benefit of 'them Pipchinses.'</p>
+
+<p>Coming to a poorer part of the city, they met Tiny Tim tapping along on
+his little crutch, passed Toby Veck at a windy street-corner, and saw
+all the little Tetterbys playing in the mud.</p>
+
+<p>'Come down this street, and take a glimpse at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> St. Giles's, the worst
+part of London,' said the Professor; and, following, Livy saw misery
+enough in five minutes to make her heart ache for the day. A policeman
+kept near them, saying it wasn't safe to go far there alone.</p>
+
+<p>Vice, poverty, dirt, and suffering reigned supreme within a stone's
+throw of one of the great thoroughfares, and made Alsatia dangerous
+ground for respectable feet. Here, too, they saw familiar phantoms: poor
+Jo, perpetually moving on; and little Oliver led by Nancy, with a shawl
+over her head and a black eye; Bill Sykes, lounging in a doorway,
+looking more ruffianly than ever; and the Artful Dodger, who kept his
+eye on them as two hopeful 'plants' with profitable pockets ready for
+him.</p>
+
+<p>They soon had enough of this, and hurried on along High Holborn, till
+they came to Kingsgate Street, so like the description that I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> sure
+Dickens must have been there and taken notes. They knew the house in a
+moment: there were the two dingy windows over the bird-shop; the checked
+curtains were drawn, but of course the bottomless bandboxes, the wooden
+pippins, green umbrella, and portrait of Miss Harris were all behind
+them. It seemed so real that they quite expected to see a red, snuffy
+old face appear, and to hear a drowsy voice exclaim: 'Drat that bell:
+I'm a coming. Don't tell me it's Mrs. Wilkins, without even a pincushion
+prepared.'</p>
+
+<p>While Livy stood gazing in silent satisfaction (merely regretting that
+the name on the door was Pendergast, not Sweedle-pipes), the Professor
+turned to a woman, and asked with admirable gravity, 'Can you tell me
+where Mrs. Gamp lives?'</p>
+
+<p>'What's her business?' demanded the matron, with interest.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p><p>'A nurse, ma'am.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is she a little fat woman?'</p>
+
+<p>'Fat, decidedly, and old,' returned the Professor, without a smile on
+his somewhat cherubic countenance.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, she lives No. 5, round the corner.'</p>
+
+<p>On receiving this unexpected reply, they looked at one another in comic
+dismay; but would certainly have gone to No. 5, and taken a look at the
+modern Sairy, if the woman hadn't called out as they moved on&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I b'lieve that nuss's name is Britiain, not Gamp; but you can ask.'</p>
+
+<p>Murmuring a hasty 'thank you,' they fled precipitately round the corner,
+and there enjoyed a glorious laugh under an umbrella, to the great
+amazement of all beholders.</p>
+
+<p>Being on a Dickens pilgrimage, they went to Furnival's Inn, where he
+wrote 'Pickwick' in a three-story room, and read it to the old porter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>
+The same old porter told them all about it, and quite revelled in the
+remembrance. It did one's heart good to see the stiff, dried-up old
+fellow thaw and glow with the recollection of the handsome young man who
+was kind to him long ago, before the world had found him out.</p>
+
+<p>'Did you think the book would be famous when he read it to you in 1834,
+as you say?' asked the Professor, beaming at him in a way that would
+have melted the heart of the stiff-tailed lion of the Northumberlands,
+if he'd possessed such an organ.</p>
+
+<p>'O dear, yes, sir; I felt sure it would be summat good, it made me laugh
+so. <i>He</i> didn't think much of it; but I know a good thing when I see
+it;' and the old man gave an important nod, as if all the credit of the
+blessed 'Pickwick' belonged to him. 'He married Miss Hogarth while
+livin' here; and you can see the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> room, if you like,' he added, with a
+burst of hospitality, as the almighty sixpence touched his palm.</p>
+
+<p>Up they went, over the worn stairs; and, finding the door locked,
+solemnly touched the brass knob, read the name 'Ed Peck' on the plate,
+and wiped their feet on a very dirty mat. It was ridiculous, of course;
+but hero-worship is not the worst of modern follies, and when one's hero
+has won from the world some of its heartiest smiles and tears, one may
+be forgiven for a little sentiment in a dark entry.</p>
+
+<p>Next they went to the Saracen's Head, where Mr. Squeers stopped when in
+London. The odd old place looked as if it hadn't changed a particle.
+There was the wooden gallery outside, where the chamber-maids stood to
+see the coach off; the archway under which poor Nicholas drove that cold
+morning; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> office, or bar, where the miserable little boys shivered
+while they took alternate sips out of one mug, and bolted hunches of
+bread and butter as Squeers 'nagged' them in private and talked to them
+like a father in public. Livy was tempted to bring away a little
+porter-pot hanging outside the door, as a trophy; but fearing Squeers's
+squint eye was upon her, she refrained, and took a muddy pebble instead.</p>
+
+<p>They took a peep at the Temple and its garden. The fountain was not
+playing, but it looked very pleasant, nevertheless; and as they stood
+there the sun came out, as if anxious that they should see it at its
+best. It was all very well to know that Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'
+was played in Middle Temple Hall, that the York and Lancaster roses grew
+here, that Dr. Johnson lived No. 1 Inner Temple Lane, and that Goldsmith
+died No. 2 Brick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> Court, Middle Temple; these actual events and people
+seemed far less real than the scenes between Pendennis and Fanny, John
+Westlock and little Ruth Pinch. For their sakes Livy went to see the
+place; and for their sakes she still remembers that green spot in the
+heart of London, with the June sunshine falling on it as it fell that
+day.</p>
+
+<p>The pilgrimage ended with a breathless climb up the Monument, whence
+they got a fine view of London, and better still of Todgerses. Livy
+found the house by instinct; and saw Cherry Pecksniff, now a sharp-nosed
+old woman, sitting at the back window. A gaunt, anxious-looking lady, in
+a massive bonnet, crossed the yard, with a basket in her hand; and the
+Professor said at once, 'That's Mrs. Todgers, and the amount of gravy
+single gentlemen eat is still weighing heavy on her mind.' As if to
+make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> the thing quite perfect, they discovered fitful glimpses of a
+tousled-looking boy, cleaning knives or boots, in a cellar-kitchen; and
+all the lawyers in London couldn't have argued them out of their firm
+belief that it was young Bailey, undergoing his daily torment in company
+with the black beetles and the mouldy bottles.</p>
+
+<p>That nothing might be wanting to finish off the rainy-day ramble in an
+appropriate manner, when Livy's companion asked what she'd have for
+lunch, she boldly replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Weal pie and a pot of porter.'</p>
+
+<p>As she was not fond of either, it was a sure proof of the sincerity of
+her regard for the persons who have made them immortal. They went into
+an eating-house, and ordered the lunch, finding themselves objects of
+interest to the other guests. But, though a walking doormat in point of
+mud, and somewhat flushed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> excited by the hustling, climbing, and
+adoring, it is certain there wasn't a happier spinster in this 'Piljin
+Projess of a wale,' than the one who partook of 'weal pie' in memory of
+Sam Weller, and drank 'a modest quencher' to the health of Dick
+Swiveller at the end of that delightful Dickens day.</p>
+
+<p>Much might be written about the domestic pleasures of English people,
+but as the compiler of this interesting work believes in the sacredness
+of private life, and has a holy horror of the dreadful people who
+outrage hospitality by basely reporting all they have seen and heard,
+she will practise what she preaches, and firmly resist the temptation to
+describe the delights of country strolls with poets, cosey five-o'clock
+teas in famous drawing-rooms, and interviews with persons whose names
+are household words.</p>
+
+<p>This virtuous reticence leaves the best untold,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> and brings the story of
+two of our travellers to a speedy end. Matilda decided to remain and
+study art, spending her days copying Turner at the National Gallery, and
+her evenings in the society of the eight agreeable gentlemen who adorned
+the house where she abode.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda hurried home with friends to enjoy a festive summer among the
+verdant plains of Cape Cod. With deep regret did her mates bid her
+adieu, and nothing but the certainty of soon embracing her again would
+have reconciled Livy to the parting; for in Amanda she had found that
+rare and precious treasure, a friend.</p>
+
+<p>'Addio, my beloved Granny; take care of your dear bones and come home
+soon,' said Amanda, in the little back entry, while her luggage was
+being precipitated downstairs.</p>
+
+<p>'Heaven bless and keep you safe, my own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> Possum. I shall not stay long
+because I can't possibly get on without you,' moaned Livy, clinging to
+the departing treasure as Diogenes might have clung to his honest man,
+if he ever found him; for, with better luck than the old philosopher,
+Livy had searched long years for a friend to her mind, and got one at
+last.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't be sentimental, girls' said Matilda, with tears in her eyes, as
+she hugged her Mandy, and bore her to the cab.</p>
+
+<p>'Rome and Raphael for ever!' cried Amanda, as a cheerful parting salute.</p>
+
+<p>'London and Turner!' shouted Matilda with her answering war-cry.</p>
+
+<p>'Boston and Emerson!' sobbed Lavinia, true to her idols even in the
+deepest woe.</p>
+
+<p>Then three damp pocket-handkerchiefs waved wildly till the dingy cab
+with the dear Egyptian nose at the window, and the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> bath-pan
+clattering frantically up aloft, vanished round the corner, leaving a
+void behind that all Europe could not fill.</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks later Livy followed, leaving Mat to enjoy the liberty with
+which American girls may be trusted when they have a purpose or a
+profession to keep them steady. And so ended the travels of the trio,
+travels which had filled a year with valuable experiences, memorable
+days, and that culture which a larger knowledge of the world, our
+fellow-men, and ourselves gives to the fortunate souls to whom this
+pleasure is permitted.</p>
+
+<p>One point was satisfactorily proved by the successful issue of this
+partnership; for, in spite of many prophecies to the contrary, three
+women, utterly unlike in every respect, had lived happily together for
+twelve long months, had travelled unprotected safely over land and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> sea,
+had experienced two revolutions, an earthquake, an eclipse, and a flood,
+yet met with no loss, no mishap, no quarrel, and no disappointment worth
+mentioning.</p>
+
+<p>With this triumphant statement as a moral to our tale, we would
+respectfully advise all timid sisters now lingering doubtfully on the
+shore, to strap up their bundles in light marching order, and push
+boldly off. They will need no protector but their own courage, no guide
+but their own good sense and Yankee wit, and no interpreter, if that
+woman's best gift, the tongue, has a little French polish on it.</p>
+
+<p>Dear Amandas, Matildas, and Lavinias, why delay? Wait on no man, but
+take your little store and invest it in something far better than Paris
+finery, Geneva jewellery, or Roman relics. Bring home empty trunks, if
+you will, but heads full of new and larger ideas, hearts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> richer in the
+sympathy that makes the whole world kin, hands readier to help on the
+great work God gives humanity, and souls elevated by the wonders of art
+and the diviner miracles of Nature.</p>
+
+<p>Leave <i>ennui</i> and discontent, frivolity and feebleness, among the ruins
+of the Old World, and bring home to the New the grace, the culture, and
+the health which will make American women what now they just fail of
+being, the bravest, brightest, happiest, and handsomest women in the
+world.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">PRINTED BY<br />SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE<br />LONDON</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
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@@ -0,0 +1,5286 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Shawl-Straps
+       A Second Series of Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag
+
+Author: Louisa M. Alcott
+
+Release Date: July 9, 2007 [EBook #22022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAWL-STRAPS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SHAWL-STRAPS.
+
+A Second Series
+
+OF
+
+AUNT JO'S SCRAP-BAG.
+
+BY
+
+LOUISA M. ALCOTT,
+
+AUTHOR OF
+'LITTLE WOMEN,' 'AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL,' 'LITTLE MEN,'
+'HOSPITAL SKETCHES.'
+
+LONDON:
+SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
+_LIMITED_,
+St. Dunstan's House,
+FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
+
+1895.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+
+_LOW'S STANDARD SERIES OF BOOKS BY POPULAR WRITERS._
+
+Small crown 8vo. cloth gilt, 2_s._; gilt edges, 2_s._ 6_d._ each
+
+ 1.  ALCOTT, L. M. Little Men.
+ 2.  WHITNEY, Mrs. Hitherto.
+ 3.  SAMUELS. Forecastle to Cabin. Illustrated.
+ 4.  ROBINSON, P. In my Indian Garden.
+ 5.  ALCOTT, L. M. Little Women and Little Women Wedded.
+ 6.  WHITNEY, Mrs. We Girls.
+ 7.  ---- The other Girls: a Sequel.
+ 8.  ALDEN, W. L. Jimmy Brown.
+ 9.  ALCOTT, L. M. Under the Lilacs. Illustrated.
+10.  ---- Jimmy's Cruise.
+11.  ROBINSON, PHIL. Under the Punkah.
+12.  ALCOTT, L. M. An Old-Fashioned Girl.
+13.  ---- A Rose in Bloom.
+14.  ---- Eight Cousins. Illustrated.
+15.  ---- Jack and Jill.
+16.  ---- Lulu's Library. Illustrated.
+17.  ---- Silver Pitchers.
+18.  ---- Work and Beginning Again.
+19.  WHITNEY, Mrs. Leslie Goldthwaite.
+20.  ---- Faith Gartney's Girlhood.
+21.  ---- Real Folks.
+22.  STOWE, Mrs. Dred.
+23.  ---- My Wife and I.
+24.  DE WITT, Madame. An Only Sister.
+25.  ALCOTT, L. M. Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag.
+26.  ---- Shawl Straps.
+27.  STOWE, Mrs. Ghost in the Mill.
+28.  BUNYAN, JOHN. Pilgrim's Progress (Extra volume), gilt, 2_s._
+29.  STOWE, Mrs. We and Our Neighbours.
+30.  SAINTINE. Picciola.
+31.  HOLM, SAXE. Draxy Miller's Dowry.
+32.  SANDEAU, JULES. Seagull Rock.
+33.  WARNER, C. D. In the Wilderness.
+34.  ---- My Summer in a Garden.
+35.  ALCOTT, L. M. Spinning-wheel Stories.
+36.  ALDEN, W. L. Trying to find Europe.
+37.  WHITNEY, Mrs. The Gayworthys.
+38.  TOOLEY, Mrs. Life of Mrs. Stowe.
+39.  ROE, E. P. Nature's Serial Story.
+40.  ALCOTT. Recollections.
+41.  STOWE, H. B. Minister's Wooing.
+
+* *
+ *  A New Illustrated List of Books for Boys and Girls,
+with Portraits of Celebrated Authors, sent post free on application.
+
+
+London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, LTD.,
+St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+There is a sort of fate about writing books of travel which it is
+impossible to escape. It is vain to declare that no inducement will
+bribe one to do it, that there is nothing new to tell, and that nobody
+wants to read the worn-out story: sooner or later the deed is done, and
+not till the book is safely shelved does peace descend upon the victim
+of this mysterious doom.
+
+The only way in which this affliction may be lightened to a
+long-suffering public is to make the work as cheerful and as short as
+possible. With this hope the undersigned bore has abstained from giving
+the dimensions of any church, the population of any city, or description
+of famous places, as far as in her lay; but confined herself to the
+personal haps and mishaps, adventures and experiences, of her wanderers.
+
+To explain the undue prominence given to Miss Lavinia, it should be
+stated that she is an old and intimate friend of the compiler of this
+frivolous work; and therefore her views on all subjects, though less
+valuable, were easier to obtain than those of the younger and more
+interesting shawl-strappists.
+
+                                                       L. M. A.
+_November 1872._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                       PAGE
+  I.  OFF                 1
+
+ II.  BRITTANY           24
+
+III.  FRANCE             92
+
+ IV.  SWITZERLAND       175
+
+  V.  ITALY             205
+
+ VI.  LONDON            265
+
+
+
+
+SHAWL-STRAPS.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+_OFF._
+
+
+'On the first day of February we three will sail from Boston for
+Messina, in the little fruit-ship "Wasp." We shall probably be a month
+going, unless we cross in a gale as I did, splitting sails every night,
+and standing on our heads most of the way,' said Amanda, folding up her
+maps with an air of calm decision.
+
+'Hurrah! what fun!' cried Matilda, waving a half-finished dressing-case
+over her head.
+
+But Lavinia, with one sepulchral groan, fell flat upon her bed, and lay
+there, dumb with the horrors of such a voyage.
+
+'Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think of the balmy airs of
+Sicily, the oranges, the flowers. Then a delicious month or two at
+Sorrento, with no east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be
+as merry as grigs, and get as buxom as dairy-maids in a month,' said the
+sprightly Amanda.
+
+'You promised to go, and if you back out we are lost, for we _must_ have
+a duenna. You can lie round in Europe just as well as here, and I have
+no doubt it will do you a world of good,' added Matilda.
+
+'I shall keep my word; but you will bury me in the Atlantic, so make up
+your minds to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used-up old invalid,
+who can't look at a sail-boat without a qualm, can survive thirty days
+of standing on my head, and thirty nights of sail-splitting, as we go
+slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans?' demanded
+Lavinia, with the energy of despair.
+
+Before anyone could reply, Amanda's little Mercury appeared with a note.
+
+'The "Wasp" will _not_ take passengers, and no other fruit-ship sails
+this spring,' read Amanda.
+
+'Oh dear!' sighed Matilda.
+
+'Saved!' cried Lavinia.
+
+'Be calm: we shall go, sooner or later, if I buy a ship and sail her
+myself;' with which indomitable remark Amanda went forth to grapple with
+and conquer untoward circumstances.
+
+A month of plans, vicissitudes, and suspense followed, during which
+Amanda strove manfully; Matilda suffered agonies of hope and fear; and
+Lavinia remained a passive shuttlecock, waiting to be tossed wherever
+Fate's battledore chose to send her.
+
+'Exactly two weeks from to-day, we sail with a party of friends in the
+French steamer "Lafayette," from New York for Brest. Will you be ready?'
+demanded Amanda, after a protracted wrestle with aforesaid adverse
+circumstances.
+
+'But that is exactly what we didn't mean to do. It's expensive and
+fashionable; France and not Italy, north and not south.'
+
+'That's because I'm in the party. If you take a Jonah nothing will go
+well. Leave me behind, and you will have a charming trip,' said Lavinia,
+who had an oyster-like objection to being torn from her bed.
+
+'No matter, we are going, live or die, sink or swim; and I shall expect
+to meet you, all booted and spurred and fit for the fight, April
+first,' said the unwavering Amanda.
+
+'A most appropriate day for three lone women to start off on a
+wild-goose chase after health and pleasure,' groaned Lavinia from among
+her pillows.
+
+'Very well, then; I leave you now, and shall expect to meet on the
+appointed day?'
+
+'If I'm spared,' answered the sufferer.
+
+'I'll bring her, never fear,' added the sanguine Mat, as she rattled the
+trays out of an immense trunk.
+
+How they ever did it no one knows; but in a week everything was ready,
+and the sisters had nothing left to do but to sit and receive the
+presents that showered upon them from all quarters. How kind everyone
+was, to be sure! Six fine dressing-cases arrived, and were hung upon the
+walls; four smelling-bottles--one for each nostril; bed-socks,
+rigolettes, afghans, lunch-baskets, pocket-flasks, guide-books,
+needle-cases, bouquets in stacks, and a great cake with their names on
+top in red and blue letters three inches long.
+
+Friendly fingers sewed for them; even the gentlemen of the house--and
+there were eight--had a 'bee,' and hemmed handkerchiefs for Mat, marked
+towels; and one noble being actually took off his coat and packed the
+trunks in layers of mosaic-work wonderful to behold. A supper celebrated
+the last evening; and even the doleful Lavinia, touched by such
+kindness, emerged from her slough of despond and electrified the ball by
+dancing a jig with great spirit and grace.
+
+Devoted beings were up at dawn to share the early breakfast, lug trunks,
+fly up and down with last messages, cheer heartily as the carriage
+drove off, and then adjourn _en masse_ to the station, there to shake
+hands all round once more, and wave and wring handkerchiefs as the train
+at last bore the jocund Mat and the resigned Lavinia toward the
+trysting-place and Amanda.
+
+All along the route more friends kept bursting into the cars as they
+stopped at different places; more gifts, more hand-shakes and kisses,
+more good wishes and kind prophecies, till at last in a chaos of smiles,
+tears, smelling-bottles, luncheon, cloaks, books, and foot-warmers, the
+travellers left the last friendly face behind and steamed away to New
+York.
+
+'How de-licious this is!' cried the untravelled Matilda, as they stepped
+upon the deck of the 'Lafayette,' and she sniffed the shippy fragrance
+that caused Lavinia to gasp and answer darkly,--
+
+'Wait till to-morrow.'
+
+While Mat surveyed the steamer under the care of Devoted Being No. 10,
+who appeared to see them off, Lavinia arranged the stateroom, stowing
+away all useless gear and laying forth dressing-gowns, slippers,
+pocket-handkerchiefs, with an anguished smile. _She_ had crossed the
+ocean twice, and was a wiser, sadder woman for it. At eight she turned
+in, and ten minutes later Amanda came aboard with a flock of gay
+friends. But no temptations of the flesh could lure the wary spinster
+from her den; for the night was rough and cold, and the steamer a Babel
+of confusion.
+
+'It's perfectly delightful! I wish you'd been there, Livy. We had
+supper, and songs, and funny stories, and all sorts of larks. There are
+quantities of nice people aboard, and we shall have a perfectly splendid
+trip. I shall be up bright and early, put on my scarlet stockings, my
+new boots, and pretty sea-suit, and go in for a jolly day,' said the
+ardent Matilda, as she came skipping down at midnight and fell asleep
+full of rosy visions of the joys of a
+
+
+     Life on the ocean wave.
+
+
+'Deluded child!' sighed Lavinia, closing her dizzy eyes upon the swaying
+garments on the wall, and feebly wishing she had hung herself along with
+them.
+
+In the gray dawn she was awakened by sounds of woe, and peering forth
+beheld the festive Matilda with one red stocking on and one off, her
+blonde locks wildly dishevelled, her face of a pale green, and her hands
+clasping lemons, cologne, and salts, as she lay with her brow upon the
+cool marble of the toilet-table.
+
+'How do you like it, dear?' asked the unfeeling Lavinia.
+
+'Oh, what is it? I feel as if I was dying. If somebody would only stop
+the swing _one_ minute. Is it sea-sickness? It's awful, but it will do
+me good. Oh, yes! I hope so. I've tried everything, and feel worse and
+worse. Hold me! save me! Oh, I wish I hadn't come!'
+
+'Shipmates ahoy! how are you, my loves?' and Amanda appeared, rosy,
+calm, and gay, with her pea-jacket on, skirts close reefed, hat well to
+windward, and everything taut and ship-shape; for she was a fine sailor,
+and never missed a meal.
+
+Wails greeted her, and faint inquiries as to the state of things in the
+upper world.
+
+'Blowing a gale; rain, hail, and snow,--very dirty weather; and we are
+flying off the coast in fine style,' was the cheerful reply.
+
+'Have we split any sails?' asked Lavinia, not daring to open her eyes.
+
+'Dozens, I dare say. Shipping seas every five minutes. All the
+passengers ill but me, and every prospect of a north-easter all the way
+over,' continued the lively Amanda, lurching briskly about the passage
+with her hands in her pockets.
+
+Matilda dropped her lemons and her bottles to wring her hands, and
+Lavinia softly murmured--
+
+
+     'Lord, what fools we mortals be,
+     That we ever go to sea!'
+
+
+'Breakfast, ladies?' cried the pretty French stewardess, prancing in
+with tea-cups, bowls of gruel, and piles of toast balanced in some
+miraculous manner all over her arms.
+
+'Oh, take it away! I shall never eat again,' moaned Matilda, clinging
+frantically to the marble, as the water-pitcher went down the middle
+with a hair-brush, and all the boots and shoes had a grand promenade
+round the room.
+
+'Don't speak to me; don't look at me; don't even _think_ of me for three
+days at least. Go and enjoy yourself, and leave us to our doom;' with
+which tragical remark Lavinia drew her curtains, and was seen no more.
+
+Great heavens, what a week that was! Rain, wind, fog; creak, pitch,
+toss; noise, smells, cold. Broken sleep by day, woe in every variety by
+night; food and drink a delusion and a snare; society an affliction;
+life a burden; death a far-off blessing not to be had at any price.
+Slowly, slowly the victims emerge from the lower depths of gloom, feebly
+smile, faintly joke, pick fearfully but wistfully at once-rejected
+dishes; talk about getting up, but don't do it; read a little, look at
+their sallow countenances in hand-glasses, and speculate upon the good
+effects of travel upon the constitution. Then they suddenly become
+daring, gay, and social; rise, adorn themselves, pervade the cabins,
+sniff the odours of engine and kitchen without qualms, play games, go to
+table; and, just as the voyage is over, begin to enjoy it.
+
+Alas for poor Lavinia! no such resurrection was possible for her. Long
+after Mat had bravely donned the scarlet hose, cocked up her beaver and
+gone forth to festive scenes, her shipmate remained below in chrysalis
+state, fed by faithful Marie, visited by the ever-cheerful Amanda, and
+enlivened by notes and messages from fellow-sufferers in far-off cells.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walmars, jun., called, and had private theatricals in
+the passage. Dried-ginger parties were held about the invalid's berth,
+poems were composed, and conundrums circulated. A little newspaper was
+concocted, replete with wit and spirit, by these secluded ladies, and
+called the 'Sherald,' to distinguish it from the 'Herald,' got up by
+sundry gentlemen whose shining hours were devoted to flirtation, cards,
+and wine.
+
+'Perfect gentlemen, I assure you, my dear; for, drunk or sober, they
+wear yellow kids from morning till night, smoke the best cigars, and
+dance divinely,' as Mrs. Twaddle said, sitting erect in the saloon,
+shrouded in fur and velvet, with five diamond-rings well displayed, as
+she recounted the diseases she had enjoyed, and did the honours of a
+remarkable work-basket, containing eight different sorts of scissors.
+
+'We shall be in to-morrow, so you'd better be digging up the treasures
+you have buried, you old magpie,' said Mat, appearing to the pensive
+Livy on the eleventh day.
+
+'The sun is out; come on deck, and help us get up the last edition of
+our paper. How will this do? Query--If steamers are named the "Asia,"
+the "Russia," and the "Scotia," why not call one the "Nausea?"' added
+Amanda, popping her head into the den. Lavinia threw a pillow at her,
+but the undaunted joker continued--
+
+'Also this: Financial--This being a feminine paper, gold is no longer at
+Pa, but at Ma.'
+
+'Good! Add this: Argument in favour of the Superiority of Women--The
+sluggard was _not_ told to go to his uncle.'
+
+'Thank you,' and Amanda departed to twine with her forty-third bosom
+friend, while Lavinia disinterred, from holes and corners of her berth,
+money, nuts, and raisins; books, biscuits, and literary efforts much the
+worse for deluges of soap and daubs of butter.
+
+The cry of 'Land!' on the morrow caused passengers unseen before to
+appear like worms after a shower; all heroically did up their back hair,
+put on their best suits, and walked forth with the delusive hope that no
+one would know how ill they had been.
+
+A French Marquis, with a sickly little son, whose diet of fried potatoes
+and sour wine accounted for his having the temper of a young fiend,
+appeared, and were made much of by dear, title-loving Americans.
+
+A Spanish opera-singer, stout, saffron-coloured, and imperious, likewise
+emerged from obscurity, with a meek little husband, who waited on her
+like a servant, and a big bald parrot, who swore like a trooper.
+
+Several nuns languished in corners of the saloon, surveying the
+vanities of life with interest, and telling their beads devoutly when
+they saw anyone looking at them.
+
+A mysterious lady in green velvet with many diamonds, and a shabby,
+speechless companion, sailed about the ship, regardless of the rumours
+told of her--deserted husbands, stolen jewellery, lovers waiting on the
+other side, and many equally pleasant little tales.
+
+The gentlemen with orange gloves and copper-coloured noses got
+themselves up in the most superb style, though few were going to land at
+Brest, and took tender farewells of such ladies as did, each professing
+desolation and despair at the termination of a twelve days' flirtation.
+
+'I am not fond of dirt, but I could kneel down and kiss this mud, so
+grateful am I to feel solid ground under my feet, after leading the
+life of a fly for so long,' said Lavinia with emotion, as the three
+trudged up the wharf at Brest into a sort of barn which served for a
+custom-house.
+
+'Now let each sit upon her luggage and clamour till some one comes and
+examines it, else it will get whisked away heaven only knows where,'
+ordered Amanda, who was the leader in right of her knowledge of tongues.
+
+Each perched accordingly on her one big trunk, and tried to 'clamour.'
+But nothing came of it save loss of time and temper, for no one paid the
+slightest heed to them; and it was maddening to see trunk after trunk
+passed and sent off, followed by its rejoicing owner. Especially hard to
+bear was the sight of the green-velvet sinner, who, with a smile or two,
+won the sternest official to pass her five trunks without turning a
+key, and sailed away with a scornful glance at the virtuous Three
+planted on their property and feebly beckoning for help.
+
+'I shall bear this no longer. Mat, sit there and guard the small things,
+while you and I, Livy, charge boldly among these imbeciles and drag them
+to their duty;' and Amanda marched away to clutch a cockaded victim by
+the shoulder with an awe-inspiring countenance.
+
+Lavinia picked out a feeble, gray officer, and dogged him like an
+Indian, smiling affably, and pointing to her luggage with a persistent
+mildness that nearly drove the poor man mad.
+
+No matter where he went, or what he did; no matter how thick the crowd
+about him, or how loud the din; still, like a relentless ghost, that
+mild old lady was ever at his side, mutely pointing and affably
+smiling. Of course he gave in, lifted one tray, saw much flannel, nearly
+blew his venerable nose off sniffing at one suspicious bottle, and
+slamming down the lid, scrawled a mysterious cross, bowed and fled.
+
+Proudly returning to Amanda, the victorious one found her friend in a
+high state of indignation; for no officer there would touch her trunk
+because some American Express had put little leaden stamps here and
+there for some unknown purpose. Not even in her best French could the
+irate lady make the thick-headed men understand that it was not a high
+crime against the nation to undo a strap till some superior officer
+arrived to take the responsibility of so rash a step.
+
+If they had comprehended the dire threats, the personal remarks, and
+unmitigated scorn of those three fair travellers, the blue-coated
+imbeciles would have been reduced to submission. Fortunately the great
+man came in time to save them from utter rout; for the ladies were just
+trying to decide whether to go and leave the luggage to its fate, or to
+haul it forth and depart _vi et armis_, when a stout old party came,
+saw, said, 'It is nothing; pass the trunk; a thousand pardons, Madame,'
+and peace was restored.
+
+Instantly the porters, who till then had stood back, eyeing the
+innocent, black ark, as if it was an infernal machine liable to explode
+at a touch, threw themselves upon it, bore it forth, and heaving it atop
+of an omnibus, returned to demand vast sums for having waited so long.
+
+Then was Amanda sublime; then did her comrades for the first time learn
+the magnitude of her powers, and realise the treasure they possessed.
+Stowing Matilda and the smaller traps in the bus, and saying to Lavinia,
+'Stand by me,' this dauntless maid faced one dozen blue-bloused,
+black-bearded, vociferous, demonstrative Frenchmen; and, calmly offering
+the proper sum, refused to add one sou more.
+
+Vainly the drivers perjured themselves in behalf of the porters; vainly
+the guard looked on, with imposing uniforms, and impertinent
+observations; vainly Mat cried imploringly, 'Pay anything, and let us
+get off before there is a mob'--still the indomitable Amanda held forth
+the honest franc; and, when no one would take it, laid it on the post,
+and entering the omnibus, drove calmly away.
+
+'What should we do without you?' sighed Lavinia, with fervent gratitude.
+
+'Be cheated right and left, and never know it, dear,' responded Amanda,
+preparing for another fight with the omnibus-driver.
+
+And she had it; for, unwarned by the fate of the porters, this
+short-sighted man insisted on carrying the ladies to a dirty little
+hotel to dine, though expressly ordered to go at once to the station.
+Nothing would induce them to alight, though the landlord came out in
+person and begged them to do so; and, after a protracted struggle and a
+drive all over the town, they finally reached the depot.
+
+Here another demand for double fare was promptly quenched by an appeal
+to the _chef de station_, who, finding that Mademoiselle was wide awake,
+crushed the driver and saw justice done.
+
+Exhausted but triumphant, the three at length found themselves rolling
+slowly towards Morlaix through a green and blooming country, so unlike
+the New England they had left behind, that they rejoiced like
+butterflies in the sunshine.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+_BRITTANY._
+
+
+After a late dinner, at which their appetites were pretty effectually
+taken away by seeing dishes of snails passed round and eaten like nuts,
+with large pins to pick out the squirming meat; a night's rest somewhat
+disturbed by the incessant clatter of _sabots_ in the market-place, and
+a breakfast rendered merry by being served by a _garcon_ whom Dickens
+would have immortalised, our travellers went on to Caulnes-Dinan.
+
+Here began their adventures, properly speaking. They were obliged to
+drive fourteen miles to Dinan in a ram-shackle carriage drawn by three
+fierce little horses, with their tails done up in braided chignons, and
+driven by a humpback. This elegant equipage was likewise occupied by a
+sleepy old priest, who smoked his pipe without stopping the whole way;
+also by a large, loquacious, beery man, who talked incessantly,
+informing the company that he was a friend of Victor Hugo, a child of
+nature aged sixty, and obliged to drink much ale because it went to his
+head and gave him commercial ideas.
+
+If it had given him no others it would have done well; but, after each
+draught, and he took many, this child of nature became so friendly that
+even the free and easy Americans were abashed. Matilda quailed before
+the languishing glances he gave her, and tied her head up like a bundle
+in a thick veil. The scandalised Lavinia, informing him that she did
+not understand French, assumed the demeanour of a griffin, and glared
+stonily into space, when she was not dislocating her neck trying to see
+if the top-heavy luggage had not tumbled off behind.
+
+Poor Amanda was thus left a prey to the beery one; for, having at first
+courteously responded to his paternal remarks and expressed an interest
+in the state of France, she could not drop the conversation all at once,
+even when the friend of Victor Hugo became so disagreeable that it is to
+be hoped the poet has not many such. He recited poems, he sung songs, he
+made tender confidences, and finished by pressing the hand of
+Mademoiselle to his lips. On being told that such demonstrations were
+not permitted to strangers in America, he beat his breast and cried
+out, 'My God, so beautiful and so cold! You do not comprehend that I am
+but a child. Pardon, and smile again I conjure you.'
+
+But Mademoiselle would not smile; and, folding her hands in her cloak,
+appeared to slumber. Whereat the gray-headed infant groaned
+pathetically, cast his eyes heavenward, and drank more ale, muttering to
+himself, and shaking his head as if his emotions could not be entirely
+suppressed.
+
+These proceedings caused Lavinia to keep her eye on him, being prepared
+for any outbreak, from a bullet all round to proposals to both her
+charges at once.
+
+With this smouldering bomb-shell inside, and the firm conviction that
+one if not all the trunks were lying in the dust some miles behind, it
+may be inferred that duenna Livy did not enjoy that break-neck drive,
+lurching and bumping up hill and down, with nothing between them and
+destruction apparently but the little humpback, who drove recklessly.
+
+In this style they rattled up to the Porte de Brest, feeling that they
+had reached Dinan 'only by the grace of God,' as the beery man expressed
+it, when he bowed and vanished, still oppressed with the gloomy
+discovery that American women did not appreciate him.
+
+While Amanda made inquiries at an office, and Matilda had raptures over
+the massive archway crowned with yellow flowers, Lavinia was edified by
+a new example of woman's right to labour.
+
+Close by was a clean, rosy old woman, whose unusual occupation attracted
+our spinster's attention. Whisking off the wheels of a _diligence_, the
+old lady greased them one by one, and put them on again with the skill
+and speed of a regular blacksmith, and then began to pile many parcels
+into a _char_ apparently waiting for them.
+
+She was a brisk, cheery old soul, with the colour of a winter-apple in
+her face, plenty of fire in her quick black eyes, and a mouthful of fine
+teeth, though she must have been sixty. She was dressed in the costume
+of the place: a linen cap with several sharp gables to it, a gay
+kerchief over her shoulders, a blue woollen gown short enough to display
+a pair of sturdy feet and legs in neat shoes with bunches of ribbons on
+the instep and black hose. A gray apron, with pockets and a bib,
+finished her off; making a very sensible as well as picturesque costume.
+
+She was still hard at it when a big boy appeared, and began to heave the
+trunks into another _char_; but gave out at the second, which was
+large. Instantly the brisk old woman put him aside, hoisted in the big
+boxes without help, and, catching up the shafts of the heavily laden
+cart, trotted away with it at a pace which caused the Americans (who
+prided themselves on their muscle) to stare after her in blank
+amazement.
+
+When next seen she was toiling up a steep street, still ahead of the
+lazy boy, who slowly followed with the lighter load. It did not suit
+Lavinia's ideas of the fitness of things to have an old woman trundle
+three heavy trunks while she herself carried nothing but a parasol, and
+she would certainly have lent a hand if the vigorous creature had not
+gone at such a pace that it was impossible to overtake her till she
+backed her cart up before a door in most scientific style, and with a
+bow, a smile, and a courteous wave of the hand, informed them that
+'here the ladies would behold the excellent Madame C.'
+
+They did behold and also receive a most cordial welcome from the good
+lady, who not only embraced them with effusion, but turned her house
+upside down for their accommodation, merely because they came
+recommended to her hospitality by a former lodger who had won her kind
+old heart.
+
+While she purred over them, the luggage was being bumped upstairs, the
+old woman shouldering trunk after trunk, and trudging up two steep
+flights in the most marvellous way. But best of all was her surprise and
+gratitude on receiving a larger fee than usual, for the ladies were much
+interested in this dear old Hercules in a cap of seven gables.
+
+When she had blessed them all round, and trotted briskly away with her
+carts, Madame C. informed the new-comers that the worthy soul was a
+widow with many children, whom she brought up excellently, supporting
+them by acting as porter at the hotel. Her strength was wonderful, and
+she was very proud of it--finding no work too hard, yet always neat,
+cheery, and active; asking no help, and literally earning her daily
+bread by the sweat of her brow. The ladies often saw her afterward,
+always trotting and tugging, smiling and content, as if some unseen
+hands kept well greased the wheels of her own diligence, which carried
+such a heavy load and never broke down.
+
+Miss Lavinia being interested in Woman's Rights and Wrongs, was much
+impressed by the new revelations of the capabilities of her sex, and
+soon ceased to be surprised at any demonstration of feminine strength,
+skill, and independence, for everywhere the women took the lead.
+
+They not only kept house, reared children, and knit every imaginable
+garment the human frame can wear, but kept the shops and the markets,
+tilled the gardens, cleaned the streets, and bought and sold cattle,
+leaving the men free to enjoy the only pursuits they seemed inclined to
+follow--breaking horses, mending roads, and getting drunk.
+
+The markets seemed entirely in the hands of the women, and lively scenes
+they presented to unaccustomed eyes, especially the pig-market, held
+every week, in the square before Madame C.'s house. At dawn the
+squealing began, and was kept up till sunset. The carts came in from all
+the neighbouring hamlets, with tubs full of infant pigs, over which the
+women watched with maternal care till they were safely deposited among
+the rows of tubs that stood along the walk facing Anne of Bretaigne's
+grey old tower, and the pleasant promenade which was once the _fosse_
+about the city walls.
+
+Here Madame would seat herself and knit briskly till a purchaser
+applied, when she would drop her work, dive among the pink innocents,
+and hold one up by its unhappy leg, undisturbed by its doleful cries,
+while she settled its price with a blue-gowned, white-capped neighbour
+as sharp-witted and shrill-tongued as herself. If the bargain was
+struck, they slapped their hands together in a peculiar way, and the new
+owner clapped her purchase into a meal-bag, slung it over her shoulder,
+and departed with her squirming, squealing treasure as calmly as a
+Boston lady with a satchel full of ribbons and gloves.
+
+More mature pigs came to market on their own legs, and very long,
+feeble legs they were, for a more unsightly beast than a Breton pig was
+never seen out of a toy Noah's ark. Tall, thin, high-backed, and
+sharp-nosed, these porcine victims tottered to their doom, with dismal
+wailings, and not a vestige of spirit till the trials and excitement of
+the day goaded them to rebellion, when their antics furnished fun for
+the public. Miss Livy observed that the women could manage the pigs when
+men failed entirely. The latter hustled, lugged, or lashed, unmercifully
+and unsuccessfully; the former, with that fine tact which helps them to
+lead nobler animals than pigs, would soothe, sympathise, coax, and
+gently beguile the poor beasts, or devise ways of mitigating their
+bewilderment and woe, which did honour to the sex, and triumphantly
+illustrated the power of moral suasion.
+
+One amiable lady, who had purchased two small pigs and a coop full of
+fowls, attempted to carry them all on one donkey. But the piggies
+rebelled lustily in the bags, the ducks remonstrated against their
+unquiet neighbours, and the donkey indignantly refused to stir a step
+till the unseemly uproar was calmed. But the Bretonne was equal to the
+occasion; for, after a pause of meditation, she solved the problem by
+tying the bags round the necks of the pigs, so that they could enjoy the
+prospect. This appeased them at once, and produced a general lull; for
+when the pigs stopped squealing, the ducks stopped quacking, the donkey
+ceased his bray, and the party moved on in dignified silence, with the
+youthful pigs, one black, one white, serenely regarding life from their
+bags.
+
+Another time, a woman leading a newly-bought cow came through the
+square, where the noise alarmed the beast so much that she became
+unruly, and pranced in a most dangerous manner. Miss Livy hung out of
+the window, breathless with interest, and ready to fly with brandy and
+bandages at a minute's notice, for it seemed inevitable that the woman
+would be tossed up among the lindens before the cow was conquered. The
+few men who were lounging about stood with their hands in their pockets,
+watching the struggle without offering to help, till the cow scooped the
+lady up on her horns, ready for a toss. Livy shrieked, but Madame just
+held on, kicking so vigorously that the cow was glad to set her down,
+when, instead of fainting, she coolly informed the men, who, seeing her
+danger, had approached, that she 'could arrange her cow for herself, and
+did not want any help,' which she proved by tying a big blue
+handkerchief over the animal's eyes, producing instant docility, and
+then she was led away by her flushed but triumphant mistress, who calmly
+settled her cap, and took a pinch of snuff to refresh herself, after a
+scuffle which would have annihilated most women.
+
+When Madame C.'s wood was put in, the new-comers were interested in
+watching the job, for it was done in a truly Bretonesque manner. It
+arrived in several odd carts, each drawn by four great horses, with two
+men to each team; and as the carts were clumsy, the horses wild, and the
+men stupid, the square presented a lively spectacle. At one time there
+were three carts, twelve horses, and six men, all in a snarl, while a
+dozen women stood at their doors and gave advice. One was washing a
+lettuce, another dressing her baby, a third twirling her distaff, and a
+fourth with her little bowl of soup, which she ate in public while
+gesticulating so frantically that her _sabots_ clattered on the stones.
+
+The horses had a free fight, and the men swore and shouted in vain, till
+the lady with the baby suddenly went to the rescue. Planting the naked
+cherub on the door-step, this energetic matron charged in among the
+rampant animals, and by some magic touch untangled the teams, quieted
+the most fractious, a big grey brute, prancing like a mad elephant; then
+returned to her baby, who was placidly eating dirt, and with a polite
+'_Voila, messieurs!_' she whipped little Jean into his shirt, while the
+men sat down to smoke.
+
+It took two deliberate men nearly a week to split the gnarled logs, and
+one brisk woman carried them into the cellar and piled them neatly. The
+men stopped about once an hour to smoke, drink cider, or rest. The
+woman worked steadily from morning till night, only pausing at noon for
+a bit of bread and the soup good Coste sent out to her. The men got two
+francs a day, the woman half a franc; and as nothing was taken out of it
+for wine or tobacco, her ten cents probably went further than their
+forty.
+
+This same capable lady used to come to market with a baby on one arm, a
+basket of fruit on the other, leading a pig, driving a donkey, and
+surrounded by sheep, while her head bore a pannier of vegetables, and
+her hands spun busily with a distaff. How she ever got on with these
+trifling incumbrances was a mystery; but there she was, busy, placid,
+and smiling, in the midst of the crowd, and at night went home with her
+shopping well content.
+
+The washerwomen were among the happiest of these happy souls, and
+nowhere were seen prettier pictures than they made, clustered round the
+fountains or tanks by the way, scrubbing, slapping, singing, and
+gossiping, as they washed or spread their linen on the green hedges and
+daisied grass in the bright spring weather. One envied the cheery faces
+under the queer caps, the stout arms that scrubbed all day, and were not
+too tired to carry home some chubby Jean or little Marie when night
+came; and, most of all, the contented hearts in the broad bosoms under
+the white kerchiefs, for no complaint did one hear from these
+hard-working, happy women. The same brave spirit seems to possess them
+now as that which carried them heroically to their fate in the
+Revolution, when hundreds of mothers and children were shot at Nantes
+and died without a murmur.
+
+But of all the friends the strangers made among them they liked old
+Mere Oudon best--a shrivelled leaf of a woman, who at ninety-two still
+supported her old husband of ninety-eight. He was nearly helpless, and
+lay in bed most of the time, smoking, while she peeled willows at a sou
+a day, trudged up and down with herbs, cresses, or any little thing she
+could find to sell. Very proud was she of her 'master,' his great age,
+his senses still quite perfect, and most of all his strength, for now
+and then the old tyrant left his bed to beat her, which token of
+conjugal regard she seemed to enjoy as a relic of early days, and a
+proof that he would long be spared to her.
+
+She kept him exquisitely neat, and if anyone gave her a plate of food, a
+little snuff, or any small comfort for her patient old age, she took it
+straight to the 'master,' and found a double happiness in giving and
+seeing him enjoy it.
+
+She had but one eye, her amiable husband having put out the other once
+on a time as she was leading him home tipsy from market. The kind soul
+bore no malice, and always made light of it when forced to tell how the
+affliction befell her.
+
+'My Yvon was so gay in his young days, truly, yes, a fine man, and now
+most beautiful to see in his clean bed, with the new pipe that
+Mademoiselle sent him. Come, then, and behold him, my superb master, who
+at ninety-eight has still this strength so wonderful.'
+
+The ladies never cared to see him more than once, but often met the
+truly beautiful old wife as she toiled to and fro, finding her faithful
+love more wonderful than his strength, and feeling sure that when she
+lies at last on her 'clean bed,' some good angel will repay these
+ninety-two hard years with the youth and beauty, happiness and rest,
+which nothing can destroy.
+
+Not only did the women manage the affairs of this world, but had more
+influence than men with the good powers of heaven. A long drought
+parched France that year, and even fertile Brittany suffered. More than
+once processions of women, led by priests, poured through the gates to
+go to the Croix du Saint Esprit and pray for rain.
+
+'Why don't the men go also?' Miss Livy asked.
+
+'Ah! they pray to the Virgin, and she listens best to women,' was the
+answer.
+
+She certainly seemed to do so, for gracious showers soon fell, and the
+little gardens bloomed freshly where the mothers' hard hands had planted
+cabbages, onions, and potatoes to feed the children through the long
+winter.
+
+Nor were these the only tasks the women did. The good ladies had a
+hospital, and a neater, cheerier place was never seen; few invalids, but
+many old people sitting in the sunny gardens, or at work in the clean
+rooms. La Garaye is in ruins now, but the memory of its gentle lady
+still lives, and is preserved in this benevolent institution for the
+sick, the old, and poor.
+
+A school for girls was kept by the good nuns, and the streets at certain
+hours were full of little damsels, with round caps on their braided
+hair, queer long gowns of blue, white aprons and handkerchiefs, who went
+clattering by in their wooden shoes, bobbing little curtsies to their
+friends, and readily answering any questions inquisitive strangers asked
+them. They learned to read, write, sew, and say the catechism. Also to
+sing; for, often as the ladies passed the little chapel of Our Lady, a
+chorus of sweet young voices came to us, making the flowery garden
+behind the church of St. Sauveur a favourite resting-place.
+
+In endeavouring to account for the freedom of the women here, it was
+decided that it was owing to Anne of Brittany, the 'gentle and generous
+Duchesse,' to whom her husband Louis XII. allowed the uncontrolled
+government of the duchy. Relics of the '_fiere Bretonne_,' as Louis
+called her, are still treasured everywhere, and it was pleasant to know
+not only that she was an accomplished woman, writing tender letters in
+Latin verse to her husband, but also a wise and just Princess to her
+people, 'showing herself by spirit and independence to be the most
+worthy of all her race to wear the ducal crown.' So three cheers for
+good Duchesse Anne, and long life to the hardy, happy women of Brittany!
+
+While Miss Lavinia was making these observations and moralizing upon
+them, the younger ladies were enjoying discoveries and experiences more
+to their tastes.
+
+They had not been in the house half a day before Madame C. informed them
+that 'Mademoiselle, the so charming miss whom they beheld at dinner, was
+to be married very soon; and they should have the rapture of witnessing
+a wedding the most beautiful.'
+
+They welcomed the prospect with pleasure, for Dinan is not a whirl of
+gaiety at the best of times: and that spring the drought, rumours of
+war, and fears of small-pox, cast a shadow upon the sunny little town.
+So they surveyed Mademoiselle Pelagie with interest, and longed to
+behold the happy man who was to be blessed with the hand of this little,
+yellow-faced girl, with red eyes, dirty hands, and a frizzled crop, so
+like a wig they never could make up their minds that it was not.
+
+Madame, the mamma, a buxom, comely widow, who breakfasted in black
+moire, with a diadem of glossy braids on her sleek head, and many jet
+ornaments rattling and glistening about her person, informed them, with
+voluble affability, of the whole affair.
+
+'My brother, M. le President, had arranged the marriage. Pelagie was
+twenty, and beautiful, as you behold. It was time to establish her. _Mon
+Dieu!_ yes; though my heart is lacerated to lose my angel, I consent. I
+conduct her to a ball, that she may be seen by the young man whose
+parents desire that he should espouse my infant. He beholds her. He
+says: "Great heavens, I adore her! My father, I consent." He is
+presented to me; we converse. She regards him with the angelic modesty
+of a young girl, but speaks not. I approve, the parents meet, it is
+arranged, and Jules is betrothed to my Pelagie. They have not met since;
+but next week he comes for the marriage, and he will be permitted to
+address her in my presence. Ah, yes! your customs are not as ours, and
+to us seem of a deplorable freedom. Pardon that I say it.'
+
+On inquiring how Pelagie regarded her future lord, they found that she
+thought very little about him, but was absorbed in her _trousseau_,
+which she proudly displayed. To those accustomed to see and hear of
+American outfits, with their lavish profusion and extravagant elegance,
+poor little Pelagie's modest stores were not at all imposing. Half a
+dozen pretty dresses from Paris; several amazing hats, all rosebuds,
+lace, and blue ribbon; a good deal of embroidery; and a few prophetic
+caps,--completed the outfit.
+
+One treasure, however, she was never tired of displaying,--a gift from
+Jules,--a camels'-hair shawl, in a black walnut case, on which was
+carved the Clomadoc arms. A set of pearls were also from the bridegroom;
+but the shawl was her pride, for married women alone could wear such,
+and she seemed to think this right of more importance than any the
+wedding-ring could confer upon her.
+
+To the young ladies, both of whom had known many of the romantic
+experiences which befall comely American girls, the idea of marrying a
+man whom they had only seen twice seemed horrible; and to have but one
+week of courtship, and that in Mamma's presence, was simply an insult
+and a wrong which they would not bear to think of.
+
+But Pelagie seemed quite content, and brooded over her finery like a
+true Frenchwoman, showing very little interest in her Jules, and only
+anxious for the time to come when she could wear her shawl and be
+addressed as Madame.
+
+While waiting for the grand event, the girls amused themselves with
+Gaston, the brother of the bride-elect. He was a languid, good-looking
+youth of three-and-twenty, who assumed _blase_ airs and attitudinized
+for their benefit. Sometimes he was lost in fits of Byronic gloom, when
+he frowned over his coffee, sighed gustily, and clutched his brow,
+regardless of the curls, usually in ambrosial order. The damsels,
+instead of being impressed by this display of inward agony, only laughed
+at him, and soon rallied him out of his heroics. Then he would try
+another plan, and become all devotion, presenting green tulips, ancient
+coins, early fruit, or sketches of his own, so very small that the
+design was quite obscure. If these delicate attentions failed to touch
+the stony hearts of the blonde Americans, he would air his entire
+wardrobe, appearing before them one day in full Breton costume of white
+cloth, embroidered in gay silks, buckled shoes, and hat adorned with
+streaming ribbons and flowers. Quite Arcadian was Gaston in this attire;
+and very effective on the croquet ground, where sundry English families
+disported themselves on certain afternoons. Another time he would get
+himself up like a Parisian dandy bound for a ride in the Bois de
+Boulogne; and, mounting with much difficulty a rampant horse, he would
+caracole about the Place St. Louis, to the great delight of the natives.
+
+But this proved a failure; for one of the fair but cruel strangers
+donned hat and habit, and entirely eclipsed his glories by galloping
+about the country like an Amazon. The only time Gaston played escort she
+was nearly the death of him, for he seldom did more than amble a mile or
+two, and a hard trot of some six or eight miles reduced our Adonis to
+such a state of exhaustion that he fell into his mother's arms on
+dismounting, and was borne away to bed with much lamentation.
+
+After that he contented himself with coming to show himself in full
+dress whenever he went to a party; and, as that was nearly every other
+evening, they soon got accustomed to hearing a tap at their door, and
+beholding the comely youth in all the bravery of glossy broadcloth, a
+lavish shirt-bosom, miraculous tie, primrose gloves, varnished shoes,
+and curls and moustache anointed and perfumed in the most exquisite
+style. He would bow and say '_Bon soir_,' then stand to be admired, with
+the artless satisfaction of a child; after which he would smile
+complacently, wave his crush hat, and depart with a flourish.
+
+Dear, dandified, vain Gaston! His great desire was to go to Paris, and
+when the war came he had his wish; but found sterner work to do than to
+dress and dance and languish at the feet of ladies. I hope it made a man
+of him, and fancy it did; for the French fight well and suffer bravely
+for the country they love in their melodramatic fashion.
+
+As the day approached for the advent of the bridegroom, great excitement
+prevailed in the quiet household. Madame C. and her handmaid, dear old
+Marie, cackled and bustled like a pair of important hens. Madame F., the
+widow, lived at the milliner's, so to speak, and had several dress
+rehearsals for her own satisfaction. Gaston mounted guard over his
+sister, lest some enamoured man should rend her from them ere her Jules
+could secure the prize. And Pelagie placidly ate and slept, kept her
+hair in crimping-pins from morning till night, wore out her old clothes,
+and whiled away the time munching _bonbons_ and displaying her shawl.
+
+'Mercy on us! I should feel like a lamb being fattened for the sacrifice
+if I were in her place,' cried one of the freeborn American
+citizenesses, with an air of unmitigated scorn for French ways of
+conducting this interesting ceremony.
+
+'I should feel like a galley-slave,' said the other. 'For she can't go
+anywhere without Gaston or Mamma at her elbow. Only yesterday she went
+into a shop alone, while Gaston waited at the door. And when she told it
+at home as a great exploit all the ladies shrieked with horror at the
+idea, and Mamma said, wringing her hands: "_Mon Dieu!_ but they will
+think thou art a married woman, for it is inconceivable that any girl
+should do so bold a thing." And Pelagie wept, and implored them not to
+tell Jules, lest he should discard her.'
+
+Here the Americans all groaned over the pathetic absurdity of the whole
+affair, and wondered with unrighteous glee what the decorous ladies
+below would say to some of their pranks at home. But, fearing that M. le
+President might feel it his duty to eject them from the town as
+dangerous persons, they shrouded their past sins in the most discreet
+silence, and assumed their primmest demeanour in public.
+
+'He has come! Look quick, girls!' cried Lavinia, as a carriage stopped
+at the door, and a rushing sound, as of many agitated skirts, was heard
+in the hall. Three heads peeped from the window of the blue parlour, and
+three pairs of curious eyes were rewarded by a sight of the bridegroom,
+as he alighted.
+
+Such a little man! Such a fierce moustache! Such a dignified strut! And
+such an imposing uniform as he wore! For Jules Gustave Adolphe Marie
+Clomadoc was a colonel in some regiment stationed at Boulogne. Out he
+skipped; in he marched; and, peeping over the banisters, they saw him
+salute Madame F. with a stately kiss on the hand, then escort her up to
+her _salon_, bowing loftily, and twisting his tawny moustache with an
+air that gave him the effect of being six feet in height, and broad in
+proportion.
+
+How he greeted his _fiancee_ they knew not, but the murmur of voices
+came from the room in steady flow for hours, and Gaston flew in and out
+with an air of immense importance.
+
+At dinner the strangers were proudly presented to M. le Colonel, and
+received affable bows from the little man, who flattered himself that he
+could talk English, and insisted on speaking an unknown tongue,
+evidently wondering at their stupidity in not understanding their own
+language.
+
+He escorted Madame down, sat between her and Pelagie, but talked only to
+her; while the girl sat silent and ate her dinner with an appetite which
+no emotion could diminish. It was very funny to see the small warrior do
+his wooing of the daughter through the mother; and the buxom widow
+played her part so well that an unenlightened observer would have said
+_she_ was the bride-elect. She smiled, she sighed, she discoursed, she
+coquetted, and now and then plucked out her handkerchief and wept at the
+thought of losing the angel, who was placidly gnawing bones and wiping
+up the gravy on her plate with bits of bread.
+
+Jules responded with spirit, talked, jested, quoted poetry, paid
+compliments right and left, and now and then passed the salt, filled a
+glass, or offered a napkin to his _fiancee_ with a French shrug and a
+tender glance.
+
+After dinner Madame F. begged him to recite one of his poems; for it
+appeared this all-accomplished man was beloved of the muse, and twanged
+the lyre as well as wielded the sword. With much persuasion and many
+modest apologies, Jules at length consented, took his place upon the
+rug, thrust one hand into his bosom, turned up his eyes, and, in a
+tremendous voice, declaimed a pensive poem of some twenty stanzas,
+called 'Adieu to my past.'
+
+The poet's friends listened with rapt countenances and frequent bursts
+of emotion or applause; but the Americans suffered agonies, for the
+whole thing was so absurdly melodramatic that it was with great
+difficulty they kept themselves from explosions of laughter. When the
+little man dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, in bidding adieu to
+the lost loves of his youth, tender-hearted old C. sobbed in her napkin;
+while Livy only saved herself from hysterics by drinking a glass of
+water, and Pelagie ate sugar, with her round eyes fixed on her lover's
+face, without the slightest expression whatever.
+
+When the poet mourned his blighted hopes, and asked wildly of all the
+elements if he should live or die, Gaston cast reproachful glances at
+the alien charmer who had nipped his passion in the bud; and when Jules
+gave a sudden start, slapped his brow, and declared that he would live
+for his country, old Marie choked in her coffee, while Madame F. clapped
+her fat hands, and cried: 'It is sublime!'
+
+The poem closed there, and the providential appearance of their donkeys
+gave the ladies an excuse for retiring to their room, where they laughed
+till they could laugh no more.
+
+Each meal was as good as a play, and every glimpse they had of the
+little pair gave fresh food for mirth. Everything was so formal and
+polite, so utterly unlike the free-and-easy customs of their native
+land, that they were kept in alternate states of indignation and
+amusement the whole time. Jules never was alone with his Pelagie for an
+instant; such a breach of etiquette would have shocked the entire town.
+In the walks and drives which the family took together, Madame was
+always at the Colonel's side; while Gaston escorted his sister, looking
+as if he was fast reaching a state of mind when he would give her away
+without a pang. Many guests came and went, much kissing and bowing,
+prancing and rustling, went on, up and down stairs. Stately old
+gentlemen called, papers were signed, fortunes discussed, and gifts
+displayed. Pelagie went much to mass; also to the barber's and the bath.
+Agitated milliners flew in and out. A great load of trunks arrived from
+Nantes, where Madame formerly lived; and the day before the wedding a
+whole carriage full of Clomadocs appeared, and Babel seemed to have come
+again.
+
+A great supper was given that evening, and the Three were banished to
+their own rooms; where, however, they fared sumptuously, for Madame C.
+and good old Marie ate with them, having no place left them but the
+kitchen. Madame C. was much hurt that she had not been asked to the
+wedding. It seemed the least Madame F. could do after taking possession
+of the house, and turning its rightful owner out of every room but the
+attic. Madame C. was a gentlewoman; and though a meek old soul, this
+rudeness hurt her very much. She said nothing; but Marie fumed and
+scolded fiercely, and proposed that the neglected ones should all go
+away on the wedding-day, and make a _fete_ for themselves somewhere. So
+they decided to drive to Dinare, enjoy the fine views of the sea and St.
+Malo, dine, and return at dusk, leaving the house free for the wedding
+festivities.
+
+The day was fine, and the ladies were graciously invited to behold the
+bride before she left for church. She looked as much like a
+fashion-plate as it was possible for a living girl to look; and they
+dutifully kissed her on both cheeks, paid their compliments and retired,
+thanking their stars that they were not in her place.
+
+Mamma was gorgeous to behold, in royal purple and black lace. Gaston was
+so glossy and beruffled and begemmed, that they gazed with awe upon the
+French Adonis. But the bridegroom was a sight for gods and men. In full
+regimentals with a big sword, so many orders that there was hardly room
+for them on his little breast, and a cocked hat, with a forest of
+feathers, in which he extinguished himself at intervals. How his tiny
+boots shone, his tawny moustache bristled with importance, and his
+golden epaulets glittered as he shrugged and pranced! His honoured papa
+and mamma were both tall, portly people, beside whom the manikin looked
+like a child. Livy quite longed to see Madame Clomadoc take little Jules
+on her knee, and amuse him with _bonbons_ when he got impatient at the
+delay of the carriage.
+
+The Three peeped out of windows, and over the banisters, and got fine
+glimpses of the splendours below. Flocks of elegant ladies went sailing
+up the narrow stairs. Gentlemen with orders, dandies wonderful to
+behold, and a few children (to play with the bridegroom, as Livy
+wickedly said), adorned the hall and _salon_. Every one talked at the
+top of his or her voice. Shrieks of rapture, groans of despair, greeted
+a fine toilette or a torn glove. Peals of laughter from the gentlemen,
+and shrill cries from the infants, echoed through the once peaceful
+halls. As Francoise said 'It was truly divine.'
+
+At eleven, every one trooped into the carriages again. How they ever got
+so many full-dressed people into one carriage is a mystery to this day.
+But in they piled, regardless of trains, corpulency, or height; and
+coach after coach lumbered away to the church.
+
+The bride's carriage could not be got very near the door. So she tripped
+out to it, leaning on her uncle's arm, while the devoted Gaston bore her
+train. Mamma sailed after in a purple cloud; and when two young damsels,
+in arsenic green, were packed in, away they went, leaving the bridegroom
+to follow.
+
+Then came the catastrophe! Stout papa and mamma were safely in; a friend
+of Jules, some six feet high, shut himself up like a jack-knife; and
+with a farewell wave of the cocked hat, the small bridegroom skipped in
+after them. The coachman cracked his whip, intending to dash under the
+arched gateway in fine style. But alas! the harness was old, the big
+horses clumsy, and the road half paved. The traces gave way, the beasts
+reared, the big coach lurched, and dismal wails arose. Out burst the
+fierce little hero of the day, and the tall friend followed by
+instalments.
+
+Great was the excitement as the natives gathered about the carriage with
+offers of help, murmurs of sympathy, and unseemly mirth on the part of
+the boys. Jules did the swearing; and never were heard such big oaths as
+fell from the lips of this irate little man. It really seemed as if he
+would explode with wrath. He dashed the impressive cocked hat upon the
+stones, laid his hand upon his sword, tore his hair, and clutched his
+moustache in paroxysms of despair.
+
+His bride was gone, waiting in agitated suspense for him. No other coach
+could be had, as the resources of the town had been exhausted. The
+harness was in a desperate state, the men at their wit's end how to
+mend it, and time flying fast. _Maire_ and priest were waiting, the
+whole effect of the wedding was being ruined by this delay, and 'ten
+thousand devils' seemed to possess the awkward coachman.
+
+During the flurry, Papa Clomadoc appeared to slumber tranquilly in the
+recesses of the carriage. Mamma endeavoured to soothe her boy with cries
+of 'Tranquillize yourself, my cherished son. It is nothing.' 'Come,
+then, and reassure papa.' 'Inhale the odour of my vinaigrette. It will
+compose your lacerated nerves, my angel.'
+
+But the angel wouldn't come, and continued to dance and swear, and slap
+his hat about until the damages were repaired, when he flung himself,
+exhausted, into the carriage, and was borne away to his bride.
+
+'A lively prospect for poor Pelagie.' 'What a little fiend he is!'
+'Spinsters for ever!'
+
+With these remarks, the ladies ordered their own equipage, an infant
+omnibus, much in vogue in Dinan, where retired army officers, English or
+Scotch, drive about with their little families of eighteen or twenty.
+One Colonel Newcome, a grave-looking man, used to come to church in a
+bus of this sort, with nine daughters and four sons, like a patriarch.
+The strangers thought it was a boarding-school, till he presented the
+entire flock, with paternal pride, as 'my treasures.'
+
+Madame C., in a large Leghorn bonnet, trembling with yellow bows, led
+the way with an air of lofty indifference as to what became of her house
+that day. Marie bore a big basket, full of cold fowls, salad, and wines;
+she also was in a new spring hat of purple, which made her rosy old
+face look like a china aster. Lavinia reposed upon the other seat; and
+the infants insisted on sharing the driver's seat, up aloft, that they
+might enjoy the prospect, which freak caused Flabeau's boy to beam and
+blush till his youthful countenance was a deep scarlet.
+
+They had a pleasant day; for good old Madame soon recovered her temper,
+and beguiled the time with lively tales of her mother's trials during
+the Revolution.
+
+Marie concocted spiced drinks, salad that was a thing to dream of, not
+to tell, and produced such edible treasures that her big basket seemed
+bottomless.
+
+The frisky damsels explored ruins, ran races on the hard beach, sniffed
+the salt breezes, and astonished the natives by swarming up and down
+'precipices,' as they called the rocks.
+
+That was a fatal day for Flabeau's boy (they never knew his name); for,
+as if the wedding had flown to his head, he lost his youthful heart to
+one of the lively damsels who invaded his perch. Such tender glances as
+his China-blue eyes cast upon her; such grins of joy as he gave when she
+spoke to him; such feats of agility as he performed, leaping down to
+gather flowers, or hurling himself over thorny hedges, to point out a
+_dolmen_ or a _menhir_ (they never could remember which was which).
+Alas, alas! for Flabeau's boy! Deeply was he wounded that day by the
+unconscious charmer, who would as soon have thought of inspiring love in
+the bosom of the broken-nosed saint by the wayside as in the heart that
+beat under the blue blouse.
+
+I regret to say that 'the infants,' as Madame C. always called Miss
+Livy's charges, behaved themselves with less decorum than could have
+been wished. But the proud consciousness that _they_ never could be
+disposed of as Pelagie had been had such an exhilarating effect upon
+them that they frisked like the lambs in the field.
+
+One drove the bus in a retired spot and astonished the stout horses by
+the way in which she bowled them along the fine, hard road. The other
+sang college songs, to the intense delight of the old ladies, who
+admired the '_chants Ameriques_ so gay,' and to the horror of their
+duenna, who knew what they meant. A shower came up, and they _would_
+remain outside; so the boy put up a leathern hood, and they sat inside
+in such a merry mood that the silent youth suddenly caught the
+infection, and burst forth into a Breton melody, which he continued to
+drone till they got home.
+
+The house was a blaze of light when they arrived, and Francoise, the
+maid, came flying out to report sundry breakages and mishaps. How the
+salad had precipitated itself downstairs, dish and all. How Monsieur
+Gaston was so gay, so inconceivably gay, that he could hardly stand, and
+insisted on kissing her clandestinely. That Mademoiselle Pelagie had
+wept much because her veil was torn; and Madame F. had made a fresh
+toilette, ravishing to behold. Would the dear ladies survey the party,
+still at table? Regard them from the little window in the garden, and
+see if it is not truly a spectacle the most superb!
+
+They did regard them, and saw the bride at the head of the table, eating
+steadily through the dessert; the bridegroom reciting poems with
+tremendous effect; Gaston almost invisible behind a barricade of
+bottles; and Madame F., in violet velvet, diamonds, plumes, and lace,
+more sleek and buxom than ever. The ladies all talked at once, and the
+gentlemen drank healths every five minutes. A very French and festive
+scene it was; for the room was small, and twenty mortals were stowed
+therein. One fat lady sat in the fireplace, Papa Clomadoc leaned his
+heavy head upon the sideboard, and the plump shoulders of Madame F. were
+half out of the front window. 'But it was genteel. Oh! I assure you,
+yes,' as Francoise said.
+
+How long they kept it up the weary trio did not wait to see, but retired
+to their beds, and slumbered peacefully, waking only when Gaston was
+borne up to his room, chanting the 'Marseillaise' at the top of his
+voice.
+
+Next day M. and Madame Clomadoc, Jr., made calls, and Pelagie had the
+joy of wearing her shawl. For three days she astonished the natives by
+promenading with her lord in a fresh toilette each day. On the fourth
+they all piled into a big carriage, and went away to make a round of
+visits, before the young people settled down at Boulogne.
+
+The Americans never thought to hear any more of Pelagie; but, as dear
+old Madame C. wrote to them several times after they left, the little
+story may be finished here, though the sequel did not actually come till
+a year later.
+
+Many were the sage predictions of the Three as to the success of this
+marriage--Amanda approving of that style of thing, Matilda objecting
+fiercely to the entire affair, and Lavinia firmly believing in the good
+old doctrine of love as your only firm basis for so solemn a bargain.
+
+Wagers were laid that the fiery little Colonel would shoot some one in a
+jealous fit, or that Pelagie would elope, or both charcoal themselves to
+death, as the best way out of the predicament. But none of them guessed
+how tragically it would really end.
+
+Late in the following spring came a letter from Madame C., telling them
+that Jules had gone to the war, and been shot in his first battle; that
+Pelagie was with her mother again, comforting herself for her loss with
+a still smaller Jules, who never saw his father, and, it is to be hoped,
+did not resemble him. So little Pelagie's brief romance ended; and one
+would fancy that the experiences of that year would make her quite
+content to remain under mamma's wing, with no lord and master but the
+little son, to whom she was a very tender mother.
+
+Pleasant days those were in quaint old Dinan; for spring's soft magic
+glorified earth and sky, and a delicious sense of rest and freedom gave
+a charm to that quiet life. Legends of romance and chivalry hung about
+the ruins of castle and _chateau_, as green and golden as the ivy and
+bright wall-flowers that tapestried the crumbling walls, and waved like
+banners from the turret tops. Lovely walks into woods, starred with pale
+primroses, and fragrant with wild hyacinths; down green lanes, leading
+to quaint cottages, or over wide meadows full of pink-tipped daisies and
+dear familiar buttercups, the same all the world over.
+
+Sometimes they took gay donkey-drives to visit a solemn dolmen in a
+gloomy pine-wood, with mistletoe hanging from the trees, and the ghosts
+of ancient Druids haunting the spot. The cavalcade on such occasions was
+an imposing spectacle. Matilda being fond of horses likewise affected
+donkeys (or thought she did, till she tried to drive one), and usually
+went first in a small vehicle like a chair on wheels, drawn by an
+animal who looked about the size of a mouse, when the stately Mat in
+full array, yellow parasol, long whip, camp-stool, and sketch-book, sat
+bolt upright on her perch, driving in the most approved manner.
+
+The small beast, after much whipping, would break into a trot, and go
+pattering over the hard, white road, with his long ears wagging, and his
+tiny hoofs raising a great dust for the benefit of the other turnout
+just behind.
+
+In a double chair sat Lavinia, bundled up as usual, and the amiable
+Amanda, both flushed with constant pokings and thrashings of their
+steed. A venerable ass, so like an old whity-brown hair trunk as to his
+body, and Nick Bottom's mask as to his head, that he was a constant
+source of mirth to the ladies. Mild and venerable as he looked, however,
+he was a most incorrigible beast, and it took two immortal souls, and
+four arms, to get the ancient donkey along.
+
+Vain all the appeals to his conscience, pity, or pride: nothing but a
+sharp poke among his ribs, a steady shower of blows on his fuzzy old
+back, and frequent 'yanks' of the reins produced any effect. It was
+impossible to turn out for anything, and the ladies resigned themselves
+to the ignominy of sitting still, in the middle of the road, and letting
+other carriages drive over or round them.
+
+On rare occasions the beast would bolt into the ditch as a vehicle drew
+near; but usually he paused abruptly, put his head down, and apparently
+went to sleep.
+
+Matilda got on better, because little Bernard Du Guesclin, as she named
+her mouse, was so very small, that she could take him up, and turn him
+round bodily, when other means failed, or pull him half into the chair
+if danger threatened in front. He was a sprightly little fellow, and had
+not yet lost all the ardour of youth, or developed the fiendish
+obstinacy of his kind; so he frequently ran little races--now and then
+pranced, and was not quite dead to the emotion of gratitude in return
+for bits of bread.
+
+Truly, yes; the fair Mat with her five feet seven inches, and little
+Bernard, whose longest ear, when most erect, did not reach much above
+her waist, were a sweet pair of friends, and caused her mates great
+amusement.
+
+'I must have some one to play with, for I can't improve my mind _all_
+the time as 'Mandy does, or cuddle and doze like Livy. I've had
+experience with young donkeys of all sorts, and I give you my word
+little Bernie is much better fun than some I've known with shorter ears
+and fewer legs.'
+
+Thus Matilda, regardless of the jeers of her friends, when they
+proposed having the small beast into the _salon_ to beguile the tedium
+of a rainy day.
+
+As the summer came on, picnics were introduced, and gay parties would
+pile into and on to Flabeau's small omnibus, and drive off to Hunandaye,
+Coetquen, La Belliere, Guingamp, or some other unpronounceable but most
+charming spot, for a day of sunshine and merrymaking.
+
+The hospitable English came out strong on these occasions, with ''ampers
+of 'am-sandwiches, bottled porter and so on, don't you know?' all in
+fine style. Even the stout doctor donned his knickerbockers and grey
+hose, unfurled his Japanese umbrella, and, with a pretty niece on either
+arm, disported himself like a boy.
+
+But pleasantest of all were the daily strolls through the little town
+and its environs, getting glimpses of Breton manners and customs.
+
+The houses were usually composed of one room, where, near the open fire,
+and fixed against the wall, stands the bedstead or _lit clos_, of old
+oak, shut in by carved sliding panels, often bearing an inscription or
+some sacred symbol. The mattresses and feather-beds are so piled up,
+that there is hardly room to creep in. Before it is the big chest
+containing the family wardrobe, answering the double purpose of a seat
+and a step by which to ascend the lofty bed. Cupboards on each side
+often have wide shelves, where the children sleep. Settles and a long
+table complete the furniture; the latter often has little wells hollowed
+out in the top to hold the soup instead of plates. Over the table,
+suspended by pulleys, are two indispensable articles in a Breton
+house,--a large round basket to cover the bread, and a wooden frame to
+hold the spoons. Festoons of sausages, hams, candles, onions,
+horse-shoes, harness, and tools, all hang from the ceiling. The floor is
+of beaten earth. One narrow window lets in the light. There are no
+out-houses, and pigs and poultry mingle freely with the family.
+
+The gardens are well kept, and produce quantities of fruit and
+vegetables. The chief food of the poorer class is bread or porridge of
+buckwheat, with cabbage soup, made by pouring hot water over cabbage
+leaves and adding a bit of butter.
+
+They are a home-loving people, and pine like the Swiss, if forced to
+leave their native land. They are brave soldiers and good sailors.
+'Their vices,' as a Breton writer says, 'are avarice, contempt for
+women, and drunkenness; their virtues, love of home and country,
+resignation to the will of God, loyalty to each other, and
+hospitality.' Their motto is, 'En tout chemin loyaute.'
+
+They are very superstitious, and some of their customs are curious. At
+New Year pieces of bread and butter are thrown into the fountains, and
+from the way in which they swim the future is foretold. If the buttered
+side turns under, it forebodes death; if two pieces adhere together, it
+is a sign of sickness; and if a piece floats properly, it is an
+assurance of long life and prosperity.
+
+Girls throw pins into the fountain of Saloun to tell, by their manner of
+sinking, when they will be married. If the pin goes down head-foremost,
+there is little hope; but, if the point goes first, it is a sure sign of
+being married that year.
+
+Their veneration for healing-springs is very great, and, though at
+times forbidden by the Church, is still felt. Pounded snails, worn in a
+bag on the neck, is believed to be a cure for fever; and a certain holy
+bell rung over the head, a cure for head-ache. 'If we believe in that
+last remedy, what a ceaseless tingling that bell would keep up in
+America!' said Lavinia, when these facts were mentioned to her.
+
+In some towns they have, in the cemetery, a bone-house or reliquary. It
+is the custom, after a certain time, to dig up the bones of the dead,
+and preserve the skulls in little square boxes like bird-houses, with a
+heart-shaped opening, to show the relic within. The names and dates of
+the deceased are inscribed outside.
+
+Saint Ives or Yves is a favourite saint, and images of him are in all
+churches and over many doors. He was one of the remarkable characters
+of the thirteenth century. He studied law in Paris, and devoted his
+talents to defending the poor; hence, he was called 'the poor man's
+advocate:' and so great is the confidence placed in his justice, that,
+even now, when a debtor falsely denies his debt, a peasant will pay
+twenty _sous_ for a mass to St. Ives, sure that the Saint will cause the
+faithless creditor to die within the year or pay up.
+
+His truthfulness was such that he was called 'St. Yves de verite.' He
+was the special patron of lawyers, but he does not seem to be their
+model.
+
+The early monks taught the people to work, and their motto was 'The
+Cross and the plough, labour and prayer.' They introduced apples, now
+the principal fruit of Brittany. Much cider is made and drank; and in
+old times they got their wine from France in exchange for wax and
+honey, as they were famous bee-keepers. Great fields of buck-wheat still
+afford food for the 'yellow-breeched philosophers,' and in many cottage
+gardens a row of queerly shaped hives stand in sunny nooks.
+
+These monks were the model farmers of those days, and their abbeys were
+fine farms. One had twenty piggeries, of three hundred pigs each, in its
+forests. The monks also reared sheep and horses, and bred fish in their
+ponds.
+
+Many were also brewers, weavers, carpenters, and so on. Evidently they
+lived up to their motto and laboured quite as much as they prayed, and
+doubtless were saved by works as well as by faith.
+
+The little Place Du Guesclin, with a stumpy statue of the famous knight
+in the middle and chestnut trees all around, was a favourite
+resting-place of the ladies--especially when the weekly fair was held
+and booths of all sorts were raised at one end. Here Amanda bought a
+remarkable jack-knife, which would cut nothing but her fingers: Matilda
+speculated in curious kinds of cake; one sort being made into gigantic
+jumbles so light that they did excellently for grace-hoops; another sort
+being used by these vandals as catch-alls, so deep and tough were they.
+Lavinia examined the various fabrics, and got bits of linen as samples,
+also queer earthen pots and pans impossible to carry away.
+
+The church of St. Sauveur, a dim and ancient little place with Du
+Guesclin's heart buried by the side of his wife, was another haunt. The
+castle, now a prison, contained the arm-chair in which Duchess Anne sat,
+and the dungeons where were crammed two thousand English prisoners of
+war in the last century. The view from the platform of the keep was
+magnificent, extending to Mont Dol and the distant sea.
+
+The sunny promenade on the _fosse_, that goes half round the town, was
+very charming, with the old grey walls on one side, and, on the other,
+the green valley with its luxuriant gardens, and leafy lanes, winding up
+to the ruined _chateau_, or the undulating hills with picturesque
+windmills whirling on the heights.
+
+On the other side of the town, from the high gardens of the church, one
+looked down into the deeper valley of the Rance, with the airy viaduct
+striding from hill to hill, and the old part of the town nestling at its
+base.
+
+Soft and summery, fertile and reposeful, was the scene; and the busy
+peasants at their work added to the charm. Pretty English children with
+Breton nurses, each in the costume of her native town, played under the
+lindens all abloom with odorous flowers and alive with bees. Workmen
+came to these green places to eat the black bread and drink the thin
+wine that was all their dinner. Invalids strolled here after their baths
+at the little house in the rose-garden below. Pretty girls walked there
+in the twilight with long-haired lovers in knee breeches and round hats.
+Nuns in their grey gowns went to and fro from hospital and the insane
+asylum or charity school; and the beautiful old priest sometimes went
+feebly by, smiling paternally on his flock, who rose and uncovered
+reverently as he passed.
+
+Flowers were everywhere,--in the gardens of the rich, at the windows of
+the poor. The stalls in the market were gay with plumy lilacs, splendid
+tulips, roses of every shade, and hyacinths heavy with odour. All along
+the borders of the river waved the blossoming grass; every green bank
+about the mills at Lehon was yellow with dandelions, and the sunny
+heads of little children welcoming the flower of the poor. Even the
+neglected churchyard of the ruined abbey, where the tombs of the stately
+Beaumanoirs still stand, was bright with cheerful daisies and blue-eyed
+forget-me-nots.
+
+The willows in the valley were covered with fragrant tassels, and the
+old women and children sat all day on door-stones and by the wayside
+stripping the long, white wands for basket-making. Flax fields were
+blooming in the meadows, and acres of buckwheat, with its rosy stems and
+snowy blossoms, whitened the uplands with a fair prophecy of bread for
+all.
+
+So, garlanded about with early flowers and painted in spring's softest,
+freshest colours, Brittany remains for ever a pleasant picture in the
+memory of those who have been welcomed to its hospitable homes, and
+found friends among its brave and loyal people.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+_FRANCE._
+
+
+'Girls, I have had a scintillation in the night: listen and approve!'
+said Amanda, coming into the room where her comrades sat upon the floor,
+in the first stages of despair, at the impossibility of getting the
+accumulated rubbish of three months' travel into a couple of immense
+trunks.
+
+'Blessed girl! you always bring a ray of light just at the darkest
+moment,' returned Lavinia, with a sigh of relief, while Matilda looked
+over a barricade of sketch-books bristling with paint-brushes, and added
+anxiously,--
+
+'If you _could_ suggest how I am to work this miracle, you will be a
+public benefactor.'
+
+'Behold the amendment I propose,' began Amanda, perching herself on one
+of the arks. 'We have decided to travel slowly and comfortably through
+France to Switzerland, stopping where we like, and staying as long as we
+please at any place we fancy, being as free as air, and having all the
+world before us where to choose, as it were.'
+
+'The route you have laid out is a charming one, and I don't see how you
+can improve it,' said Lavinia, who, though she was supposed to be the
+matron, guide, and protector of the younger girls, was in reality
+nothing but a dummy, used for Mrs. Grundy's sake, and let the girls do
+just as they pleased, only claiming the right to groan and moan as much
+as she liked when neuralgia, her familiar demon, claimed her for its
+own.
+
+'One improvement remains to be made. Are these trunks a burden, a
+vexation of spirit, a curse?' demanded Amanda, tapping one with her
+carefully cherished finger-tips.
+
+'They are! they are!' groaned the others, regarding the monsters with
+abhorrence.
+
+'Then let us get rid of them, and set out with no luggage but a few
+necessaries in a shawl-strap.'
+
+'We will! we will!' returned the chorus.
+
+'Shall we burn up our rubbish, or give it away?' asked Lavinia, who
+liked energetic measures, and was ready to cast her garments to the four
+winds of heaven, to save herself from the agonies of packing.
+
+'_I_ shall never give up my pictures, nor my boots!' cried Matilda,
+gathering her idols to her breast in a promiscuous heap.
+
+'Be calm and listen,' returned the scintillator. 'Pack away all but the
+merest necessaries, and we will send the trunk by express to Lyons. Then
+with our travelling-bags and bundles, we can follow at our leisure.'
+
+''Tis well! 'tis well!' replied the chorus, and they all returned to
+their packing, which was performed in the most characteristic manner.
+
+Amanda never seemed to have any clothes, yet was always well and
+appropriately dressed; so it did not take her long to lay a few
+garments, a book or two, a box of Roman-coin lockets, scarabae brooches,
+and cinque-cento rings, likewise a swell hat and habit, into her vast
+trunk; then lock and label it in the most business-like and thorough
+manner.
+
+Matilda found much difficulty in reconciling paint-pots and silk gowns,
+blue hats and statuary, French boots and Yankee notions. But order was
+at length produced from chaos, and the young lady refreshed her weary
+soul by painting large red M's all over the trunk to mark it for her
+own.
+
+Miss Lavinia packed and repacked four or five times, forgetting
+needfuls, which, of course, were always at the very bottom. At the fifth
+plunge into the depths her patience gave out, and with a vow to be a
+slave no longer to her treacherous memory, she tumbled every thing in,
+performed a solemn jig on the lid till it locked, then pasted large, but
+illegible placards in every available spot, and rested from her labours
+with every nerve in a throbbing condition.
+
+Shawl-straps of the largest, strongest sort were next procured, and the
+three bundles made up with much discussion and merriment.
+
+Into Amanda's went a volume of Shakspeare of great size and weight, but
+as indispensable as a tooth-brush to its owner; toilette-articles tied
+up in a handkerchief, a few necessary garments, and much paper,--for
+Amanda was inspired with poetic fire at unexpected moments, also had
+five hundred bosom friends, in answering whose epistolary gushings much
+stationery was consumed. A pistol, a massive crust of bread, and an oval
+box containing all the dainty appliances for the culture, preservation,
+and ornamentation of the finger-nails, made up her store.
+
+Matilda's bundle consisted of sketch-books, a trifle of haberdashery, a
+curling-stick that was always tumbling out at inopportune moments, yards
+of blue ribbon, and a camp-stool strapped outside in company with a
+Japanese umbrella, a gift from the stout doctor, destined to be cursed
+in many languages by the unhappy beings into whose backs, eyes, and
+stomachs it was poked before its wanderings ended.
+
+Lavinia confined herself to a choice collection of bottles and
+pill-boxes, fur boots, a grey cloud, and several French novels,--the
+solace of wakeful nights. A scarlet army blanket, with U. S. in big
+black letters on it, enveloped her travelling medicine-chest, and lent a
+cheerful air to the sombre spinster, whose black attire and hoarse voice
+made the _sobriquet_ of Raven most appropriate.
+
+With these imposing bundles in one hand, little pouches slung over the
+shoulder, plain travelling-suits, subdued hats, and resolute but benign
+countenances, our three errant damsels set forth one bright June day, to
+wander through France at their own sweet will. Not a fear assailed them;
+for all men were civil, all women friendly, and the world wore its
+sunniest aspect. Not a doubt perplexed them; for the gifted Amanda spoke
+many tongues, understood all sorts of money, could grapple successfully
+with Murray and Bradshaw, and never got into the wrong corporation when
+she traced a route with unerring accuracy through the mysteries of an
+Indicator. No lord and master, in the shape of brother, spouse, or
+courier, ordered their outgoings and incomings; but liberty the most
+entire was theirs, and they enjoyed it heartily. Wisely and well too;
+for, though off the grand route, they behaved themselves in public as
+decorously as if the eyes of all prim Boston were upon them, and proved
+by their triumphant success, that the unprotected might go where they
+liked, if they conducted themselves with the courtesy and discretion of
+gentlewomen.
+
+How pleasant were the early sail down the Ranee from Dinan to St. Malo,
+the comfortable breakfast in the flowery little court of Hotel Franklin,
+and the stroll afterward about the quaint old town, looking at the
+churches, buying fruit, and stoutly resisting the temptations of antique
+jewelry displayed in the dingy shops! Lavinia never forgave herself,
+however, for not securing a remarkable watch, and Amanda sighed months
+afterward for a Breton collar and cross of charming antiquity and
+ugliness.
+
+Matilda boldly planted her camp-stool, unfurled her umbrella, and,
+undaunted by the crowd of round-capped, blue-bloused, wooden-shoed
+children about her, began to draw the church.
+
+'I intend to study architecture, and to sketch _all_ the cathedrals we
+see,' said the ardent art-student, struggling manfully with the unruly
+umbrella, the unsavoury odours from the gutter, and the garrulous crowd
+leaning over her shoulder, peering under her hat-brim, and examining all
+her belongings with a confiding freedom rather embarrassing.
+
+'Do you know what impertinent things these little scamps are saying to
+you?' asked Amanda, pausing in a lecture on surface drainage which she
+was delivering to Lavinia, who was vainly struggling to cram a fat wine
+bottle, a cabbage leaf of strawberries, and some remarkable cakes into
+the lunch-basket.
+
+'No: I don't; and that is the advantage of not knowing any language but
+my own,' complacently replied Matilda, who considered all study but that
+of art as time wasted, and made her small store of French answer
+admirably by talking very loud and fast, and saying, '_Oui, oui, oui_,'
+on all occasions with much gesticulation, and bows and smiles of great
+suavity and sweetness.
+
+'Clear out this rabble, or come back to the hotel and wait for the bus.
+We shall have the whole town round us soon, and I can't stand it,' said
+Amanda, who had no romantic admiration for the Great Unwashed.
+
+'You think I can't do it? _Voila!_' and, rising suddenly to an
+unexpected height, Matilda waved the umbrella like a _baton_, cried
+'_Allez!_' in a stern voice, and the children fled like chaff before the
+wind.
+
+'You see how little is needed, so don't vex me with learning your old
+verbs any more!' and Matilda closed her book with an air of calm
+satisfaction.
+
+'Come home and rest. It is so warm here I am fairly melted,' prayed
+Lavinia, who had been longing for summer, and of course was not suited
+when she got it.
+
+'Now, do remember one thing: don't let us be gregarious. We never know
+who we may pick up if we talk to people; and stray acquaintances are sad
+bores sometimes. Granny is such a cross old dear she won't say a word to
+any one if she can help it; but you, Mat, can't be trusted if we meet
+any one who talks English. So be on your guard, or the peace of this
+party is lost,' said Amanda, impressively.
+
+'We are not likely to meet any but natives in this wilderness; so don't
+excite yourself, Mandy, dear,' replied Matilda, who, being of a social
+turn and an attractive presence, was continually making friends, to the
+great annoyance of her more prudent comrades.
+
+In the flowery courtyard sat the group that one meets everywhere on the
+Continent,--even in the wilds of Brittany. The father and mother stout,
+tired, and rather subdued by the newness of things; the son, Young
+America personified, loud, important, and inquisitive; the daughter,
+pretty, affected, and over-dressed; all on the lookout for adventures
+and titles, fellow-countrymen to impress, and foreigners eager to get
+the better of them.
+
+Seeing the peril from afar, Amanda buried herself in Murray, to read up
+the tomb of Chateaubriand, the tides, population, and any other useful
+bit of history; for Amanda was a thrifty soul, and
+
+
+     'Gathered honey all the day
+     From every opening flower.'
+
+
+Lavinia, finding the court damp, shrouded herself in the grey cloud, put
+her feet on the red bundle, and fortified herself with a Turner's pill.
+
+But Matilda, guileless girl, roamed to and fro, patted the horses at the
+gate, picked flowers that no French hand would have dared to touch, and
+studied the effect of light and shade on the red head of the _garcon_,
+who gazed sentimentally at 'the blonde "Mees,"' as he artlessly watered
+the wine for dinner.
+
+The Americans had their eye upon her, and felt that, though the others
+might be forbidding English women, this one could be made to talk. So
+they pounced upon their prey, to the dismay of her mates, and proceeded
+to ask fifty questions to the minute. Poor Mat, glad to hear the sound
+of her native tongue, fell into the snare, and grew more confiding every
+moment.
+
+'She is telling the family history,' whispered Lavinia, in a tone of
+despair.
+
+'Now they are asking where we came from,' added Amanda, casting down her
+book in agony.
+
+'Wink at her,' sighed Lavinia.
+
+'Call to her,' groaned Amanda, as they heard their treasured secret
+betrayed, and the enemy clamouring for further information about this
+charming trip.
+
+'Matilda, bring me my shawl,' commanded the Dowager.
+
+'Come and see if you don't think we had better go direct to Tours,' said
+the wary Amanda, hoping to put the enemy off the track.
+
+The victim came, and vials of wrath were poured upon her head in one
+unceasing flow till the omnibus started, and the ladies were appeased by
+finding that the enemy did not follow.
+
+'Promise that you won't talk to any but natives, or I decline to lead
+this expedition,' said Amanda firmly.
+
+'I promise,' returned Mat, with penitent meekness.
+
+'Now we've got her!' croaked the Raven; 'for she will have to learn
+French or hold her tongue.'
+
+'The language of the eye remains to me, and I am a proficient in that,
+ma'am,' said Mat, roused by these efforts to deny her the right of free
+speech.
+
+'You are welcome to it, dear;' and Amanda departed to buy tickets and
+despatch the trunks, with secret misgivings that they would never be
+found again.
+
+'Now we are fairly started, with no more weighing of luggage, fussing
+over checks, or packing of traps to afflict us. What a heavenly sense of
+freedom it gives one, to have nothing but an independent shawl-strap!'
+said Matilda, as they settled themselves in a vacant car, and stowed
+away the bundles.
+
+What a jolly day that was, to be sure! Whether it was the air, the good
+coffee, or the liberty, certain it is that three merrier maids never
+travelled from St. Malo to Le Mans on a summer's day. Even the Raven
+forgot her woes, and became so exhilarated that she smashed her bromide
+bottle out of the window, declaring herself cured, and tried to sing
+'Hail Columbia,' in a voice like an asthmatic bagpipe.
+
+Mat amused herself and her comrades by picking up the different articles
+that kept tumbling down on her head from her badly built bundle; while
+Amanda scintillated to such an extent that the others laughed themselves
+into hysterics, and lay exhausted, prone upon the seats.
+
+They ate, drank, sung, gossiped, slept, read, and revelled, till another
+passenger got in, when propriety clothed them as with a garment, and
+the mirthful damsels became three studious statues.
+
+The new-comer was a little priest; so rosy and young that they called
+him the 'Reverend Boy.' He seemed rather dismayed at first; but, finding
+the ladies silent and demure, he took heart, and read diligently in a
+dingy little prayer-book, stealing shy glances now and then from under
+his broad-brimmed hat at Amanda's white hands, or Matilda's yellow
+locks, as if these vanities of the flesh had not quite lost their charms
+for him. By and by he fell asleep, and leaned in his corner, making
+quite a pretty picture; for the ugly hat was off, his boyish face as
+placid as a child's, his buckled shoes and neat black-stockinged legs
+stretched comfortably out, his plump hands folded over the dingy book,
+and the little bands lay peacefully on his breast.
+
+He was quite at their mercy now; so the three women looked as much as
+they liked, wondering if the poor dear boy was satisfied with the life
+he had chosen, and getting tenderly pitiful over the losses he might
+learn to regret when it was too late. His dreams seemed to be pleasant
+ones, however; for once he laughed a blithe, boyish laugh, good to hear;
+and when he woke, he rubbed his blue eyes and stared about, smiling like
+a newly roused baby.
+
+He got out all too soon, was joined by several other clerical youths,
+and disappeared with much touching of big beavers, and wafting of
+cassocks.
+
+Innocent, reverend little boy! I wonder what became of him, and hope his
+sleep is as quiet now as then,--his awakening as happy as it seemed that
+summer day.
+
+Six o'clock saw our damsels at Le Mans; and, after dinner, a sunset
+walk took them to the grand old cathedral, where they wandered till
+moonrise. Pure Gothic of the twelfth century, rich in stained glass,
+carved screens, tombs of kings and queens, dim little chapels, where
+devout souls told their beads before shadowy pictures of saints and
+martyrs, while over all the wonderful arches seemed to soar, one above
+the other, light and graceful as the natural curves of drooping
+branches, or the rise and fall of some great fountain.
+
+'We shall not see anything finer than this, I'm sure. It's a perfect
+revelation to me,' said Matilda, in a calm rapture at the beauty all
+about her.
+
+'This is a pious-feeling church, and I could say my prayers here with
+all my soul; for it seems as if the religion of centuries had got built
+into it,' added Lavinia, thinking of the ugly imitations at home.
+
+'You will both turn Catholic before we get through,' prophesied Amanda,
+retiring to study the tomb of Berengaria, Coeur de Lion's wife.
+
+The square before the hotel was gay with a market, many soldiers
+lounging about, and flocks of people eating ices before the _cafes_. The
+ladies enjoyed it from the balcony, and then slumbered peacefully in a
+great room with three alcoves, much muslin drapery, and a bowl and
+pitcher like a good-sized cup and saucer.
+
+Another look at the cathedral in the early morning, and then away to
+Tours, which place they found a big, clean, handsome city, all astir for
+the _Fete-Dieu_.
+
+'We will stay over Sunday and see it,' was the general vote as the trio
+headed for the great church, and, catching sight of it, they subsided
+into a seat by the fountain opposite, and sat looking silently at the
+magnificent pile.
+
+How strangely impressive and eloquent it was! The evening red touched
+its grey towers with a mellow light, like sunshine on a venerable head.
+Lower down, flights of rooks circled round the fretted niches, quaint
+windows, and grotesque gargoyles, while the great steps below swarmed
+with priests and soldiers, gay strangers and black-robed nuns, children
+and beggars.
+
+For an hour our pilgrims sat and studied the wonderful _facade_, or
+walked round the outside, examining the rich carvings that covered every
+inch of the walls. Twilight fell before they had thought of entering,
+and feeling that they had seen enough for that night, they went
+thoughtfully home to dream of solemn shadows and saintly faces, for the
+cathedral haunted them still.
+
+Next day was spent in viewing Charlemagne's Tower, and seeing the grand
+procession in honour of the day. The streets were hung with garlands,
+gay tapestries and banners, strewn with fresh boughs, and lined with
+people in festival array. As the procession passed, women ran out and
+scattered rose-leaves before it, and one young mother set her blooming
+baby on a heap of greenery in the middle of the street, leaving it
+there, that the Holy Ghost under its canopy might pass over it. A pretty
+sight, the rosy little creature smiling in the sunshine as it sat
+playing with its own blue shoes, while the golden pageant went by; the
+chanting priests stepping carefully, and looking down with sudden
+benignity in their tired faces as the holy shadow fell on the bright
+head, making baby blessed, and saved for ever in its pious mother's
+eyes.
+
+A great band played finely, scarlet soldiers followed, then the banners
+of patron saints were borne by children. Saint Agnes and her lamb led a
+troop of pretty little girls carrying tall white lilies, filling the air
+with their sweetness. Mary, Our Mother, was followed by many orphans
+with black ribbons crossed over the young hearts that had lost so much.
+Saint Martin led the charity boys in purple suits of just the colour of
+the mantle he was dividing with the beggar on the banner. A pleasant
+emblem of the charitable cloak that covers so many.
+
+Priests in full splendour paced solemnly along with censers swinging,
+candles flickering, sweet-voiced boys singing, and hundreds kneeling as
+they passed. Most impressive figures, unless one caught a glimpse of
+something comically human to disturb the effect of the heavenly pageant.
+Lavinia had an eye for the ludicrous and though she dropped a tear over
+the orphans, and with difficulty resisted a strong desire to catch and
+kiss the pretty baby, she scandalized her neighbours by laughing
+outright the next minute. A particularly portly, pious-looking priest,
+who was marching with superb dignity, and chanting like a devout
+bumble-bee, suddenly mislaid his temper, and injured the effect by
+boxing a charity boy's ears with his gilded missal, and then capped the
+climax by taking a pinch of snuff with a sonorous satisfaction that
+convulsed the heretic.
+
+The afternoon was spent in the church, wandering to and fro, each alone
+to study and enjoy in her own way. Matilda lost her head entirely, and
+had silent raptures over the old pictures. Amanda said her prayers,
+looked up her dates, and imparted her facts in a proper and decorous
+manner, while Lavinia went up and down, finding for herself little
+pictures not painted by hands, and reading histories more interesting to
+her than those of saints and martyrs.
+
+In one dim chapel, with a single candle lighting up the divine sorrow of
+the Mater Dolorosa, knelt a woman in deep black, weeping and praying all
+alone. In another flowery nook dedicated to the Infant Jesus, a peasant
+girl was telling her beads over the baby asleep in her lap; her sunburnt
+face refined and beautiful by the tenderness of mother-love. In a third
+chapel a pale, wasted old man sat propped in a chair, while his rosy old
+wife prayed heartily to St. Gratien, the patron saint of the church, for
+the recovery of her John Anderson. And most striking of all was a dark,
+handsome young man, well-dressed and elegant, who was waiting at the
+door of a confessional with some great trouble in his face, as he
+muttered and crossed himself, while his haggard eyes were fixed on the
+benignant figure of St. Francis, as if asking himself if it were
+possible for him also to put away the pleasant sins and follies of the
+world, and lead a life like that which embalms the memory of that good
+man.
+
+'If we don't go away to-morrow we never shall, for this church will
+bewitch us, and make it impossible to leave,' said Amanda, when at
+length they tore themselves away.
+
+'I give up trying to sketch cathedrals. It can't be done, and seems
+impious to try,' said Matilda, quite exhausted by something deeper than
+pleasure.
+
+'I think the "Reminiscences of a Rook" would make a capital story. They
+are long-lived birds, and could tell tales of the past that would
+entirely eclipse our modern rubbish,' said Lavinia, taking a last look
+at the solemn towers, and the shadowy birds that had haunted them for
+ages.
+
+The ladies agreed to be off early in the morning, that they might reach
+Amboise in time for the eleven o'clock breakfast. Amanda was to pay the
+bill, and to make certain enquiries at the office; Mat to fly out and do
+a trifle of shopping; while Lavinia packed up the bundles and mounted
+guard over them. They separated, but in half-an-hour all met again, not
+in their room according to agreement, but before the cathedral, which
+all had decided not to revisit on any account.
+
+Matilda was there first, and as each of the others came stealing round
+the corner, she greeted them with a laugh, in which all joined after the
+first surprise was over.
+
+'I told you it would bewitch us,' said Amanda; and then all took a
+farewell look, which lasted so long that they had to rush back to the
+hotel in most unseemly haste.
+
+'Now to fresh _chateaux_ and churches new,' sang Lavinia, as they rolled
+away on the fourth stage of their summer journey. A very short stage it
+was, and soon they were in an entirely new scene, for Amboise was a
+little, old-time village on the banks of the Loire, looking as if it had
+been asleep for a hundred years. The Lion d'Or was a quaint place, so
+like the inns described in French novels, that one kept expecting to see
+some of Dumas' heroes come dashing up, all boots, plumes, and pistols,
+with a love-letter for some court beauty in the castle on the hill
+beyond.
+
+Queer galleries and stairs led up outside the house to the rooms above.
+The _salle-a-manger_ was across a court, and every dish came from a
+kitchen round the corner. The _garcon_, a beaming, ubiquitous creature,
+trotted perpetually, diving down steps, darting into dark corners, or
+skipping up ladders, producing needfuls from most unexpected places. The
+bread came from the stable, soup from the cellar, coffee out of a
+meal-chest, and napkins from the housetop, apparently, for Adolphe went
+up among the weather-cocks to get them.
+
+'No one knows us, no one can speak a word of English, and if we happen
+to die here it will never be known. How romantic and nice it is!'
+exclaimed Mat, in good spirits, for the people treated the ladies as if
+they were duchesses in disguise, and the young women liked it.
+
+'I'm not so sure that the romance is all it looks. We should be in a
+sweet quandary if anything happened to our sheet-anchor here. Just
+remember, in any danger, save Amanda first, then she will save us. But
+if she is lost, all is lost,' replied Lavinia, darkly, for she always
+took tragical views of life when her bones ached.
+
+Up the hill they went after breakfast; and balm was found for the old
+lady's woes in the sight of many Angora cats, of great size and beauty.
+White as snow, with tails like plumes, and mild, yellow eyes, were these
+charmers. At every window sat one; on every door-step sprawled a bunch
+of down; and frequently the eye of the tabby-loving spinster was
+gladdened by the touching spectacle of a blonde mamma in the bosom of
+her young family.
+
+'If I could only carry it, I'd have one of those dears, no matter what
+it cost!' cried Lavinia, more captivated by a live cat than by all the
+dead Huguenots that Catherine de Medicis hung over the castle walls on
+a certain memorable occasion.
+
+'Well, you can't, so come on and improve your mind with some good,
+useful history,' said Amanda, leading them forward. 'You _must_ remember
+that Charles VII. was born here in 1470--that Anne of Brittany married
+him for her first husband, and that he bumped his head against a low
+door in the garden here above, as he was running through to play bowls
+with his Anne, and it killed him.'
+
+'Which? the bump or the bowls?' asked Mat, who liked to have things
+clearly stated.
+
+'Don't be frivolous, child. Here Margaret of Anjou and her son were
+reconciled to Warwick. Abd-el Kader and his family were kept prisoners
+here, and in the garden is a tomb with a crescent on it; likewise a
+"pleached walk," and a winding drive inside the great tower, up which
+lords and ladies used to ride straight into the hall,' continued the
+sage Amanda, who yearned to enlighten the darkness of her careless
+friends.
+
+A brisk old woman did the honours of the castle, showing them mouldy
+chapels, sepulchral halls, rickety stairs, grubby cells, and pitch-dark
+passages, till even the romantic Matilda was glad to see the light of
+day, and repose in the pleasant gardens while removing the cobwebs from
+her countenance and the dust from her raiment.
+
+A lovely view gladdened their eyes as they stood on the balcony whence
+the amiable Catherine surveyed the walls hung thick, and the river
+choked up with the dead. Below, the broad Loire rolled slowly by between
+its green banks. Little boys, in the costume of Cupid, were riding great
+horses in to bathe after the day's work. The grey roofs of the town
+nestled to the hillside, and far away stretched the summer landscape,
+full of vague suggestions of new scenes and pleasures to the pilgrims.
+
+'We start for Chenonceaux at seven in the morning; so, ladies, I beg
+that you will be ready punctually,' was the command issued by Amanda, as
+they went to their rooms, after a festive dinner of what Lavinia called
+'earth-worms and cacti,' not being fond of stewed brains, baked eels, or
+thistles and pigweed chopped up in oil.
+
+Such a droll night as the wanderers spent! No locks on the doors and no
+bells. Stairs leading straight up the gallery from the courtyard, carts
+going and coming, soft footsteps stealing up and down, whispers that
+sounded suspicious (though they were only orders to kill chickens and
+pick salad for the morrow), and a ghostly whistle that disturbed
+Lavinia so much, she at last draped herself in the green coverlet, and
+went boldly forth upon the balcony to see what it meant.
+
+She intended to demand silence in French that would strike terror to the
+soul of the bravest native. But when she saw that poor, dear,
+hard-worked _garcon_ blacking boots by the light of the moon, her heart
+melted with pity; and, resolving to give him an extra fee, she silently
+retired to her stone-floored bower, and fell asleep in a stuffy little
+bed, whose orange curtains filled her dreams with volcanic eruptions and
+conflagrations of the most lurid description.
+
+At seven, an open carriage with a stout pair of horses and a sleepy
+driver rolled out of the court-yard of the Lion d'Or. Within it sat
+three ladies, who gazed at one another with cheerful countenances, and
+surveyed the world with an air of bland content, beautiful to behold.
+
+'I am fairly faint with happiness,' sighed Matilda, as they drove
+through fields scarlet with poppies, starred with daisies, or yellow
+with buttercups, while birds piped gaily, and trees wore their early
+green.
+
+'You did not eat any breakfast. That accounts for it. Have a crust, do,'
+said Amanda, who seldom stirred without a good, sweet crust or two; for
+they were easy to carry, wholesome to chew, and always ready at a
+moment's notice.
+
+'Let us save our "entusymusy" till we get to the _chateau_, and enjoy
+this lovely drive in a peaceful manner,' said Lavinia, still a little
+sleepy after her adventures in the glimpses of the moon.
+
+So, for an hour or two, they rolled along the smooth road, luxuriating
+in the summer sights and sounds about them; the wayside cottages, with
+women working in the gardens; villages clustered round some tiny,
+picturesque church; windmills whirling on the distant hill-tops;
+vineyards full of peasants tying up the young vines, or trudging by with
+baskets on their backs, heaped with green cuttings for the goats at
+home. Old men, breaking stone by the roadside, touched their red caps to
+the pilgrims, jolly boys shouted at them from the cherry trees, and
+little children peeped from behind the rose-bushes blooming everywhere.
+
+Soon, glimpses of the winding Cher began to appear, then an avenue of
+stately trees, and then, standing directly in the river, rose the lovely
+_chateau_ built for Diane de Poictiers by her royal lover. Leaving the
+carriage at the lodge, our sight-seers crossed the moat, and, led by a
+wooden-faced girl with a lisp, entered the famous pleasure-house, which
+its present owner (a pensive man in black velvet, who played fitfully on
+a French-horn in a pepper-pot tower) is carefully restoring to its
+former splendour.
+
+The great picture-gallery was the chief attraction; and beginning with
+Diane herself--a tall, simpering baggage, with a bow, hounds, crescent,
+and a blue sash for drapery--they were led through a rapid review of all
+sorts of worthies and unworthies, relics and rubbish, without end.
+Portraits are always interesting. Even Lavinia, who 'had no soul for
+Art,' as Mat said, looked with real pleasure at a bass-relief of Agnes
+of Sorel, and pictures of Montaigne, Rabelais, Ninon d'Enclos, Madame de
+Sevigne, and miniatures of La Fayette and Ben Franklin. The latter
+gentleman looked rather out of place in such society; but, perhaps, his
+good old face preached the Dianes and Ninons a silent sermon. His plain
+suit certainly was a relief to the eye, wearied with periwigged sages
+and bejewelled sinners.
+
+Here was the little theatre where Rousseau's plays were acted. Here were
+the gilded chairs in which kings had sat, swords heroes had held, books
+philosophers had pored over, mirrors that had reflected famous beauties,
+and painted walls that had looked down on royal revels long ago.
+
+The old kitchen had a fireplace big enough for a dozen cooks to have
+spoiled gallons of broth in, queer pots and pans, and a handy little
+window, out of which they could fish at any moment, for the river ran
+below.
+
+The chapel, chambers, balconies, and terraces were all being repaired;
+for, thanks to George Sand's grandmother, who owned the place in the
+time of the Revolution, it was spared out of respect to her, and is
+still a charming relic of the past.
+
+The ladies went down the mossy steps, leading from the gallery to the
+further shore, and, lying under the oaks, whiled away the noon-time by
+re-peopling the spot with the shapes that used to inhabit it. A very
+happy hour it was, dreaming there by the little river, with the scent of
+new-mown hay in the fresh wind, and before them the airy towers and
+gables of the old _chateau_ rising from the stream like a vision of
+departed splendour, love, and romance.
+
+Having seen every thing, and bought photographs _ad libitum_ of the
+wooden-faced lisper, who cheated awfully, the pilgrims drove away,
+satiated with relics, royalty, and '_regardez_.'
+
+Another night in the stony-hearted, orange-coloured rooms, with the
+sleepless _garcon_ sweeping and murmuring outside like a Banshee, while
+the hens roosted sociably in the gallery, the horses seemed to be
+champing directly under the bed, and the dead Huguenots bumping down
+upon the roof from the castle-walls. Another curious meal wafted from
+the bowels of the earth and cooled by all the airs that blow,--then the
+shawl-straps were girded anew, the carriage (a half-grown omnibus with
+the jaundice) mounted, the farewell bows and adieux received, and forth
+rumbled the duchesses _en route_ for Blois.
+
+'My heart is rent at leaving that lovely _chateau_,' said Mat, as they
+crossed the bridge.
+
+'I mourn the earth-worms, the cacti, and the tireless "gossoon,"' added
+Amanda, who appreciated French cookery and had enjoyed confidences with
+Adolphe.
+
+'The cats, the cats, the cats! I could die happy if I had one,'
+murmured Lavinia; and with these laments they left the town behind them.
+
+Any thing hotter than Blois, with its half dried-up river, dusty
+boulevards, and baked streets, can hardly be imagined. But these
+indomitable women 'did' the church and the castle without flinching. The
+former was pronounced a failure, but the latter was entirely
+satisfactory. The Emperor was having it restored in the most splendid
+manner. The interior seemed rather fresh and gay when contrasted with
+the time-worn exterior, but the stamped leathern hangings, tiled floors,
+emblazoned beams, and carved fireplaces were quite correct. Dragons and
+crowns, porcupines and salamanders, monograms and flowers, shone
+everywhere in a maze of scarlet and gold, brown and silver, purple and
+white.
+
+Here the historical Amanda revelled, and quenched the meek old guide
+with a burst of information which caused him to stare humbly at 'the mad
+English.'
+
+'_Regardez_, my dears, the chamber and oratory of Catherine de Medicis,
+who here plotted the death of the Duc de Guise. This is the cabinet of
+her son, Henri III., where he gave the daggers to the gentlemen who were
+to rid him of his enemy, the hero of the barricades. This is the Salle
+des Gardes, where Guise was leaning on the chimney-piece when summoned
+to the king. This is the little room at the entrance of which he was set
+upon in the act of lifting the drapery, and stabbed with forty wounds.'
+
+'Oh! how horrid!' gasped Matilda, staring about as if she saw the
+sanguinary gentlemen approaching.
+
+'So interesting! Do go on!' cried Lavinia, who was fond of woe, and
+enjoyed horrors.
+
+'This is the hall where the body lay for two hours, covered with a cloak
+and a cross of straw on the breast,' cut in Amanda, as the guide opened
+his mouth. 'Here the king came to look upon the corpse of the once
+mighty Henri le Balafre, and spurned it with his foot, saying, I shall
+not translate it for you, Mat,--"_Je ne le croyais pas aussi grand_" and
+then ordered it to be burnt, and the ashes cast into the river. Remember
+the date, I implore you, December 23, 1588.'
+
+As Amanda paused for breath the little man took the word, and rattled
+off a jumble of facts and fictions about the window from which Marie de
+Medicis lowered herself when imprisoned here by her dutiful son, Louis
+XIII.
+
+'I wish the entire lot had been tossed out after her, for I do think
+kings and queens are a set of rascals,' cried Mat, scandalized by the
+royal iniquities to which she had been listening, till the hair stood
+erect upon her innocent head.
+
+The Salle des Etats was being prepared for the trial of the men who had
+lately attempted the Emperor's life, and a most theatrical display of
+justice was to be presented to the public. The richly carved stair-case,
+with Francis the First's salamanders squirming up and down it, was a
+relic worth seeing; but the parched pilgrims found the little pots of
+clotted cream quite as interesting, and much more refreshing, when they
+were served up at lunch (the pots, not the pilgrims), each covered with
+a fresh vine-leaf, and delicately flavoured with butter-cups and
+clover.
+
+Amanda won the favour of the stately _garcon_ by praising them warmly,
+and he kept bringing in fresh relays, and urging her to eat a third, a
+fourth, with a persuasive dignity hard to resist.
+
+'But yes, Mademoiselle, one more, for nowhere else can _creme de St.
+Gervais_ be achieved. They are desired, ardently desired, in Paris; but,
+alas! it is impossible to convey them so far, such is their exquisite
+delicacy.'
+
+How many the appreciative ladies consumed, the muse saith not; but the
+susceptible heart of the great _garcon_ was deeply touched, and it was
+with difficulty that they finally escaped from his attentions.
+
+On being presented with a cast-off camp-stool, and a pair of old boots
+to dispose of, he instantly appropriated them as graceful souvenirs,
+and clasping his hands, declared with effusion that he would seat his
+infant upon the so-useful stool, and offer the charming boots to Madame
+my wife, who would weep for joy at this touching _tableau_.
+
+With this melodramatic valedictory, he suffered the guests to depart,
+and the last they saw of him, he was still waving a dirty napkin as he
+stood at the gate, big, bland, and devoted to the end, though the drops
+stood thick upon his manly brow, and the sun glared fiercely on his
+uncovered head.
+
+'I shall write an article on _garcons_ when I get home,' said Lavinia,
+who was always planning great works and never executing them. 'We have
+known such a nice variety, and all have been so good to us that we owe
+them a tribute. You remember the dear, tow-headed one at Morlaix, who
+insisted on handing us dishes of snails, and papers of pins with which
+to pick out the repulsive delicacy?'
+
+'Yes, and the gloomy one with black linen sleeves who glowered at us,
+sighed gustily in our ears, and anointed us with gravy as he waited at
+table,' added Amanda.
+
+'Don't forget the dark one with languid, Spanish eyes and curly hair, on
+the boat going down the Rance. How picturesque and polite he was, to be
+sure, as he kept picking up our beer-bottles when they rolled about the
+deck!' put in Mat, who had the dark youth safely in her sketch-book,
+with eyes as big and black as blots.
+
+'The solemn one at Tours, who squirted seltzer-water out of window at
+the beggars, without a smile, was very funny. So was the little one with
+grubby hands, who tottered under the big dishes, but insisted on
+carrying the heaviest.'
+
+'The fast-trotter at Amboise won my heart, he was so supernaturally
+lively, and so full of hurried amiability. A very dear _garcon_ indeed.'
+
+'Be sure you remember the superb being at Brest, whose eyes threatened
+to fall out of his head at exciting moments. Also, Flabot's chubby boy
+who adored Mat, and languished at her, over the onions, like a Cupid in
+a blue blouse.'
+
+'I will do justice to everyone,' and Lavinia took copious notes on the
+spot.
+
+Orleans was a prim, tidy town, and after taking a look at the fine
+statue of the Maid, and laughing at some funny little soldiers drumming
+wildly in the _Place_, our travellers went on to Bourges.
+
+'This, now, is a nice, dingy old place, and we will take our walks
+abroad directly, for it looks like rain, and we must make the most of
+our time and money,' said Amanda;
+
+
+     'For, though on pleasure she was bent,
+     She had a frugal mind.'
+
+
+Forth they went, as soon as dinner was over, and found the waters all
+abroad also; for every man was playing away with a hose, every woman
+scrubbing her door-steps, and the children gaily playing leap-frog in
+the puddles.
+
+'Nasty, damp place!' croaked the Raven, obscuring her disgusted
+countenance behind the inevitable grey cloud, and gathering her garments
+about her, as they hopped painfully over the wet stones, for sidewalks
+there were none.
+
+'I find it refreshing after the dust and heat. Please detach Mat from
+that shop window, and come on, or we shall see nothing before dark,'
+replied the ever amiable Amanda.
+
+Matilda _would_ glue herself to every jeweller's window, and remain
+fascinated by the richness there displayed, till led away by force. On
+this occasion, however, her mania led to good results; for, at the ninth
+window, as her keepers were about to drag her away, a ring of peculiar
+antiquity caught their eyes simultaneously, and, to Mat's amazement,
+both plunged into the little shop, clamouring to see it. A pale emerald,
+surrounded by diamond chippings set in silver, with a wide gold band cut
+in a leafy pattern, composed this gem of price.
+
+'A Francis First ring, sold by a noble but impoverished family, and only
+a hundred francs, Madame,' said the man, politely anxious to cheat the
+fair foreigners out of four times its value.
+
+'Can't afford it,' and Lavinia retired. But the shrewd Amanda, with
+inimitable shrugs and pensive sighs, regretted that it was so costly. 'A
+sweet ring; but, alas! forty francs is all I have to give.'
+
+The man was desolated to think that eighty francs was the lowest he was
+permitted to receive. Would Madame call again, and perhaps it might be
+arranged?
+
+Ah, no! Madame is forced to depart early, to return no more.
+
+_Mon Dieu!_ how afflicting! In that case, sixty would be possible for so
+rare a relic.
+
+Madame is _abime_, but it is not to be. Forty is the utmost; therefore
+_Merci_, and _Bonjour_.
+
+'Hold! Where shall it be sent?' cries the man, giving in, but not
+confessing it, with awkward frankness.
+
+A thousand thanks! Madame will pay for it at once; and laying down the
+money, she sweetly bows herself away, with the ring upon her finger.
+
+'What a people!' ejaculated Lavinia, who always felt like a fly in a
+cobweb when she attempted to deal with the French, in her blunt,
+confiding way.
+
+'It is great fun,' answered Amanda, flashing her ring with satisfaction
+after the skirmish. 'Will Madame kindly direct me to the house of
+Jacques Coeur?' she added, addressing an old woman clattering by in
+_sabots_.
+
+'Allez toujours a droit en vous appuyant sur la gauche,' replied the
+native, beaming and bowing till the streamers of her cap waved in the
+wind.
+
+They followed these directions, but failed to find the place, and
+applied to another old woman eating soup on her door-step.
+
+'Suivez le chemin droit en tombant a gauche' was the reply, with a wave
+of the spoon to all the points of the compass.
+
+'Great heavens, what a language!' cried Lavinia, who had been vainly
+endeavouring to 'support' herself, as she 'fell' in every direction over
+and into the full gutters.
+
+The house was found at last, an ancient, mysterious place, with a very
+curious window, carved to look as if the shutters were half open, and
+from behind one peeped a man's head, from the other a woman's, both so
+life-like that it quite startled the strangers. Murray informed the
+observers that these servants are supposed to be looking anxiously for
+their master's return, Jacques having suddenly disappeared, after
+lending much money to the king, who took that mediaeval way of paying his
+debts.
+
+Service was being held in the church, and the ladies went in to rest
+and listen, for the music was fine. Much red and white drapery gave the
+sanctuary the appearance of a gay drawing-room, and the profane Lavinia
+compared the officiating clergy to a set of red furniture. The biggest
+priest was the sofa, four deacons the arm-chairs, and three little boys
+the foot-stools, all upholstered in crimson silk, and neatly covered
+with lace tidies.
+
+As if to rebuke her frivolity, a lovely fresh voice from the hidden
+choir suddenly soared up like a lark, singing so wonderfully that a
+great stillness fell on the listeners, and while it lasted the tawdry
+church and its mummery were quite forgotten, as the ear led the heart up
+that ladder of sweet sounds to heaven. Even when the others joined in,
+one could still hear that child-voice soaring and singing far above the
+rest, as if some little angel were playing with the echoes among the
+arches of the roof.
+
+A proud native informed the strangers that it was a poor boy whose
+exquisite voice was the pride of the town, and would in time make his
+fortune. As the choir-boys came racing down stairs after service,
+pulling off their dingy robes as they ran, Lavinia tried to pick out the
+little angel, but gave it up in despair, for a more uninteresting set of
+bullet-headed, copper-coloured sprigs she never saw.
+
+Rain drove the wanderers back to the hotel, and there they made a night
+of it. Ordering a fire in the largest of the three stuffy little cells
+which they occupied, they set about being comfortable, for it had turned
+chilly, and a furious wind disported itself in and out through
+numberless crevices. Lavinia was inspired to mull some wine, and brewed
+a mild jorum that cheered, but did not inebriate. Amanda produced her
+Shakspeare, and read aloud while the simmering and sipping went on.
+Matilda sketched the noble commander as she lay upon the sofa, with her
+Egyptian profile in fine relief, and her aristocratic red slippers
+gracefully visible. A large grey cat of a social turn joined the party,
+and added much to the domesticity of the scene by sitting on the hearth
+in a cosy bunch and purring blissfully.
+
+'Now it is your turn to propose something for the general amusement,
+Mandy,' said Mat, when the beakers were drained dry and the Montagues
+and Capulets comfortably buried.
+
+'Let us attend to the culture of our nails,' replied Amanda, producing
+her _polissoir_, powder, and knife.
+
+Three cups of tepid water were produced, and the company sat eagerly
+soaking their finger tips for a time, after which much pruning and
+polishing went on, to the great bewilderment of Puss, who poked her own
+paws into the cups, as if trying to test the advantages of this
+remarkable American custom.
+
+'What _would_ our blessed mother say if she saw us now?' said Mat,
+proudly examining ten pointed pink nails at the tips of her long
+fingers.
+
+'People told us we should get demoralised if we came abroad, and this is
+the first step on the downward road,' returned Lavinia, shaking her head
+over her own backslidings.
+
+'No: it's the second step. We ate calves' brains for dinner, and what
+I'm sure were frogs' legs with mushrooms. You know we vowed we wouldn't
+touch their horrid messes, but I really begin to like them,' confessed
+Mat, who had pronounced every dish at dinner 'De-licious!'
+
+'Ha! I will write a poem!' cried Amanda, and leaping from the sofa she
+grasped her pen, flung open her portfolio, and in a few brief moments
+produced these inspired stanzas.
+
+
+               THE DOWNWARD ROAD.
+
+     Two Yankee maids of simple mien,
+       And earnest, high endeavour,
+     Come sailing to the land of France,
+       To escape the winter weather.
+     When first they reached that vicious shore
+       They scorned the native ways,
+     Refused to eat the native grub,
+       Or ride in native shays.
+     'Oh, for the puddings of our home!
+       Oh, for some simple food!
+     These horrid, greasy, unknown things,
+       How can you think them good?'
+     Thus to Amanda did they say,
+       An uncomplaining maid,
+     Who ate in peace and answered not
+       Until one day they said--
+     How _can_ you eat this garbage vile
+       Against all nature's laws?
+     How _can_ you eat your nails in points,
+       Until they look like claws?'
+     Then patiently Amanda said,
+       'My loves, just wait a while,
+     The time will come you will not think
+       The nails or victuals vile.'
+     A month has passed, and now we see
+       That prophecy fulfilled;
+     The ardour of those carping maids
+       Is most completely chilled.
+     Matilda was the first to fall,
+       Lured by the dark gossoon,
+     In awful dishes one by one
+       She dipped her timid spoon.
+     She promised for one little week
+       To let her nails grow long,
+     But added in a saving clause
+       She thought it very wrong.
+     Thus did she take the fatal plunge,
+       Did compromise with sin,
+     Then all was lost; from that day forth
+       French ways were sure to win.
+     Lavinia followed in her train,
+       And ran the self-same road,
+     Ate sweet-bread first, then chopped-up brains,
+       Eels, mushrooms, pickled toad.
+     She cries, 'How flat the home _cuisine_
+       After this luscious food!
+     Puddings and brutal joints of meat,
+       That once we fancied good!'
+     And now in all their leisure hours
+       One resource never fails,
+     Morning and noon and night they sit
+       And polish up their nails.
+     Then if in one short fatal month
+       A change like this appears,
+     Oh, what will be the next result
+       When they have stayed for years?
+
+
+Tremendous applause greeted this masterly effort, and other poems were
+produced with the rapidity of genius by Amanda and Lavinia, each writing
+the alternate verse, _a la_ Beaumont and Fletcher, which gave a peculiar
+charm to these effusions.
+
+When Matilda was called upon for a festive suggestion, she promptly
+replied, with a graceful yawn:--
+
+'Let's go to bed.'
+
+The meeting, therefore, broke up, and the younger ladies retired to
+their cells in good order. But the Raven, excited by the jocund hour,
+continued to rustle and patter about the warm room in a state of
+inexpressible hilarity, most exasperating to the others, who desired to
+sleep. Not content with upsetting the fire-irons occasionally, singing
+to the cat, and slamming the furniture about, this restless bird kept
+appearing first at one cell door with a conundrum, then at the other
+with a joke, or insisted on telling funny stories in her den, till the
+exhausted victims implored her to take an opium pill and subside before
+they became furious. She obeyed, and after a few relapses into wandering
+and joking, finally slumbered.
+
+Then occurred the one thrilling adventure of this happy journey. In the
+darkest hour before dawn Mat awoke, heard a suspicious noise in the
+middle room, and asked if Lavinia was on the rampage again. No reply,
+and, listening, a low, rasping, rustling sound was heard.
+
+'Thieves, of course. Our watches and purses are on the table, and
+Lavinia has probably forgotten to lock the door. I must attend to this.'
+And up rose the dauntless Matilda, who feared neither man nor ghost.
+
+Grasping her dagger, hitherto used as a paper cutter, but always eager
+to be steeped in the gore of brigands, robbers, or beasts of prey, she
+crept to the door and peeped in. The pale glow of the fire showed her a
+dark figure crouching in the opposite door-way. The click of a pistol
+caught her ear, but dodging quickly, the heroic girl cried sternly from
+the shelter of Lavinia's bed-curtain,--
+
+'Come out, or I'll fire!'
+
+'Mio Dio! is it only you?' answered a familiar voice, as Amanda,
+shrouded in a waterproof, sprang up and lit a match.
+
+'What are you prowling about for?' demanded Mat.
+
+'To blow your brains out, apparently,' answered Mandy, lowering her
+arms. 'Why are you abroad?'
+
+'To stab you, I fancy,' and Mat sheathed her dagger balked of its prey.
+
+'I heard a noise.'
+
+'So did I.'
+
+'Let's see what it is,' and lighting a candle, the fair Amazons looked
+boldly about the shadowy room.
+
+Lavinia lay wrapt in slumber, with only the end of her sarcastic nose
+visible beyond the misty cloud that enveloped her venerable countenance.
+The outer door was fast, and the shutters closed. No booted feet
+appeared below the curtains, no living eyes rolled awfully in the
+portrait of the salmon-coloured saint upon the wall. Yet the rustling
+and rasping went on, and with one impulse the defenders of sleeping
+innocence made for the table in the corner.
+
+There was the midnight robber at his fell work!--the big cat peacefully
+gnawing the cold chicken, and knocking about the treasured crusts
+dragged from the luncheon-basket carefully packed for an early start.
+
+'Wake and behold the ruin your pet has made!'
+
+'We might be murdered or carried off a dozen times over without her
+knowing it. Here's a nice duenna!'
+
+And the indignant ladies shook, pinched, and shouted till the hapless
+sleeper opened one eye, and wrathfully demanded what the matter was.
+
+They told her with eloquent brevity, but instead of praising their
+prowess, and thanking them with fervour, the ungrateful woman shut her
+eye again, merely saying with drowsy irascibility,--
+
+'You told me to go to sleep, and I went; next time fight it out among
+yourselves, but don't wake me.'
+
+'Throw the cat out of window and go to bed, Mat,' and Amanda uncocked
+her pistol with the resignation of one who had learned not to expect
+gratitude in this world.
+
+'Touch a hair of that dear creature and I'll raise the house!' cried
+Lavinia, roused at once.
+
+Puss, who had viewed the fray sitting bolt upright on the table, now
+settled the vexed question by skipping into Lavinia's arms, feeling with
+the instinct of her race that her surest refuge was there. Mat retired
+in silent disgust, and the Raven fell asleep soothed by the grateful
+purring of her furry friend.
+
+'Last night's experiences have given me a longing for adventures,' said
+Mat, as they journeyed on next morning.
+
+'I've had quite enough of that sort,' growled Lavinia.
+
+'Let us read our papers, and wait for time to send us something in the
+way of a lark,' and Amanda obscured herself in a grove of damp
+newspapers.
+
+Lavinia also took one and read bits aloud to Mat, who was mending her
+gloves, bright yellow, four-buttoned, and very dirty.
+
+'Translate as you go along--I do so hate that gabble,' begged Mat, who
+would _not_ improve her mind.
+
+So Lavinia gave her a free translation which convulsed Amanda behind her
+paper. Coming to this passage, 'Plusieurs faits graves sont arrives,'
+the reader rendered it, 'Several made graves have arrived,' adding,
+'Dear me, what singular customs the French have, to be sure!' A little
+farther on she read, 'Un portrait de feu Monsieur mon pere,' adding, 'A
+fire portrait means a poker sketch, I suppose.'
+
+Here a smothered giggle from Amanda caused the old lady to say 'Bless
+you!' thinking the dear girl had sneezed.
+
+'I must have some blue cotton to mend my dress with. Remind me to get
+some at Moulins. By the way, how do you ask for it in French?' said Mat,
+surveying a rent in her skirts.
+
+'Oh, just go in and say, "Avez-vous le fils bleu?"' replied Lavinia,
+with a superior air.
+
+'A blue son! My precious granny, what will you say next?' murmured
+Amanda, faint with suppressed laughter.
+
+'What are you muttering about?' asked Granny, sharply.
+
+'Trying to recall those fine lines in "Wilhelm Meister;" don't you
+remember? "Wer nie sein Brod mit Thraenen ass,"' replied Amanda, polite
+even at the last gasp.
+
+'I read my Goethe in decent English, and don't know anything about
+training asses,' returned Lavinia, severely.
+
+That was too much! Amanda cast her paper down, and had her laugh out, as
+the only means of saving herself from suffocation. The others gazed upon
+her in blank amazement, till she found breath enough to enlighten them,
+when such peals of merriment arose, that the guard popped his head in to
+see if he had not unwittingly shipped a load of lunatics.
+
+'That was splendid! But now we must sober down, for a gorgeous being is
+about to get in,' said Amanda, as they stopped at a station.
+
+The gorgeous being entered, and found three demure ladies rapt in
+newspapers. They apparently saw nothing but the words before them; yet
+every one of them knew that the handsome young man had bowed in the most
+superior manner; also, that he was dressed in brown velvet, long
+gaiters, buttoned to the knee, a ravishing blue tie, buff gloves, and
+pouch and powder-horn slung over his shoulder. Also, that a servant with
+two dogs and a gun had touched his hat and said, 'Oui, monsieur le
+comte,' as he shut the door.
+
+A slight thrill pervaded the statues as this fact was made known, and
+each began to wonder how the elegant aristocrat would behave. To say
+that he stared, feebly expresses the fixity of his noble gaze, as it
+rested in turn upon the three faces opposite. When satisfied, he also
+produced a paper and began to read. But Matilda caught a big, black eye
+peering over the sheet more than once, as she peered over the top of her
+own.
+
+'I don't like him. Remember, we don't speak French,' whispered the
+discreet Amanda.
+
+'I can swear that I don't,' said Lavinia, with an irrepressible smile,
+as she remembered the 'blue son.'
+
+'The language of the eye is not forbidden me, and I can't sit baking
+under a newspaper all the way,' returned Matilda, whose blond curls had
+evidently met with the great creature's approval.
+
+A slight pucker about the Comte's lips caused a thrill of horror to
+pervade the ladies, as Amanda murmured under her breath,--
+
+'He may understand English!'
+
+'Then we are lost!' returned the tragic Raven.
+
+'Wish he did. I really pine for a little attention. It gives such a
+relish to life,' said Matilda, thinking regretfully of the devoted
+beings left behind.
+
+The prudent Amanda and the stern Lavinia steeled their hearts, and iced
+their countenances to the comely gentleman. But the social Matilda could
+not refrain from responding to his polite advances, with a modest
+'Merci, Monsieur,' as he drew the curtain for her, a smile when he
+picked up the unruly curling-stick, and her best bow as he offered his
+paper with a soft glance of the black eyes.
+
+In vain Amanda tried to appal her with awful frowns; in vain Lavinia
+trod warningly upon her foot: she paid no heed, and left them no hope
+but the saving remembrance that she couldn't talk French.
+
+'If the man don't get out soon, I'll tie her up in my shawl, and tell
+him she is mad,' resolved Lavinia, whose spinster soul was always
+scandalised at the faintest approach to a flirtation.
+
+'If the man does speak English, Mat will have it all her own way,'
+thought Amanda, remembering the vow imposed upon the reckless girl.
+
+Alas, alas for the anxious twain! The man did _not_ get out soon, the
+man _did_ speak English, and in ten minutes Matilda was off, like a colt
+without a halter. The anguish of her keepers added zest to the fun, and
+finding that the gentleman evidently thought her the lady of the party
+(owing to the yellow gloves, smartest hat, and irreproachable boots),
+and the others in sober gray and black, were maid and duenna, this
+reprehensible girl kept up the joke, put on airs, and enjoyed that
+flirtatious hour to her heart's content.
+
+As if to punish the others for their distrust, and to reward Mat's
+interest in him, M. le Comte devoted himself to Mademoiselle, telling
+her about his hunting, his estate, and finished by inviting her and her
+party to call and view his _chateau_, if they ever paused at the town,
+which had the honour of being his summer residence. Mat responded to all
+these courtesies with confiding sweetness, and when at length he was
+desolated at being obliged to tear himself away, she
+
+
+     'Gave sigh for sigh,'
+
+
+as he retired with a superb bow, a gallant 'Bon voyage, mesdames,' and a
+wicked twinkle of the black eyes as they rested on the faces of the
+frozen ladies.
+
+'I got rather the best of the joke in that little affair: didn't I?'
+said Mat, gayly, as the brown velvet Adonis vanished.
+
+'You are a disgrace to your party and your nation,' sternly responded
+Amanda.
+
+Lavinia spoke not, but shook her little sister till the hat flew off her
+head, and she had only breath enough left to declare with unquenched
+ardour that she would do it again the very next chance she got.
+
+Lectures, laughter, and longings for 'my Comte' beguiled the remainder
+of the way, and _Moulang_ (as Mat pronounced Moulins) was reached after
+a pleasant trip through a green country, picturesque with the white
+cattle of Berri. There was not much to see, but the town was so quaint
+and quiet, that Amanda was seized with one of her remarkable projects.
+
+'Let us find a little house somewhere and stay a week or two. I fain
+would rest and ruminate among the white cows for a while; have a little
+washing done, and slowly prepare to emerge into the world again. Lyons
+is our next point, and there we must bid adieu to freedom and
+shawl-straps.'
+
+'Very well, dear,' responded Lavinia, with resignation, having learned
+that the best way to curb these aberrations of genius was to give in,
+and let circumstances prove their impracticability.
+
+So Amanda inquired of the landlady if such a rustic cot could be found.
+Whereupon the dingy little woman clasped her dingy little hands, and
+declared that she had exactly the charming retreat desired. Truly yes,
+and she would at once make her toilette, order out the carriage, and
+display this lovely villa to the dear ladies.
+
+With many misgivings the three squeezed themselves into a square
+clothes-basket on wheels, drawn by an immense, bony, white horse, driven
+by a striped boy, and adorned by Madame, in a towering bonnet, laden
+with amazing fruit, flowers, and vegetables. Lavinia counted three
+tomatoes, a bunch of grapes, poppies and pansies, wheat ears and
+blackberry-vines, a red, red rose, and one small lettuce, with glass
+dewdrops and green grubs lavishly sprinkled over it. A truly superb
+_chapeau_ and a memorable one.
+
+Away they trundled through stony streets, dusty roads, waste grounds,
+marshy meadows, and tumbled-down pleasure-gardens, till the
+clothes-basket turned down a lane, and the bony horse stopped at length
+before a door in a high red wall.
+
+'Behold!' cried madame, leading them with much clanking of keys, into a
+cabbage-garden. A small tool-house stood among the garden-stuff, with
+brick floors, very dirty windows, and the atmosphere of a tomb. Bags of
+seed, wheel-barrows, onions, and dust cumbered the ground. Empty bottles
+stood on the old table, cigar ends lay thick upon the hearth, and a
+trifle of gay crockery adorned the mantel-piece.
+
+'See, then, here is a _salon_, so cool, so calm. Above is a room with
+beds, and around the garden where the ladies can sit all day. A maid can
+achieve the breakfast here, and my carriage can come for them to dine at
+the hotel. Is it not charmingly arranged?
+
+'It is simply awful,' said Mat, aghast at the prospect.
+
+'Settle it as you like, dear, only I'm afraid I couldn't stay _very_
+long on account of the dampness,' observed Lavinia, cheerfully, as she
+put a hoe-handle under her feet and wiped the blue mould from a
+three-legged chair.
+
+'It won't do, so I'll tell her you are an invalid and very particular,'
+said Amanda, with another inspiration, as she led the landlady forth to
+break the blow tenderly.
+
+'My neuralgia is useful if it isn't ornamental; and what a comfort that
+is!' said Lavinia, as she lightly threw a large cockroach out of window,
+dodged a wasp, and crushed a fat spider.
+
+And so it was in many ways. If the party wanted a car to themselves,
+Granny was ordered to lie down and groan dismally, which caused other
+travellers to shun the poor invalid. If rooms did not suit, suffering
+Madame _must_ have sun or perish. Late lunches, easy carriages, extra
+blankets, every sort of comfort was for her, whether she wanted them or
+not.
+
+'Shall I be sick or well?' was always the first question when an
+invitation came, for 'my sister's delicate health' was the standing
+excuse when parties palled, or best gowns were not get-at-able.
+
+While Amanda conferred with the hostess among the cabbages, Mat
+discovered that the picturesque white cattle in the field close by were
+extremely fierce and unsocial; that there was no house in sight, and the
+venerable horse and shay would never sustain many trips to and fro to
+dinner at the hotel. Lavinia poked about the house, and soon satisfied
+herself that it abounded in every species of what Fanny Kemble calls
+'entomological inconvenience,' and an atmosphere admirably calculated to
+introduce cholera to the inhabitants of Moulins.
+
+'It is all settled; let us return,' said Amanda, appearing at last with
+an air of triumph, having appeased the old lady by eating green
+currants, and admiring an earwiggy arbour, commanding a fine view of a
+marsh where frogs were piping and cool mists rising as the sun set.
+
+The chickens were tough at dinner, the wine bitter, the bread sour, but
+no one reproached Amanda as the cause of this change. And when the
+hostess bowed them out, next day, without a smile, they drove away,
+conscious only of deep gratitude that they were saved from leaving their
+bones to moulder among the cabbages of Moulins.
+
+'Now we return to civilisation, good clothes, and Christian food,' said
+Lavinia, as they surveyed their fine rooms at the Grand Hotel, Lyons.
+
+'Likewise letters and luggage,' added Amanda, as the maid brought in a
+bundle of letters, and two porters came bumping up with the trunks.
+
+'Well, I've enjoyed the trip immensely, though nothing very remarkable
+has happened,' said Mat, diving into her private ark with satisfaction.
+
+'I should like to wander in the wilderness for years, if I could hear
+from my family at intervals,' said Lavinia, briskly breaking open the
+plump, travel-worn letters.
+
+'Then you consider our trip a success?' asked Amanda, pausing in the act
+of removing the dust from her noble countenance.
+
+'A perfect success! We have done what we planned, had no mishaps, seen
+and enjoyed much, quarrelled not at all, laughed a great deal, and been
+altogether festive, thanks to you. I shall hang my shawl-strap on the
+castle wall as a trophy of the prowess of my Amanda, and the success of
+the last Declaration of American Independence,' replied Lavinia.
+
+'I, also,' said Mat, opening her bundle for the one hundreth and last
+time.
+
+'You do me proud; I humbly thank you,' and with a superb curtsy the
+commander-in-chief modestly retired behind the towel.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+_SWITZERLAND._
+
+
+'My children, listen to the words of wisdom ere it is too late,' began
+Lavinia, as the three sat about in dressing-gowns after a busy day in
+Geneva.
+
+'We listen, go on, Granny,' replied the irreverent girls.
+
+'If we stay here a week longer, we are ruined. Firstly, this Metropole
+is an expensive hotel; also noisy and full of fashionable people, whom I
+hate. Secondly, the allurements of the jewellers' shops are too much for
+us, and we had better flee before we spend all our money. Thirdly, if
+war does break out along the Rhine, as rumour now predicts, Geneva will
+be crammed with people whose plans, like ours, are upset; therefore we
+had better skip across the lake, and secure a comfortable place for
+ourselves at Vevey or Montreaux, for we shall probably have to winter
+there.'
+
+'Hear, hear! we will do it, and if Italy doesn't get over her revolution
+in time for us to go to Rome, we must content ourselves with some nook
+in this refuge for all wanderers on the face of the continent,' said
+Amanda.
+
+'But I like Geneva so much. It's such fun to watch the splendid waiters
+file in at dinner, looking like young gentlemen ready for a ball; the
+house is so gay, and the shops!--never did I dream of such richness
+before. Do stay another week and buy a few more things,' prayed Matilda,
+who spent most of her time gloating over the jewelry, and tempting her
+sister to buy all manner of useless gauds.
+
+'No: we will go to-morrow. I know of several good _pensions_ at Vevey,
+so we are sure of getting in somewhere. Pack at once, and let us flee,'
+returned Lavinia, who, having bought a watch, a ring, and a locket, felt
+that it was time to go.
+
+And go they did, settling for a month at Bex, a little town up the
+valley of the Rhone, remarkable for its heat, its dirt, its lovely
+scenery, and the remarkable perfection to which its inhabitants had
+brought the _goitre_, nearly every one being blessed with an unsightly
+bunch upon the neck, which they decorated with ribbons and proudly
+displayed to the disgusted traveller.
+
+Here in the rambling old Hotel des Bains, with its balconies, gardens,
+and little rooms, the wanderers reposed for a time. A Polish countess,
+with her lover, daughter, and governess, conferred distinction upon the
+house. An old Hungarian count, who laboured under the delusion that he
+descended in a direct line from Zenobia, also adorned the scene. An
+artist with two pretty boys, named Alfred Constable Landseer Reynolds
+and Allston West Cuyp Vandyke, afforded Matilda much satisfaction.
+
+English mammas with prim daughters of thirty or so still tied to their
+apron-strings were to be found, of course, for they are everywhere; also
+wandering French folk raving about the war one minute and tearing their
+hair over bad coffee the next.
+
+Amanda read newspapers and talked politics with the old count; while
+Lavinia, with a paper bag of apricots under one arm and a volume of
+Disraeli's novels under the other, spent her shining hours wandering
+from balcony to garden, enjoying the heat, which gave her a short
+respite from her woes.
+
+While here Matilda, in company with a kindred soul, made the ascent of
+Mount St. Bernard with the pleasing accompaniments of wind, rain,
+thunder, and lightning. But the irrepressible Americans went on in spite
+of warnings from more prudent travellers who stopped half-way. With one
+mule and a guide for escort, the two enthusiasts waded swollen streams
+with ice-cold water up to their knees, climbed slippery roads, faced
+what seemed a whirlwind at that height, and, undaunted by the uproar of
+the elements, pressed on to the Hospice, to the great admiration of
+Moritz, the guide, who told them he had seldom taken men up in such a
+storm, never ladies.
+
+At the Hospice the dripping lasses found a hospitable welcome from the
+handsome monk who does the honours there. Being provided with dry
+garments, and having much fun over the tall Matilda draped in skirts of
+many colours in the attempt to get any long enough, they were fed and
+warmed by the engaging monk, who entertained them as they sat about a
+roaring fire while the storm raged without, with thrilling tales of the
+travellers they had saved, the wild adventures they had known in the
+dreadful winter time, and the gifts bestowed upon them by grateful
+travellers or generous guests.
+
+The Prince of Wales had sent them a piano, and many fine pictures
+ornamented the walls from famous persons. An old English lady who spends
+her summers up there seemed much amused at the prank of the girls, and
+evidently wondered what their guardians were about.
+
+A merry and memorable evening; and when, on going to their cells, they
+found the beds nicely warmed, Matilda exclaimed,--
+
+'This is the most delightful of the romantic and the comfortable I ever
+saw. Alps and warming-pans taken "jintly" are delicious!'
+
+At five next morning they were wakened by the chanting of the invisible
+brotherhood, and went down to the chapel for mass. On going out for a
+clamber on the rocks, seven or eight great dogs came baying and leaping
+about them, licking their hands and smelling their garments to see if
+they were hurt. Looking into their bright, benevolent eyes, one could
+well believe the wonderful tales told of their courage and sagacity.
+Though so powerful and large they were gentle as kittens, and the
+dog-loving girls were proud to receive and return the caresses of these
+four-footed heroes.
+
+Leaving a grateful _souvenir_ in the box intended to receive whatever
+guests choose to leave, the girls descended in the morning sunshine,
+finding it a very different experience from the ascent. All was clear
+and calm now,--beautiful and grand; and only pausing at M. to send back
+a fine engraving to the comely priest, who had made a deep impression on
+their romantic hearts, the _enfants_ returned to their anxious friends,
+mildewed, rumpled, and weary, but full of enthusiastic delight over
+their successful ascent of St. Bernard.
+
+War broke out, and Alexandre, the all-accomplished head-waiter, dropped
+his napkin, shouldered his gun, and marched away, leaving the Hotel des
+Bains desolate. Being pretty thoroughly baked, and very weary of the
+little town, our trio departed to Vevey, and settled down in the best
+_pension_ that ever received the weary traveller.
+
+Standing in its own pretty grounds, and looking out upon the lake,
+Pension Paradis deserves its name. Clean and cosy within, a good table,
+a kindly hostess, and the jolliest old host ever seen! what more could
+the human heart desire?
+
+Vevey was swarming with refugees. Don Carlos, or the Duke de Madrid, as
+he was called, was there with his Duchess and court, plotting heaven
+knows what up at his villa, with the grave, shabby men who haunted the
+town.
+
+Queen Isabella reigned at one hotel, and Spanish grandees pervaded the
+place. There were several at Pension Paradis, and no one guessed what
+great creatures they were till a _fete_ day arrived, and the grim, gray
+men blossomed out into counts, marquises, and generals covered with
+orders, stars, and crosses splendid to behold.
+
+One particularly silent, shabby little man with a shaven head and fine
+black eyes, who was never seen to smile, became an object of interest on
+that occasion by appearing in a gorgeous uniform with a great gilt
+grasshopper hanging down his back from a broad green ribbon. Who was he?
+What did the grasshopper mean? Where did he go to in a fine carriage,
+and what was he plotting with the other Carlists, who dodged in and out
+of his room at all hours?
+
+No one ever knew, and all the artful questions put to the young
+Spaniard, who played croquet with the girls, were unavailing. Nothing
+was discovered, except that little Mirandola had a title, and might be
+sent back to Spain any day to lose his life or liberty in some rash
+plot, which circumstance made the black-eyed boy doubly interesting to
+the free-born Americans. Lavinia bewailed his hard lot, Amanda taught
+him whist and told his fortune, and Matilda put him in her sketch-book
+done in the blackest India-ink. It is also to be recorded that the
+doomed little Don was never seen to laugh but once, and that was when
+the girls taught him the classical game of Muggins. The name struck him;
+he went about saying it to himself, and on the first occasion of his
+being 'mugginsed,' he was so tickled that he indulged in a hearty boy's
+laugh; but immediately recovered himself, and never smiled again, as if
+in penance for so forgetting his dignity.
+
+A bashful Russian, who wore remarkably fine broadcloth and had perfect
+manners, was likewise received into the good graces of the ladies, who
+taught him English, called him 'the Baron' in private, and covered him
+with confusion in public by making him talk at table.
+
+But the most amusing of all the family was Madame A., a handsome widow
+from Lyons, with two ugly children and a stout old mamma, who wore
+orange stockings and a curious edifice of black lace encircled with
+large purple asters. The widow had married an Italian artist, who was
+mortally jealous of his wife, whose blonde beauty attracted much
+attention at Rome. In some quarrel with a model the husband was stabbed,
+and the handsome widow left in peace.
+
+A tall, fair lady, with a profile like Marie Antoinette; she dressed in
+white with violet ribbons, and wore much ancient jewelry. A loud-voiced,
+energetic woman, who bewailed the sack of her house at Lyons, scolded
+her children, and cursed the Germans with equal volubility and spirit.
+When silent she was the picture of a patrician beauty; but, alas! her
+voice destroyed the charm, and her manners--great heavens, what things
+that woman did! Picking her pearly teeth with a hair-pin, and knocking
+her darlings into their chairs with one sweep of her elbow when they
+annoyed her at table, were the least of the horrors she perpetrated.
+
+But she talked well, devoted herself to her family, and took misfortune
+bravely; so much may be pardoned her.
+
+Her infants were only remarkable for their ugliness and curious
+costumes. The little girl usually wore soiled silk gowns, and had her
+hair tied up with bits of twine. The boy appeared in a suit of yellow
+calico spotted with black, looking very much like a canary bird who had
+fallen into an inkstand. On festival occasions he wore white cloth
+raiment, with red ribbons stuck here and there, and high red boots.
+
+But, on the whole, the old mamma was the queerest of the set; for she
+spent most of her time lumbering up and down stairs, which amusement
+kept the orange hose constantly before the public. When not disporting
+herself in this way, she dozed in the _salon_, or consumed much food at
+table with a devotion that caused her to suck her fingers, on every one
+of which shone an antique ring of price. Her head-gear was a perpetual
+puzzle to the observing Lavinia, who could never discover whether it was
+a cap, a bonnet, or a natural production, for it was never off. Madame
+walked out in it, wore it all day, and very likely slept in it. At least
+Lavinia firmly believed so, and often beguiled the watches of the night,
+imagining the old soul placidly slumbering with the perennial asters
+encircling her aged brow like a halo.
+
+One other party there was who much amused the rest of the household. An
+American lady with a sickly daughter, who would have been pretty but for
+her affectation and sentimentality. The girl was engaged to a fierce,
+dissipated little Russian, who presented her with a big bouquet every
+morning, followed her about all day like a dog, and glared wrathfully at
+any man who cast an eye upon the languishing damsel in white muslin and
+flowing curls 'bedropt with pearls,' as a romantic lady expressed it.
+
+It was evident that the Russian without any vowels in his name was going
+to marry Mademoiselle for her money, and the weak Mamma was full of
+satisfaction at the prospect. To others it seemed a doubtful bargain,
+and much pity was felt for the feeble girl doomed to go to Russia with a
+husband who had 'tyrant' written in every line of his bad, _blase_
+little face and figure. French polish could not hide the brute, nor any
+quantity of flowers conceal the chain by which he was leading his new
+serf away to bondage in St. Petersburg.
+
+Into the midst of this select society came a countryman of our
+three,--a jocund youth fresh from Algiers, with relics, adventures, and
+tales that utterly eclipsed the 'Arabian Nights.' Festive times
+followed, for the 'Peri' (the pet name of aforesaid youth) gave them the
+fruits of his long wanderings, sung whole operas heard in Paris, danced
+ballets seen in Berlin, recounted perils among the Moors, served up
+gossip from the four corners of the globe, and conversed with each
+member of the household in his or her own language.
+
+A cheerful comrade was the 'Peri,' and a great addition to the party,
+who now spent most of their time sitting about the town, eating grapes,
+and listening to the pranks of this sprightly M.D., who seemed to be
+studying his profession by wandering over Europe with a guitar _a la
+troubadour_.
+
+Sounding the lungs of a veiled princess in Morocco was the least of his
+adventures, and the treasures he had collected supplied Lavinia with
+materials for unlimited romances: cuff-buttons made from bits of marble
+picked up among the ruins of Carthage; diamond crescents and ear-rings
+bought in Toledo, so antique and splendid that relic-loving Amanda raved
+about them; photographs of the _belles_ of Constantinople, Moorish coins
+and pipes, bits of curious Indian embroidery; and, best of all, the
+power of telling how each thing was found in so graphic a manner that
+Eastern bazaars, ruins, and palaces seemed to rise before the listeners
+as in the time of the magic story-tellers. But all too soon he packed
+his knapsack, and promising to bring each of his friends the nose or ear
+of one of the shattered saints from the great cathedral at Strasbourg,
+the 'Peri' vanished from Paradis, and left them all lamenting.
+
+The little flurry in Italy ending peacefully, our travellers after much
+discussion resolved to cross the Alps and spend the winter in Rome, if
+possible. So with tragic farewells from those they left behind them,
+who, hoping to keep them longer, predicted all manner of misfortunes,
+the three strong-minded ladies rumbled away in the _coupe_ of a
+diligence to Brieg.
+
+A lovely day's journey up the valley of the Rhone, and a short night's
+rest in the queer little town at the foot of the mountains.
+
+Before light the next morning they were called, and, after a hurried
+breakfast in a stony hall, went shivering out into the darkness, and,
+stumbling through the narrow street, came to the starting-point.
+Lanterns were dancing about the square, two great diligences loomed up
+before them, horses were tramping, men shouting, and eager travellers
+scrambling for places. In the dimly lighted office, people were
+clamouring for tickets, scolding at the delay, or grimly biding their
+time in corners, with one eye asleep, and the other sharply watching the
+conductor.
+
+'Isn't it romantic?' cried Matilda, wide awake, and in a twitter of
+excitement.
+
+'It is frightfully cold; and I don't see how we are going, for both
+those caravans are brimful,' croaked Lavinia, chafing her purple nose,
+and wishing it had occurred to her to buy a muff before going to sunny
+Italy.
+
+'I have got through tickets, and some one is bound to see us over these
+snow-banks, so "trust in Providence and the other man," and we shall
+come out right, I assure you,' replied the energetic Amanda, who had
+conferred with a spectral being in the darkness, and blindly put her
+faith in him.
+
+Away lumbered one diligence after the other, the first drawn by seven
+horses, the second by five, while the carrier's little cart with one
+brought up the rear. But still three muffled ladies sat upon a cool
+stone in the dark square, waiting for the spectre to keep his promise.
+
+He did like a man; for suddenly the doors of an old stable flew open,
+and out rattled a comfortable carriage with a pair of stout little
+horses jingling their bells, and a brisk driver, whose voice was
+pleasant, as he touched his hat and invited the ladies to enter,
+assuring them that they would soon overtake and pass the heavy
+diligences before them.
+
+'Never again will I doubt you, my Amanda,' cried the Raven, packing
+herself into the dowager's corner with a grateful heart.
+
+'I hope the top of this carriage opens, for I _must_ see _everything_,'
+cried Matilda, prancing about on the front seat in a chaos of wraps,
+books, bottles, and lunch-baskets.
+
+'Of course it does, and when there is anything to see we will see it. It
+is dark and cold now, so we'd better all go to sleep again.'
+
+With which sage remark, Amanda burrowed into her cloaks and slumbered.
+But not the other two. Matilda stuck her head out of one window,
+uttering little cries of wonder and delight at all she saw; while Livy
+watched the solemn stars pale one by one as the sky brightened, and felt
+as if she were climbing up, out of a dark valley of weariness and pain,
+into a new world full of grand repose.
+
+Slowly winding higher and higher through the damp pine forest, softly
+stirring in the morning wind, they saw the sky warm from its cold gray
+to a rosy glow, making ready for the sun to rise as they never saw it
+rise before.
+
+
+     'Full many a glorious morning have I seen,
+     Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,'
+
+
+but never more wonderfully than on that day. Long after the distant
+peaks flamed in the ruddy light, they rode in shadow; but turning
+suddenly round a corner, the sun came dazzling through a great gorge,
+startling them with the splendour it brought.
+
+Down went the carriage-top, and standing bolt upright, three pairs of
+eager eyes drank in the grandeur and the beauty that makes the crossing
+of the Simplon an experience to live for ever in the memory. Peak after
+peak of the Bernese Oberland rose behind them, silver white against a
+wonderful blue sky. Before them Monte Rosa, touched with the morning
+red, and all around great glaciers glittering in the sunshine, awful
+gorges with torrents thundering from the heights above, relics of
+land-slides and avalanches still visible in uprooted trees, boulders
+tumbled here and there, and ruins of shepherds' huts in solitary nooks
+where sheep now feed.
+
+The road crept in and out, over frail bridges, spanning chasms that made
+one dizzy to look into, through tunnels of solid rock, or galleries with
+windows over which poured waterfalls from the treacherous glaciers
+above. This road is a miracle in itself, for all nature seems to protest
+against it, and the elements never tire of trying to destroy it. Only a
+Napoleon would have had the audacity to dream of such a path, and it is
+truly a royal road into a lovely land.
+
+Passing the diligences the little carriage went rapidly on, and soon
+the three were almost alone. Out leaped Lavinia and Matilda, and walked
+along the level way that curved round a great gorge.
+
+'Go on and let me be. It is all so magnificent it almost takes my breath
+away. I must just sit a minute, like a passive bucket, and let it pour
+into me,' said Lavinia, in a solemn tone.
+
+Mat understood; for her own heart and soul were full, and with a silent
+kiss of sympathy, walked on, leaving her sister to enjoy that early mass
+in a grander cathedral than any built with hands.
+
+In spite of the sunshine it was very cold, and when the three met again
+their noses looked like the eldest Miss Pecksniff's, 'as if Aurora had
+nipped and tweaked it with her rosy fingers.' Subsiding into their
+places with pale, excited faces, they went silently on for a long time,
+with no sound but the chime of the bells on the horses who were covered
+with a light hoar-frost. Wrapped up to their eyes, like Egyptian women,
+sat Livy and Amanda; while Matilda, having tried to sketch Monte Rosa,
+and given it up, made a capital caricature of them as they ate cold
+chicken, and drank wine, in a primitive manner, out of the bottle.
+
+It was a sudden descent from the sublime to the ridiculous; but the
+feeble human mind cannot bear too much glory at once, and is saved by
+the claims of the prosaic body, that will get tired and hungry even atop
+of the everlasting hills. So the enthusiasts picked their chicken bones,
+sipped their wine, and felt less exhausted and hysterical. A good laugh
+over the carrier's little boy, who sniffed the banquet afar off, and
+came running to offer a handful of pale Alpine flowers, with wistful
+glances at the lunch, did them more good still: for the little chap
+caught and bolted the morsels they gave him with such dexterous
+rapidity, it was as good as juggling.
+
+Refuges and the Hospice came in sight one after the other, and while
+waiting to change horses one had time to wonder how the people living
+there managed to be such a stolid, dirty, thriftless-looking set.
+Mountaineers should be intelligent, active, and hardy; but these men
+were a most ungainly crew, and Lavinia's theories got a sad blow.
+
+A bad dinner at Simplon would have been an affliction at any other time;
+but with the Valley of Gondo for dessert, no one cared for other food.
+Following the wild stream that had worn its way between the immense
+cliffs, they drove rapidly down towards Italy, feeling that this was a
+fit gateway to the promised land.
+
+At Iselle, on the frontier, they enacted a little farce for the benefit
+of the custom-house officers. Lavinia and Amanda had old passports, and
+had been told they would be needed. Mat had none, so she was ordered to
+try the _role_ of maid. Before they arrived, she took out her ear-rings,
+tied up her curls under a dingy veil, put on a waterproof, and tried to
+assume the demure air of an Abigail.
+
+When they alighted, she was left to guard the wraps in the carriage
+while the others went with the luggage, expecting to have much trouble;
+for all manner of hindrances had been predicted owing to the unsettled
+state of the country. Nothing could be simpler, however; no passports
+were demanded, a very careless search of luggage, and it was all over.
+So Matilda threw off her disguise, and ascended the diligence in her
+own character, for here, alas! they left the cozy little carriage with
+the affable driver and the jingling bells.
+
+Only two places could be found in the crowded diligences, and great was
+the fuss till Amanda was invited up aloft by a friendly gentleman who
+had a perch behind, large enough for two. There they discussed theology
+and politics to their hearts' content, and at parting the worthy man cut
+his book in two, and gave Amanda half that she might refresh herself
+with a portion of some delightfully dry work on Druidical Remains,
+Protoplasm, or the state of the church before the flood.
+
+The force of contrast makes the charm of this entry into Italy; for,
+after the grandeur of the Alps and the gloomy wildness of Gondo, the
+smiling scene is doubly lovely as one drives down to Domo d'Ossola.
+Weariness, hunger, and sleep were quite forgotten; and when our
+travellers came to Lago Maggiore, glimmering in the moonlight, they
+could only sigh for happiness, and look and look and look.
+
+'Victory has perched upon our banners so far, I am sure, for never was a
+trip more delightful. It is not every stranger who is fortunate enough
+to see sunrise, noonday, sunset, and moonlight in crossing the Alps,'
+said Matilda, as she fell into her bed quite exhausted by the excitement
+of the day.
+
+'I feel a richer, better woman for it, and don't believe I shall ever
+see anything more satisfactory if I stay in Italy ten years,' responded
+Lavinia, wrapping the red army-blanket
+
+
+     'Like a martial cloak around her.'
+
+
+'Wait till the spell of Rome is upon you, and then see what you will
+feel, my Granny' predicted Amanda, who _had_ felt the spell, and had not
+yet escaped from it.
+
+'Don't believe it will suit me half so well,' persisted Livy, who would
+prefer nature to art, much to Amanda's disgust.
+
+'We shall see,' observed Amanda, with the exasperating mildness of
+superior knowledge.
+
+'We shall!' and Livy tied her cap in a hard knot as if to settle the
+matter.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+_ITALY._
+
+
+Sleep as deep, dreamless, and refreshing as if the beneficent spirit of
+Carlo Borromeo still haunted the enchanted lake, prepared the three for
+a day of calm delights. The morning was spent floating over the lake in
+a luxuriously cushioned boat with a gay awning and a picturesque rower,
+to visit Isola Bella. Everyone knows what a little Paradise has been
+made to blossom on that rock; so raptures over the flowers, the marbles,
+the panniers of lovely fruit, and the dirty, pretty children who offered
+them, are unnecessary.
+
+In the afternoon, having despatched the luggage to Florence, our
+travellers sailed away to Luini, catching last glimpses of Monte Rosa,
+and enjoying the glories of an Italian sunset on an Italian lake. At
+Luini the girls caused much excitement by insisting on sitting up with
+the driver instead of sharing the _coupe_ with their decorous duenna.
+'We _must_ see the lovely views and the moonlight,' said Amanda, and up
+she went.
+
+'To sit aloft with a brigandish driver dressed in a scarlet and black
+uniform, with a curly horn slung over his shoulder, and to go tearing up
+hill and down with four frisky horses, is irresistible,' and up skipped
+Matilda.
+
+'You will both catch your death of cold, if you don't break your necks,
+so it will be well to have some one to nurse or bury you,' and Lavinia,
+finding commands and entreaties vain, entered the _coupe_ with mournful
+dignity.
+
+With a toot of the horn, and cheers from the crowd, which the girls
+gracefully acknowledged, away rumbled the diligence, with at least two
+very happy occupants. How lovely it was! First, the soft twilight
+wrapping everything in mysterious shadow, and then the slow uprising of
+a glorious full moon, touching the commonest object with its magical
+light. Cries of rapture from the girls atop were answered by
+exclamations from Livy, hanging half out of the _coupe_ regardless of
+night air, or raps on the head from overhanging boughs, as they went
+climbing up woody hills, or dashing down steep roads that wound so
+sharply round corners, it was a wonder the airy passengers did not fly
+off at every lurch. Rattling into quiet little towns with a grand
+'tootle-te-too' of the horn was an especial delight, and to see the
+people gather so quickly that they seemed to spring from the ground. A
+moment's chatter, a drink for the horses, a soft 'Felice notte,'
+another toot, and away thundered the diligence for miles more of
+moonlight, summer air, and the ecstasy of rapid motion.
+
+What that dear, brown driver with the red vest, the bobtailed, buttony
+coat, and the big yellow tassels dancing from his hat brim, thought of
+those two American damsels we shall never know. But it may be imagined
+that, after his first bewilderment, he enjoyed himself; for Amanda aired
+her Italian and asked many questions. Matilda invited him to perform
+national airs on all occasions, and both admired him as openly as if he
+had been a pretty child.
+
+Lavinia always cherished a dark suspicion that she narrowly escaped
+destruction on that eventful night; for, judging from the frequent
+melody, and the speed of the horses, she was sure that either Amanda
+tooted and Matilda drove, or that both so bewildered the brigand that
+he lost his head. However, it was all so delightful that even Granny
+felt the charm, and was sure that if they did upset in some romantic
+spot, a Doctor Antonio would spring up as quickly as a mushroom, and
+mend their bones, marry one of her giddy charges, and end the affair in
+the most appropriate manner.
+
+Nothing happened, fortunately, and by nine o'clock they were safely at
+Lugano, and, tearing themselves from the dear brigand, were taken
+possession of by a shadowy being, who fed them in a marble hall with
+statues ten feet high glaring at them as they ate, then led them to a
+bower which had pale green doors, a red carpet, blue walls, and yellow
+bed covers,--all so gay it was like sleeping in a rainbow.
+
+As if another lovely lake under the windows, and moonlight _ad libitum_,
+was not enough, they had music also. Lavinia scorned the idea of sleep,
+and went prowling about the rooms, hanging over the balconies, and doing
+the romantic in a style that was a disgrace to her years. She it was who
+made the superb discovery that the music they heard came from across the
+way, and that by opening a closet window they could look into a theatre
+and see the stage.
+
+All rushed at once and beheld an opera in full blast, heartily enjoying
+the unusual advantages of their position; for not only could they hear
+the warblers, but see them when the curtain was down. What a thing it
+was to see Donna Anna do up her black hair, Don Giovanni dance a jig,
+and stately Ottavio imbibe refreshment out of a black bottle, and the
+ghostly Commander prance like a Punchinello as they got him into
+position.
+
+The others soon succumbed to sleep; but, till long after midnight, old
+Livy wandered like a ghost from the front balcony, with the lovely lake,
+to the closet window and its dramatic joys, feeling that no moment of
+that memorable night should be lost, for what other traveller could
+boast that she ever went to the opera wrapped in a yellow bedquilt?
+
+On the morrow a few pictures of Luini before breakfast, and then more
+sailing over lakes, and more driving in festive diligences to Menaggio,
+where a boat like a market waggon without wheels bore them genteelly to
+Cadenabbia, and a week of repose on the banks of Lago Como.
+
+Their palace did not 'lift its marble walls to eternal summer' by any
+means; for it rained much, and was so cold that some took to their beds
+for warmth, stone floors looking like castile-soap not being just the
+thing for rheumatism. Hand-organs, dancing-bears, two hotels, one
+villa, no road but the lake, and an insinuating boatman with one eye who
+lay in wait among the willows, and popped out to grab a passenger when
+anyone ventured forth, are all that remains in the memory regarding
+Cadenabbia.
+
+A few extracts from Lavinia's note-book may be found useful at this
+point, both as a speedy way of getting our travellers to Rome, and for
+the bold criticisms on famous places and pictures which they contain:--
+
+'Milan.--Cathedral like a big wedding-cake. "Last Supper" in the
+barracks--did not "thrill;" tried to, but couldn't, as the picture is so
+dim it can hardly be seen. Ambrosian Library.--Lock of L. Borgia's hair;
+tea-coloured and coarse. Don't believe in it a bit. Jolly old books, but
+couldn't touch 'em. Fine window to Dante. Saw cathedral illuminated;
+very theatrical, and much howling of people over the deputies from Rome.
+Don't know why they illuminated or why they howled; didn't ask. Men here
+handsome, but rude. Women wear veils and no bonnets,--fat and ugly.
+Gloves very good.--Arch of Peace.--More peace and less arch would be
+better for Italy.
+
+'Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin.--Stiff and stupid. Can't like
+Raphael. Dear, pious, simple, old Fra Angelico suits me better.
+
+'To the Public Garden with A.; saw a black ostrich with long pink legs,
+who pranced and looked so like an opera dancer that we sat on the fence
+and shrieked with laughter.
+
+'Pavia.--To the Certosa to see the old Carthusian Convent founded in
+1396; cloisters, gardens, and twenty-four little dwellings, with chapel,
+bedroom, parlour, and yard for each monk, who is never to speak, and
+comes out but once a week. A nice way for lazy men to spend their lives
+when there is so much work to be done for the Lord and his poor! Wanted
+to shake them all round, though they did look well in their gowns and
+cowls gliding about the dim cloisters and church. Perhaps they are kept
+for that purpose.
+
+'Parma.--Dome of church frescoed by Correggio. All heaven upsidedown;
+fat angels turning somersaults, saints like butchers, and martyrs
+simpering feebly. Like C.'s babies much better. Heaven can't be painted,
+and they'd better not try. Madonna, by Girolamo, was lovely. Room of the
+Abbess, with rosy children peeping through the lattice, very charming.
+Madonna della Scodella--the boy Christ very charming. The old Farnese
+Theatre most interesting; got a scrap of canvas from a mouldy scene.
+Dead old place is Parma.
+
+'Bologna.--Drove in a pelting rain to the Academy, and saw many
+pictures. A Pieta, by Guido, was very striking. The desolate mother,
+with her dead son on her knees, haunted me long afterwards. St. Jerome
+and the infant Christ, by Elizabeth Sirani, I liked. Raphael won't suit
+yet. Sad for me, but I cannot admire Madonnas with faces like
+fashion-plates, or dropsical babies with no baby sweetness about them.
+
+'Florence.--Bought furs. Nice climate to bring invalids into. Always did
+think Italy a humbug, and I begin to see I was right. Acres of pictures.
+Like about six out of the lot. Can't bear the Venus, or Titian's famous
+hussy hanging over it. Like his portraits much. Busts of Roman emperors
+great fun. Such bad heads! The Julias, Faustinas, and Agrippinas, with
+hair dressed like a big sponge on the brow, were so comical I was never
+tired of looking at them. I see now where the present bedlamite style of
+coiffure comes from.
+
+'The philosophers, &c., were very interesting. Cicero so like Wendell
+Phillips that I could hardly help clapping my hands and saying, "Hear!
+hear!"
+
+'Gave A. a sad blow by saying the Campanile looked like an inlaid
+work-box. Did not admire it half so much as I did a magnificent stone
+pine. Best of all, saw in the old Monastery of St. Marco many works of
+Fra Angelico. I love his pictures, for he put his pious heart into them,
+and one sees and feels it, and I don't care if his saints do have six
+joints to their fingers and impossible noses. A very dear picture of
+"Providenza,"--poor monks at an empty table and angels bringing bread.
+
+'Angelico's picture of heaven was more to my mind than any I have seen.
+No stern, avenging God, no silly Madonna, but happy souls playing like
+children, or singing and piping with devout energy.
+
+'Relics of Savonarola,--his cell, bust, beads, hair-cloth shirt, and a
+bit of wood from the pile on which they burnt him. I like relics of one
+man who really lived, worked, and suffered, better than armies of
+angels, or acres of gods and goddesses.
+
+'Pleasant drives. Saw artists, Casa Guidi windows, and a model baby
+house with dolly's name on the door, and steps modelled by hands that
+have made famous statues. "Papa's baby house" was best of all his works
+to me. A nice little earthquake and a trifle of snow to enhance the
+charms of this sweet spot.
+
+'Visited Parker's grave, and was afflicted to find it in such an
+unlovely, crowded cemetery. It does not matter after all: his best
+monument is in the hearts that love him and the souls he fed. As I stood
+there a little brown bird hopped among the vines that covered the grave,
+pecked its breakfast from a dry seed-pod, perched on the head-stone with
+a grateful twitter, as grace after meat, and flew away, leaving me
+comforted by the little sermon it had preached.'
+
+
+'I don't wish to hurt your feelings, dear, but if this is Rome I must
+say it is a very nasty place,' began Lavinia, as they went stumbling
+through the mud and confusion of a big, unfinished station on their
+arrival at the eternal city.
+
+'People of sense don't judge a place at ten o'clock of a pitch-dark,
+rainy night, especially if they are hungry, tired, and, excuse me, love,
+rather cross,' returned Amanda, severely, as they piled into a carriage
+and drove to Piazzi di Spagna.
+
+'I see a divine fountain! A splendid palace! Now it's a statue of some
+sort! I do believe that dark figure was a monk! I know I shall like it
+in spite of everything,' cried Matilda excitedly, flattening her nose
+against the window.
+
+She had been much disappointed at not being able to enter Rome by
+daylight, so that she might clasp her hands and cry aloud, half-stifled
+with the overpowering emotions of the moment, 'Roma! Roma! the eternal
+city, bursts upon my view!' That was the proper thing to do, and it was
+a blow to make so commonplace and ignoble an entry into the city of her
+dreams.
+
+Early next morning, Livy was roused from slumber by cries of delight,
+and, starting up, beheld her artist sister wrapped in a dressing-gown,
+with dishevelled hair, staring out of the window, and murmuring
+incoherently,--
+
+'Spanish Steps, that's where the models sit. Propaganda, famous Jesuit
+school. Hope I shall see the little students in their funny hats and
+gowns. That's the great monument thing put up to settle the Immaculate
+Conception fuss. Very fine, but the apostles look desperately tired of
+holding it up. Dear old houses! Heavens! there's a _trattoria_ man with
+somebody's breakfast on his head! Don't see any costumes. Where are the
+sheepskin suits? the red skirts and white head-cloths? Girl with
+flowers. Oh, how lovely! Mercy on us, there's an officer staring up
+here, and I never saw him!'
+
+In came the blond head, and the blue dressing-gown vanished from the
+eyes of the handsome soldier who had been attitudinizing with his high
+boots, gray and scarlet cloak, jingling sword, and becoming _barrette_
+cap, for the especial benefit of the enraptured stranger.
+
+'Livy, it is just superb! Get up and come out at once. It is clouding
+up, and I must have one look or lose my mind,' said Matilda, flying
+about with unusual energy.
+
+'You will have to get used to rain if you stay here long, my child,'
+returned the Raven.
+
+And she was right. It poured steadily for two months, with occasional
+flurries of snow, also thunder, likewise hurricanes, the tramontana, the
+sirocco, and all the other charming features of an Italian winter. That
+nothing might be wanting, a nice little inundation was got up for their
+benefit, December 28th.
+
+Sitting peacefully at breakfast on the morning of that day, in their
+cosey apartment, with a fire of cones and olive-wood cheerily burning on
+the hearth, Jokerella, the big cat, purring on the rug, the little
+coffee-pot proudly perched among bread and butter, eggs and fruit, while
+the ladies, in dressing-gowns and slippers, lounged luxuriously in
+arm-chairs, one red, one blue, one yellow; they (the ladies, not the
+chairs) were started by Agrippina, the maid, who burst into the room
+like a bomb-shell, announcing, all in one breath, that the Tiber had
+risen, inundated the whole city, and instant death was to be the doom of
+all.
+
+Rushing to the window to see if the flood had quite covered the steps,
+and cut off all retreat, the friends were comforted to observe no signs
+of water, except that half-frozen in the basin of the fountain above
+which leaned their favourite old Triton, with an icicle on the end of
+his nose.
+
+'I must go and attend to this. The poor will suffer; we may be able to
+help,' said Livy, forgetting her bones, and beginning to scramble on her
+fur boots as if the safety of the city depended on her.
+
+The others followed suit, and leaving Jokerella to ravage the table,
+they hurried forth to see what Father Tiber was up to. A most
+reprehensible prank, apparently, for the lower parts of the city were
+under water, and many of the great streets already as full of boats as
+Venice.
+
+The Corso was a deep and rapid stream, and the shopkeepers were
+disconsolately paddling about, trying to rescue their property.
+
+'Our dresses, our beautiful new dresses, where are they now!' wailed
+the girls, surveying Mazzoni's grand store, with water up to the
+balcony, where many milliners wrung their hands, lamenting.
+
+The Piazza del Popolo was a lake, with the four stone lions just
+visible, and still spouting water, though it was a drug in the market.
+In at the open gate rolled a muddy stream, bearing hay-stacks,
+brushwood, and drowned animals along the Corso. People stood on their
+balconies wondering what they should do, many breakfastless; for how
+could the _trattoria_ boys safely waft their coffee-pots across such
+canals of water? Carriages splashed about in shallower parts with
+agitated loads, hurrying to drier quarters; many were coming down
+ladders into boats, and crowds stood waiting their turn with bundles of
+valuables in their hands.
+
+The soldiers were out in full force, working gallantly to save life and
+property; making rafts, carrying people on their backs, and going
+through the inundated streets with boat-loads of food for the hungry,
+shut up in their ill-provided houses. Usually at such times the priests
+did this work; but now they stood idly looking on, and saying it was a
+judgment on the people for their treatment of the Pope. The people were
+troubled because the priests refused to pray for them: but otherwise
+they snapped their fingers at the sullen old gentlemen in the Vatican;
+and the brisk, brave troops worked for the city quite as well (the
+heretics thought better) than the snuffy priests.
+
+In the Ghetto the disaster was truly terrible, for the flood came so
+suddenly that the whole quarter was under water in an hour. The scene
+was pitiful; for here the Jews live packed like sardines in a box, and
+being washed out with no warning, were utterly destitute. In one street
+a man and woman were seen wading up to their waists in water, pushing an
+old mattress before them, on which were three little children, all they
+had saved.
+
+Later in the day, as boats of provisions came along, women and children
+swarmed at the windows, crying, 'Bread! bread!' and their wants could
+not be supplied in spite of the care of the city authorities. One old
+woman who had lost everything besought the rescuers to bring her a
+little snuff for the love of heaven; which was very characteristic of
+the race. One poor man, in trying to save a sick wife and his little
+ones in a cart, upset them, and the babies were drowned at their own
+door. Comedy and tragedy side by side.
+
+Outside the city, houses were carried off, people lost, and bridges
+swept away, so sudden and violent was the flood. The heavy rains and
+warm winds melted the snow on the mountains, and swelled the river till
+it rose higher than at any time since 1805.
+
+Many strangers, who came to Rome for the Christmas holidays, sat in
+their fine apartments without food, fire, light, or company, till taken
+off in boats or supplied by hoisting stores in at the windows.
+
+'We can hold out some time, as we live on a hill, and Pina has laid in
+provisions for several days. But if the flood lasts, we shall come to
+want; for the wood-yards are under water, the railroads down, and the
+peasants can't get into the city to bring supplies, unless the donkeys
+swim,' said Amanda, reviewing the situation.
+
+'Never mind; it's so exciting; only we must not forget that we engaged
+to go and see the Roastpig Aurora to-day,' answered Matilda, who
+insisted on pronouncing Rospigliosi in that improper manner.
+
+'I like this infinitely better than any of your picturesque
+refrigerators, and it thrills me more to watch one of those dear, dirty
+soldiers save women and babies than to see a dozen "Dying Gladiators"
+gasping for centuries in immortal marble,' added Lavinia, who had
+shocked her artistic friends by sniffing at the famous statue, and
+wishing the man would die and done with it, and not lie squirming there.
+
+'Come away, Mat: she has no soul for art, and it is all in vain to try
+and breathe one into her,' said Amanda, with the calm pity of one who
+had read up every great picture, studied up every famous statue, and
+knew what to admire, when to thrill, and just where the various emotions
+should come in.
+
+So they left the outcast perched on a wall, waving her muff at them,
+and calling out, 'Nater for ever!' to the great horror of an English
+lady, who would have seen all Rome upset without any unseemly
+excitement.
+
+That night the gas gave out, and mysterious orders were left at houses
+for lamps to be kept burning till morning. Thieves abounded, and the
+ladies prepared their arms--one pistol, one dagger, and a large
+umbrella--then slept peacefully, undisturbed by the commotion in the
+kitchen, where cats, live chickens, and Pina's five grandmothers, all
+lived together, rent free.
+
+Amanda's last prediction was, that they would find themselves gently
+floating out at the Porta Pia about midnight. Mat wailed for a submerged
+gallery in which she had hoped to ice herself on the morrow, and Livy
+indulged the sinful hope that the Pope would get his pontifical
+petticoats very wet, be a little drowned, and terribly scared by the
+flood, because he spoilt the Christmas festivities, and shut up all the
+cardinals' red coaches.
+
+Next day the water began to abate, and people made up their minds that
+the end of the world was not yet. Gentlemen paid visits on the backs of
+stout soldiers, ladies went shopping in boats, and family dinners were
+handed in at two-story windows without causing any remark, so quickly do
+people adapt themselves to the inevitable.
+
+Hardly had the watery excitement subsided when a new event set the city
+in an uproar.
+
+The King was not expected till the tenth of January; but the kind soul
+could not wait, and, as soon as the road was passable, he came with
+300,000 francs in his hands to see what he could do for his poor Romans.
+He arrived at 4 A.M., and though unexpected, the news flew through the
+city, and a crowd turned out with torches to escort him to the Quirinal.
+
+Again did the explosive Pina burst in upon her mistresses with the news,
+this time in tears of joy, for the people began to think the King would
+never come, and therefore were especially touched by this prompt visit
+in the midst of their trouble. The handsome damsel was a spectacle
+herself, so dramatic was she as she shook her fist at the Pope, and
+cheered for the King, with a ladle in one hand, an artichoke in the
+other, her fine eyes flashing, and her mellow voice trembling, while she
+talked regardless of the _polenta_ going to destruction in the
+frying-pan.
+
+On went the bonnets, out flew the ladies, and rushed up to the Quirinal,
+where stood a great crowd waiting eagerly for a sight of the King.
+
+There was a great bustle among the officials, and splendid creatures,
+in new uniforms, ran about in all directions. Grand carriages arrived,
+bringing the high and mighty, gaping but loyal, to greet their lord.
+General Marmora--a thin, shabby, energetic man--was everywhere; for the
+new order of things seemed a little hitchy. Dorias and Colonnas
+gladdened plebeian eyes, and the people cheered every thing, from the
+Commander-in-Chief to somebody's breakfast, borne through the crowd by a
+stately 'Jeames' in livery, who graciously acknowledged the homage.
+
+For one mortal hour our ladies stood in a pelting rain, and then
+retired, feeling that the sacrifice of their best hats was all that
+could reasonably be expected of free-born Americans. They consoled
+themselves by putting out Pina's fine Italian banner (made in secret,
+and kept ready for her King, for the _padrona_ was _papalino_), and
+supporting it by two little American flags, the stars and stripes of
+which much perplexed the boys and donkeys disporting themselves in the
+Piazza Barberini.
+
+But the excitement was so infectious that the girls could not resist
+another run after royalty; so, while Livy consoled herself with the fire
+and the cat, they took a carriage and chased the King till they caught
+him at the Capitol. They had a fine view of him as he came down the long
+steps, almost alone, and at the peril of his life, through a mass of
+people cheering frantically, and whitening the streets with waving
+handkerchiefs.
+
+The enthusiastic damsels mounted up beside the driver, and hurrahed with
+all their hearts and voices, as well they might, for it certainly was a
+sight to see. The courage of the King, in trusting himself in a city
+full of enemies, touched the people quite as much as the kindly motive
+that brought him there, and kept him sacred in their eyes.
+
+The girls had a second view of him on the balcony of the Quirinal; for
+the populace clamoured so for another sight of 'Il Re,' that the Pope's
+best velvet hangings were hastily spread, and Victor Emmanuel came out
+and bowed to his people, 'who stood on their heads with joy,' as Amanda
+expressed it.
+
+He was in citizen's dress, and looked like a stout, brown, soldierly
+man, not so ugly as the pictures of him, but not an Apollo by any means.
+
+Hating ceremony and splendour, he would not have the fine apartments
+prepared for him, but chose a plain room, saying, 'Keep the finery for
+my son, if you like; I prefer this.'
+
+He drove through the Ghetto, and all the desolated parts of the city,
+to see with his own eyes the ruin made; and then desired the city
+fathers to give to the poor the money they had set apart to make a
+splendid welcome for him.
+
+He only spent one day, and returned to Florence at night. All Rome was
+at the station to see him off: ladies with carriages full of flowers,
+troops of soldiers, and throngs of poor people blessing him like a
+saint; for this kingly sympathy of his had won all hearts.
+
+'When he does make his grand entry, we will decorate our balcony, and
+have our six windows packed with loyal Yankees who will hurrah their
+best for "the honest man," as they call Victor Emmanuel--and that is
+high praise for a king.'
+
+So said the three, and while waiting for the event (which did not occur
+in their day, however,) they indulged in all the pastimes modern Rome
+afforded. They shivered through endless galleries, getting 'cricks' in
+their necks staring at frescoes, and injuring their optic nerves poring
+over pictures so old that often nothing was visible but a
+mahogany-coloured leg, an oily face, or the dim outline of a green saint
+in a whirlwind of pink angels.
+
+They grubbed in catacombs and came up mouldy. They picnicked in the tomb
+of Caecelia Metella, flirted in the palace of the Caesars--not in the
+classical manner, however,--got cold by moonlight in the Colosseum, and
+went sketching in the Baths of Caracalla, which last amusement generally
+ended in the gentlemen and ladies drawing each other, and returning
+delighted with the study of art in 'dear Rome.'
+
+They went to fancy parties, where artists got themselves up like their
+own statues and pictures, and set mediaeval fashions which it was a pity
+the rest of the world did not follow. They drank much social tea with
+titled beings, as thick as blackberries, and, better still, men and
+women who had earned noble names for themselves with pencil, pen, or
+chisel. They paid visits in palaces where the horses lived in the
+basement, rich foreigners on the first floor, artists next, and princes
+in the attic.
+
+They went to the hunt, and saw scarlet coats, fine horses, bad riding,
+many hounds, and no foxes.
+
+As a change they got up game parties _a la_ Little Athens in their own
+small _salon_, introduced the Potatoe Pantomime, had charades, and
+enacted the immortal Jarley's waxworks on one of the Seven Hills.
+
+A true Yankee breakfast of fish-balls, johnny-cake, and dip-toast, was
+given in their honour, and its delights much enhanced by its being
+eaten in a lovely room with reeds and rushes on the pale-green walls,
+shell-shaped chairs, and coral mirror-frames. What a thing it was to
+consume those familiar viands in a famous palace, with Guido's Cenci
+downstairs, a great sculptor next door, three lovely boys as waiters,
+and 'Titian T.' to head the feast, and follow it up with dates from the
+Nile, and Egyptian sketches that caused the company to vote a speedy
+adjournment to the land 'of corkendills' and pyramids.
+
+These and many other joys they tasted, and when all else palled upon
+them they drove on the Campagna and were happy.
+
+It is sad to be obliged to record that these quiet drives were the
+especial delight of the unsocial Lavinia, whose ill-regulated mind soon
+wearied of swell society, classical remains, and artistic revelry.
+Ancient Rome would have suited her excellently, she thought; but modern
+Rome was such a chaos of frivolity and fanaticism, poverty and
+splendour, dirt and devilry, dead grandeur and living ignorance, that
+she felt as if shut up in a magnificent tomb, the bad air of which was
+poisoning both body and soul.
+
+Her only consolation was the new freedom, that seemed to blow over Rome
+like a wholesome wind. Old residents lamented the loss of the priestly
+pageants, _fetes_, and ceremonies; but this republican spinster
+preferred to see Rome guarded by her own troops, and governed by her own
+King, who ordered streets to be cleaned, fountains filled, schools
+opened, and all good institutions made possible, rather than any amount
+of Papal purple covering poverty, ignorance, and superstition. Better
+than the sight of all the red coaches that ever rumbled was the
+spectacle of many boys quitting the Jesuit college and demanding
+admittance into the free schools; and sweeter than the music of all the
+silver trumpets that ever blew were the voices of happy men and women
+singing once forbidden songs of liberty in the streets of Rome.
+
+These sentiments, and others equally unfashionable, were only breathed
+into the ear of sister Matilda when the two retired to the Campagna to
+confide to one another the secrets of their souls--a process necessary
+about once a week; for after visiting studios, going to parties, and
+telling polite fibs about everything they saw, it was impossible to
+exist without finding a vent of some sort. Once out among the aqueducts,
+Matilda could freely own that she thought genius a rare article in the
+studios, where she expected to learn so much; and Lavinia could make the
+awful avowal that parties at which the order of performance was gossip,
+tea, music--then music, tea, and gossip, all together--were not her idea
+of intellectual society. Their criticisms on pictures and statues cannot
+be recorded without covering their humble names with infamy; and why the
+sky did not fall upon, or the stones rise up and smite these Vandals, is
+a mystery to this day.
+
+They did enjoy much in their own improper manner, but poor Amanda's
+sufferings can better be imagined than described. So when Lavinia, early
+in March, proposed to flee to the mountains before they became quite
+demoralized, and learned to steal and stab, as well as lie and lounge,
+she readily assented, and they retired to Albano.
+
+'The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was nothing to this, and
+never have I seen such unappreciative women as you two,' sighed Amanda,
+as they rolled away from Numero Due Piazza Barberini, leaving Agrippina
+sobbing at the top of the stairs and the _padrona_ bobbing little
+curtsies at the bottom.
+
+'I am sure the Cenci will haunt me all my days, and so will many other
+famous things,' said Matilda, while her eye roved fondly from a very
+brown Capuchin monk to a squad of Bersaglieri trotting by with jaunty
+cocks' feathers dancing in the wind, muskets gleaming, and trim boots
+skipping through the mud with martial regularity.
+
+'When I get the contents of my head sorted out, I shall doubtless
+rejoice that I have seen Rome; but just now all that I can clearly
+recall are the three facts that the Pope had a fit, our dear man Romeo
+got very tipsy one night, and that we went to see the Sistine Chapel
+the day the eclipse made it as dark as a pocket. Yes,' continued
+Lavinia, with an air of decision, 'I _am_ glad to have seen this
+classical cesspool, and still more glad to have got out of it alive,'
+she added, sniffing the air from the mountains, as if the odour of
+sanctity which pervaded the holy city did not suit her.
+
+It blew great guns up at Albano, and the society consisted chiefly of
+donkeys. But the ladies enjoyed themselves nevertheless, and felt better
+and better every day; for early hours, much exercise, and no aesthetic
+tea, soon set them up after the dissipation of the winter.
+
+Three pleasing events diversified their stay. The first happened the day
+after they arrived. The girls went forth early to look about them, and
+to see if they could find a little apartment where all could be more
+comfortable than in the breezy rooms at the hotel. Following the grassy
+road that winds down the valley below the viaduct, they came to a lovely
+garden, and, finding the gate open, went in. A queer old villa was
+perched on the hill above, and a manly form was observed to be leaning
+from a balcony, as if enjoying the fine view from the height.
+
+'I fancied that house was empty, or we wouldn't have come in. Never
+mind: we won't go back now; and if any one comes after us, we will
+apologize and say we lost our way going to Ajaccio,' said Amanda, as
+they went calmly forward among the posy-beds that lay blooming on the
+hill-side.
+
+It was well they prepared themselves, for the manly form suddenly
+disappeared from the balcony, and a moment afterwards came swiftly
+towards them through the shrubs.
+
+A comely young gentleman, who greeted them with Italian grace, accepted
+their apology smiling, and begged them to walk in his garden whenever
+they liked. It was always open, he said, and the peasants often used
+that path, admiring but never hurting a leaf. Hearing that they were in
+search of an apartment, he instantly begged them to come up and look at
+some rooms in the villa. His father was a refugee from France, and
+desired to let a part of his house. Come and behold these delightful
+rooms.
+
+So charming was the interest he took in the errant damsels that they
+could not resist, and after rolling up their eyes at one another to
+express their enjoyment of the adventure, they graciously followed the
+handsome youth into the villa.
+
+With confiding hospitality he took them everywhere--into his mother's
+room, the kitchen, and nursery. In the latter place they found two small
+boys, who bore such a striking resemblance to Napoleon I. that the girls
+spoke of it, and were enraptured at the reply they received.
+
+'Truly yes: we belong to the family. My mother is a Buonaparte, my
+father Count ----'
+
+'Here's richness and romance!' 'What will Livy say?' whispered the girls
+to one another, as their guide left them in the _salon_ and went to find
+his father.
+
+'She will scold us for coming here,' said Amanda, remembering her own
+lectures on the proprieties.
+
+'Yes; but she will forgive us the minute we say Napoleon, for that bad
+little man is one of her heroes,' added Mat, pretending to be admiring
+the view, while she privately examined a lady in a bower below--a stout,
+dark lady, with all the family traits so strongly marked that there
+could be no doubt of the young man's assertion.
+
+Presently he came back with an affable old gentleman, who evidently had
+an eye to the main chance; for, in spite of his elegance and affability,
+he asked a great price for his rooms, and felt that any untitled
+stranger should be glad to pay well for the honour of living under the
+roof of a Buonaparte.
+
+Amanda left the decision to her invisible duenna, and with a profusion
+of compliments and thanks, they got away, being gallantly escorted to
+the gate by the young count, who filled their hands with flowers, and
+gazed pensively after them, as if he found the society of two bright
+American girls very agreeable after that of his lofty parents, or the
+peasantry of the town.
+
+Home they ran and bounced in upon Livy, blooming and breathless, to
+pour out their tale, and suggest an immediate departure to the blissful
+spot where counts and crocuses flourished with Italian luxuriance.
+
+But after the first excitement had subsided, Lavinia put a wet blanket
+on the entire plan by declaring that she would never board with any
+grasping old patrician, who would charge for every bow, and fall back on
+his ancestors if he was found cheating. She would go and look at the
+place, but not enter it, nor be beholden to the resident Apollo for so
+much as a dandelion.
+
+So the mourning damsels led the griffin over the viaduct, through the
+dirty little town, by the villa on its least attractive side. Up at the
+window were the two little Napoleonic heads, with big, black eyes,
+strong chins, and dark hair streaked across wide, olive-coloured
+foreheads. A vision of papa was visible in the garden pruning a vine
+with gloves on his aristocratic hands, and a shabby velvet coat on his
+highly connected back. Also, afar off on the balcony--oh, sight to touch
+a maiden's heart!--was the young count gazing wistfully towards Albano.
+He did not see the charmers as they crept down the rough road close to
+the garden wall, and went sadly home, along the blooming path, to the
+'Tomb of the Four Thimbles,' as Livy irreverently called the ruin which
+has an ornament at each of its corners like a gigantic thimble of stone.
+
+A note in Amanda's most elegant French, declining the apartments in the
+name of Madame Duenna, closed the door of this Eden upon the wandering
+peris, who entered never more. Now and then, as they went clattering by
+on their donkeys to Lake Nemi, or some other picturesque spot,
+
+
+     They saw again the crocus bloom,
+     And, leaning from that lofty room,
+     Sir Launcelot with face of gloom
+           Look down to Camelot.
+     Up flew their veils and floated wide,
+     But Livy pinned them to her side,
+     'The curse has come upon us!' cried
+          The ladies of Shalott.
+
+
+The second adventure befell Amanda alone, and in this wise.
+
+Going one day to Rome, on business, she found herself shut up in a car
+with a gorgeous officer and a meek young man, who read papers all the
+way. The tall soldier, in his gray and silver uniform, with a furred,
+frogged, and braided jacket, not to mention the high boots or the
+becoming cap, was so very polite to the lone lady that she could not
+remain dumb without positive rudeness. So Amanda conversed in her most
+charming manner, finding inspiration doubtless in the dark eyes and
+musical voice of her handsome _vis-a-vis_, for the officers from Turin
+are things of beauty and joys for ever to those who love to look on
+manly men.
+
+Among other things, the two had a little joke about the Baron
+Rothschild, who rode about Albano on a tiny donkey with two servants
+behind him; also the Baroness, a painfully plain woman, with an ugly dog
+the image of herself.
+
+When they arrived at Rome, however, their joke was turned against them,
+by the discovery that the meek man was the Baron's secretary, who would
+doubtless repeat their chat at head-quarters. To see the handsome man
+slap his brow, and then laugh like a boy at the fun, was worth a longer
+journey, Amanda thought, as he put her into a carriage, gave her his
+best martial salute, and went clanking away about his own affairs.
+
+Amanda returned at 4 P.M., and her emotions may be imagined when the
+dark face of her officer peered in at the car window, and the melodious
+voice asked if he might be permitted to enter. Of course he might; and,
+as no secretary now spoilt the _tete-a-tete_, Mars became delightfully
+confidential, and poured his woes into the sympathising bosom of Amanda.
+
+It had been a great affliction to him that his regiment was quartered at
+Albano for some months. _Mio Dio!_ so dull was it, life had already
+become a burden; but now, if the Signorina was to be there, if she
+permitted him to make himself known to her party, what joys were in
+store for him. The Signorina loved to ride. Behold he had superb horses
+languishing in the stables, that henceforth were dedicated to her use.
+His fellow officers were gentlemen of good family, brave as lions, and
+dying of _ennui_; if they might be presented to the ladies, life would
+be worth having, and Albano a paradise, &c.
+
+To all this devotion the prudent Amanda listened with pleasure, but
+promised nothing till Signore Mars had made the acquaintance of certain
+American gentleman and married ladies, then it would be possible to
+enjoy the delights of which he spoke. The Colonel vowed he would
+instantly devote himself to this task, and thus they came to the lonely
+little station at Albano.
+
+Amanda had ordered the carriage to meet her; but it was not there, and
+she was forced to wait till all her fellow-passengers were gone. All but
+the gallant officer, who decorously remained outside, marching to and
+fro as if on guard, till his servant came with his horse. Then he begged
+to be allowed to see why the carriage did not come, and Amanda
+consented, for night was falling, and two miles of mud lay between her
+and home.
+
+Away dashed the servant, but his master did not follow: standing in the
+doorway, he declared that he must remain as the Signorina's protector,
+for no trains were due for hours; the depot man was gone, and it was too
+late for any lady to stay there alone. Again Amanda gratefully
+consented, wondering what would be the end of her adventure; and again
+the stately Colonel resumed his march outside, singing as he tramped,
+and evidently enjoying the escort duty that gave him so good an
+opportunity of displaying not only his gallantry, but his fine voice and
+handsome figure.
+
+Down rattled the carriage at last, accompanied, to Amanda's dismay, by
+three of the Colonel's friends, who had evidently received a hint of
+the affair, and had come to have a hand in it.
+
+With much bowing of the gentlemen, and much prancing of their fine
+horses, Amanda was handed to her seat, and went lumbering back to the
+hotel with her splendid escort careering about her, to the great
+edification of the town.
+
+When the rescued damsel told the tale to her mates, Matilda tore her
+hair and lamented that she had not been there. Even the stern Livy had
+no lecture for the erring lamb, but was as full of interest as either of
+the girls, for anything in the shape of a soldier was dear to her heart.
+
+When the ladies rode forth next day, three elegant St. Georges in full
+rig saluted as these modern Unas ambled by on their meek donkeys--a
+performance punctually executed ever afterward whenever the three blue
+veils appeared. Much curvetting went on before the hotel door; much
+clanking of spurs and sabres was heard in the little lane on to which
+the apartment of the ladies looked, and splendid officers seemed to
+spring up like violets in secluded spots where maidens love to stroll.
+
+It was all very nice; and the girls were beginning to feel that the
+charms of Albano rivalled those of Rome, when a sad blow upset their
+castles in the air, and desolated the knights over the way.
+
+The highly respectable Americans who were to serve as the link between
+the soldiers and the ladies decidedly declined the office, objecting to
+the martial gentleman as being altogether too dangerous to bring into
+the dove-cot. So the poor dears sighed in vain, and the longing damsels
+never rode the fine horses that were temptingly paraded before them on
+all occasions.
+
+They did their best; but it was soon evident to Lavinia that in some
+unguarded moment the impetuous Mat would yield to the spell and go
+gambading away for a ride _sans_ duenna, _sans_ habit, _sans_ propriety,
+_sans_ everything. Amanda likewise seemed losing her head, and permitted
+the dark-eyed Colonel to talk to her when they met; only a moment--but
+what a perilous moment it was!--when this six-foot Mars leaned over a
+green hedge and talked about the weather in the softest Italian that
+ever melted a woman's heart.
+
+'I'm going to Venice next week; so you may as well make up your minds to
+it, girls. I _cannot_ bear this awful responsibility any longer; for I
+am very sure you will both be off to Turin with those handsome rascals
+if we stay much longer. My mind is made up, and I won't hear a word.'
+
+Thus Lavinia, with a stern countenance; for the romantic old lady felt
+the charm as much as the girls did, and decided that discretion was the
+better part of valour for the whole party.
+
+'I should never dare to go home and tell my honoured parents that Mat
+had run away with a man as handsome as Jove, and as poor as Job.
+Amanda's indignant relatives would rise up and stone me if I let her
+canter into matrimony with the fascinating Colonel, who may have a wife
+and ten children in Turin, for all we know. They _must_ be torn away at
+once, or my character as duenna is lost for ever.'
+
+Having made up her mind, Livy steeled her heart to all appeals, and
+wrote letters, packed trunks, and watched her little flock like a
+vigilant sheep-dog.
+
+How she would ever have got them through that last week is very
+uncertain, if a providential picnic had not helped her.
+
+A fair was held in the town, and a delightful surprise-party was got up
+among the artists of Rome. Twenty-five came driving over in a big
+carriage, with four gaily decorated horses, postilions, hampers of
+lunch, flutes and horns, and much jollity bottled up for the occasion.
+
+A very festive spectacle they made as they drove through the narrow
+streets with flowers and streamers in their hats, singing and joking in
+true artistic style.
+
+They meant to have lunched in the open air; but, as it was cloudy,
+decided to spread the feast at the hotel. Such a delightful revel as
+followed! A scene from the 'Decameron,' modernised, would give some idea
+of it; for after the banquet all adjourned to the gardens of the Doria
+Villa, and there disported themselves as merrily as if all the plagues
+of life were quite forgotten, and death itself among the lost arts.
+Flirting and dancing, charades and singing, stories and statues, poems
+and pictures, gossip and gambols, absorbed the hours as pleasantly as in
+the olden time. And if the costumes were not as picturesque as those in
+Vedder's fine picture, the ladies were as lovely, the gentlemen as
+gallant, and all much better behaved than those of Boccaccio's party.
+
+A few drops of rain quenched the fun at its height, and sent the
+revellers home as fast as four horses could take them, leaving the town
+gaping after them, and our ladies much enlivened by the delights of the
+day.
+
+This third and last event pleasantly ended their sojourn at Albano; for
+a day or two later they vanished, leaving the dear officers
+disconsolate till the next batch of travelling ladies came to comfort
+their despair.
+
+A week was spent in Venice, floating about all day from one delightful
+old church to another, or paying visits to Titians and Tintorettos;
+buying little turtles, photographs, or Venetian glass; eating candied
+fruit and seeing the doves fed in the square of San Marco; visiting
+shops full of dusty antiquities, or searching the stalls on the Rialto
+for Moor's-head rings; being rowed to the Lido by Giacomo in a red sash;
+and lulled to sleep at night by the songs of a chorus that floated under
+the windows in the moonlight.
+
+Lavinia never could get used to seeing the butcher, the baker, and the
+postman go their rounds in boats. Matilda was in bliss, with a gondola
+all to herself, where she sat surrounded with water-colours, trying to
+paint everything she saw; for here the energy she had lost at Rome
+seemed to return to her. Amanda haunted a certain shop, trying to make
+the man take a reasonable sum for a very ancient and ugly bit of
+jewellery, which she called 'a sprigalario,' for want of a better name;
+and after each failure she went off to compose herself with a visit to
+the Doges.
+
+Of course they all saw the Bridge of Sighs and the dungeons below, with
+their many horrors; likewise a Mass at St. Mark's, where the Patriarch
+was a fat old soul in red silk, even to his shoes and holy
+pocket-handkerchief; and the service appeared to consist in six purple
+priests dressing and undressing him like an old doll, while a dozen
+white-gowned boys droned up in a gold cock-loft, and many beggars whined
+on the dirty floor below.
+
+Do other travellers eat locusts, I wonder, as ours did one sunny day,
+sitting on church steps, and discover that the food of the Apostle was
+not the insect whose 'zeeing' foretells hot weather; but the long, dry
+pods of the locust-tree, sweet to the taste, but rather 'dry fodder,' as
+the impious Livy remarked after choking herself with a quarter of a yard
+of it.
+
+When the week was up Mat implored to be left behind with Angela, the
+maid, and Brio, a big poodle possessed of the devil. But she was torn
+away, and only consoled by the promise of many new gloves, with as many
+buttons as she pleased, when they got to Munich.
+
+'The lakes are the proper entrance into Italy, and Venice a lovely exit.
+One soon tires of it, and is ready to leave, which is an excellent
+arrangement, though I should prefer to depart in some more cheerful
+vehicle than a hearse,' observed Lavinia, as they left the long, black
+gondola at the steps of the station.
+
+'Haven't you a sigh for those lovely lakes, a tear for Albano, a pang of
+regret for Rome?' asked Amanda, hoping to wring one moan for Italy from
+the old lady.
+
+'Not a sigh, not a tear, not a regret. I find I like them all better the
+farther I get from them, and by the time I am at home I may be able to
+say "I adore them," but I doubt it,' returned the incorrigible Livy, and
+from that moment Amanda regarded her Granny as one dead to all the dear
+delusions of antiquity.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+_LONDON._
+
+
+'From this moment I cease to be the commander-in-chief. Livy adores
+England, can speak the language, understands the money, and knows all
+about London; so _she_ shall be leader, and I will repose after my long
+labour.' With this remark Amanda retired from office covered with glory,
+and her mates voted to erect a statue in her honour as a token of their
+undying gratitude.
+
+Lavinia took the lead from the moment they landed at St. Catherine's
+Warf; and though somewhat demoralized by a rough passage of eighteen
+hours from Antwerp, was equal to the occasion. She did love England, and
+thought London the most delightful city in the world, next to Boston.
+Its mud and fog were dear to her; its beef and beer were nectar and
+ambrosia, after the continental slops and messes; its steady-going,
+respectable citizens, beautiful in her eyes, and the words 'home' and'
+comfort' were not an idle mockery here.
+
+Therefore the old lady joyfully sniffed the smoky air, gazed with
+tenderness on the grimy houses, and cast herself, metaphorically
+speaking, into the arms of a stout, ruddy-faced porter, as if at last
+she had found a man and a brother.
+
+Nobly did the burly Briton repay her confidence and earn the shilling
+which in England makes all things possible. He bore them to the station,
+got tickets, checked luggage, put the ladies in a first-class
+compartment, gave them all necessary directions about the hotel they
+were after, and when the bell rang touched his cap with a smile upon his
+dear, red face, which caused Lavinia to add a sixpence to the shilling
+she gave him with a mental blessing.
+
+'This is truly a decent country. See how well one is cared for, how
+civil everybody is, how honest, how manly,' began Livy, as she mounted
+her hobby, and prepared for a canter over the prejudices of her friend;
+for Amanda detested England because she knew nothing of it.
+
+'The cabman cheated us, asking double fares,' replied the dear girl,
+wrapping herself in many cloaks and refusing to admire the fog.
+
+'Not at all,' cried Livy; 'the trunks were immense, and you'll find we
+shall have to pay extra for them everywhere. It is the same as having
+them weighed and paying for the pounds, only this saves much time and
+trouble. Look at the handsome guard in his silver-plated harness. How
+much nicer he is than a gabbling Italian, or a Frenchman who compliments
+you one minute and behaves like a brute the next! It does my soul good
+to see the clean, rosy faces, and hear good English instead of
+gibberish.'
+
+'Never in my life have I seen such tall, fine-looking men, only they are
+all fair, which isn't my style,' observed Matilda, with a secret sigh
+for the dark-eyed heroes from Turin.
+
+Thus conversing, they soon came to the G---- Hotel just at the end of the
+railway, and without going out of the station found themselves settled
+in comfortable rooms.
+
+'Regard, if you please, these toilette arrangements--two sorts of
+bath-pan, two cans of cold water, one of hot, two big pitchers, much
+soap, and six towels about the size of table-cloths. I call that an
+improvement on the continental cup, saucer, and napkin accommodation,'
+said Lavinia, proudly displaying a wash-stand that looked like a
+dinner-table laid for a dozen, such was the display of glass, china, and
+napery.
+
+'The English certainly are a clean people,' replied Amanda, softening a
+little as she remembered her fruitless efforts to find a bath-pan in
+Brittany, where the people said the drought was caused by the English
+using so much water.
+
+'They need more appliances for cleanliness than any other race, because
+they live in such a dirty country,' began Matilda, removing the soot
+from her face in flakes.
+
+What more she might have said is unknown; for Livy closed her mouth with
+a big sponge, and all retired to repose after the trials of the past
+night.
+
+'Now, my dears, you shall have food fit for Christian women to eat. No
+weak soup, no sour wine, no veal stewed with raisins, nor greasy salad
+made of all the weeds that grow. Beef that will make you feel like
+giants, and beer that will cheer the cockles of your hearts; not to
+mention cheese which will make you wink, and bread with a little round
+button atop of the loaf like the grand Panjandrum in the old story.'
+
+Thus Lavinia enthusiastically, as she led her flock of two into the
+eating-room at luncheon time. Being seated at a little table by one of
+the great windows, the old lady continued to sing the praises of
+Britannia while wafting for the repast.
+
+'Isn't this better than a stone-floored _cafe_ with nine clocks all
+wrong, seven mirrors all cracked, much drapery all dirty, a flock of
+_garcons_ who fly about like lunatics, and food which I shudder to
+think of? Look at this lofty room; this grave thick carpet; that
+cheerful coal-fire; these neat little tables; these large, clean
+windows; these quiet, ministerial waiters, who seem to take a paternal
+interest in your wants, and best of all in this simple, wholesome,
+well-cooked food.'
+
+Here the arrival of a glorified beefsteak and a shining pint-pot of
+foaming ale give an appropriate finish to Livy's lecture. She fell upon
+her lunch like a famished woman, and was speechless till much meat had
+vanished, and the ale was low in the pot.
+
+'It _is_ good,' admitted Amanda, who took to her beer like a born
+Englishwoman, and swallowed some of her prejudices with her delicious
+beef.
+
+'It's such a comfort to know that I am not eating a calf's brains or a
+pig's feet, that I can enjoy it with a free mind, and the sight of
+those two beautiful old gentlemen gives it an added relish,' said
+Matilda, who had been watching a pair of hale old fellows eat their
+lunch in a solid, leisurely way that would have been impossible to an
+American.
+
+'It is so restful to see people take things calmly, and not bolt their
+meals, or rush about like runaway steam-engines. It is this moderation
+that keeps Englishmen so hearty, jolly, and long-lived. They don't tear
+themselves to pieces as we do, but take time for rest, exercise, food,
+and recreation, like sensible people as they are. It is like reposing on
+a feather-bed to live here, and my tired nerves rejoice in it,' said
+Lavinia, eating bread and cheese as if that was her mission in life.
+
+'A slight amount of haste will be advisable, my Granny, unless we intend
+to spend all our substance on these restful comforts of yours. This
+hotel is delightfully cosy, but expensive; so the quicker we go into
+lodgings the better for us,' suggested the thrifty Amanda, seeing that
+Livy was too infatuated to care for cost.
+
+'I'll go the first thing to-morrow and look at the rooms Mrs. Blank
+recommended to us. This afternoon we will rest and write letters, unless
+some one comes to call,' said Livy, leading her girls to the
+reading-room, where sleep-inviting chairs, tables supplied with
+writing-materials, and groves of newspapers, wooed the stranger to
+repose.
+
+Hardly were they seated, however, than Jeames brought in the card of a
+friend who had been told when they would arrive, and hastened at once to
+meet them. How pleasant is the first familiar face one sees in a strange
+land! Doubly pleasant was Mr. C.'s, because he brought hospitable
+invitations from other friends, kind welcomes, and tickets to several of
+the art exhibitions then open.
+
+Hardly had he gone, after a half-hour's chat, than another card was
+handed, and the name it bore caused a slight flutter in the dove-cot. A
+friend of Miss Livy's, in Boston, had sent orders to his brother in
+London to devote himself to the wandering ladies when they came. They
+had never met; the poor man didn't care to have his quiet invaded by
+strange women, and to do the honours of London is no small task: yet
+this heroic gentleman obeyed orders without a murmur; and, leaving his
+artistic seclusion, shouldered his burden with the silent courage of a
+Spartan.
+
+A grave, dark, little man, with fine eyes, quiet manners, and a
+straight-forward way with him that suited blunt Livy excellently. How
+he dared to face the three unknown women so calmly, listen to their
+impossible suggestions so politely, and offer himself as a slave so
+cheerfully, will for ever remain a mystery to those grateful souls.
+
+His first service was to pack them into a cab and bear them safely to
+the bankers for letters and money; and this he followed up by several
+weeks of servitude, which must have been worse than Egyptian bondage.
+
+Two more large ladies joined the party after they were settled in
+lodgings at Kensington; but, undaunted by the fact, this long-suffering
+man escorted the whole five to galleries and theatres, trips into the
+city, and picnics in the country; went shopping with them, lugged
+parcels, ran errands, paid bills, and was in fact the sheet-anchor of
+the whole party. Imagine the emotions of one shy man when called upon
+to lead a flock of somewhat imposing ladies everywhere; to have two cabs
+full on all occasions; to be obliged to support the invalids to follow
+the caprices of the giddy, to gratify the demands of the curious, and to
+hear the gabble of the whole five day after day.
+
+Buerger's Brave Man was a coward compared to him; for he not only gave
+his days, but his evenings also, joining in endless games of whist,
+drinking much weak tea, and listening to any amount of twaddle on all
+subjects.
+
+The society was not such as intelligent men enjoy, being composed of two
+Egyptian boys and three fussy old ladies. One of them was immensely
+stout, wore a bright green cap, with half-a-pint of scarlet cherries
+bobbing on her brow. She talked on all subjects, and handed round an
+album full of her own poems on all occasions. The second must have been
+a sister of 'Mr. T.'s Aunt,' so grim and incoherent was she. Sitting in
+the corner, she stared at the world around her with an utterly
+expressionless countenance, and when least expected broke out with some
+startling remark, such as, 'If that fence had been painted green we
+should get to heaven sooner,' or 'Before I had fits my memory was as
+good as anybody's, but my daughter married a clergyman, and took it with
+her.'
+
+The third antiquity was the hostess, a buxom lady, much given to gay
+attire and reminiscences of past glory, 'Before me 'usband went into
+public life.' The strangers innocently supposed the departed Mr. K. to
+have been an M.P. at least, and were rather taken aback on learning that
+he had been a pawnbroker.
+
+The Egyptian youths were handsome, dark lads, with melodious voices,
+lustrous eyes, and such fiery tempers that one never knew whether they
+were going to pass the bread or stab one with the carving-knife.
+
+As a slight mitigation of this slow society, the Russian from Pension
+Paradis appeared with his broadcloth more resplendent than ever. The
+ladies had seen him in Rome; but the fever scared him away, and he was
+now fleeing from another lodging-house, where the hostess evidently
+intended to marry him to her daughter, in the MacStinger fashion.
+
+In this varied circle did the devoted being afore-mentioned pass many
+hours after the day's hard labour was happily over, and when anyone
+pitied him for leading the life of a galley-slave, he hid his anguish
+and answered with a smile,--
+
+'My brother told me to do it, and I never disobey Tom. In fact, I find I
+rather like it.'
+
+That last fib was truly sublime, and the name of Cassabianca pales
+before that of one who obeyed fraternal commands to the letter, and
+tried to love his duty, heavy as it was. If, as has been sometimes
+predicted, England had gone under just then, it might truly have been
+said,--
+
+
+     Though prince and peer and poet rare
+       Were sunk among the piles,
+     The noblest man who perished there
+       Was faithful W. N----s.
+
+
+The sight-seeing fever raged fiercely at first, and the flock of
+Americans went from Windsor Castle to the Tower of London, from
+Westminster Abbey to Madame Taussaud's Waxwork Show, with a vigour that
+appalled the natives. They would visit two or three galleries in the
+morning, lunch at Dolly's (the dark little chop-house which Johnson,
+Goldsmith, and the other worthies used to frequent in the good old
+times), go to Richmond in the afternoon and dine at the 'Star and
+Garter,' or to Greenwich and eat 'white baits fish,' as the Russian
+called that celebrated dish, and finish off the evening at some theatre,
+getting home at midnight, in a procession of two cabs and a hansom.
+
+When the first excitement was over, Lavinia and Matilda took a turn at
+society, having friends in London. Amanda could not conquer her
+prejudices sufficiently to accompany them, and, falling back on the
+climate as her excuse, stayed at home and improved her mind.
+
+'I feel now like girls in novels. You are the Duchess of Devonshire and
+I am Lady Maud Plantagenet, going to a ball at Buckingham Palace. I know
+that I was made to sit in the lap of luxury: it agrees with me so well,'
+said Matilda, as the two rolled away to Aubrey House in a brougham, all
+lamps, glass, and satin. Her long blue train lay piled up before her,
+the light flashed on her best Roman ear-rings, her curls were in their
+most picturesque array, and--crowning joy of all--cream-coloured gloves,
+with six buttons, covered her arms, and filled her soul with happiness,
+because they were so elegant and cost so little, being bought in Rome
+just after the flood.
+
+Dowager Livy responded gravely from the depths of her silver-grey silk,
+enlivened with pink azaleas,--
+
+'My child, thank your stars that you are a free-born Yankee, and have no
+great name or state to keep up. Buckingham Palace is all very well, and
+I shouldn't mind calling on Mrs. Guelph, or Saxe Coburg, whichever it
+is, but I much prefer to be going to the house of a Radical M.P., who is
+lending a hand to all good works. Mrs. T. is a far more interesting
+woman to me than Victoria, for her life is spent in helping her
+fellow-creatures. I consider her a model Englishwoman--simple, sincere,
+and accomplished; full of good sense, intelligence, and energy. Her
+house is open to all, friend and stranger, black and white, rich and
+poor. Great men and earnest women meet there; Mazzini and Frances Power
+Cobbe, John Bright and Jean Ingelow, Rossetti the poet, and Elizabeth
+Garrett the brave little doctor. Though wealthy and living in an
+historical mansion, the host is the most unassuming man in it, and the
+hostess the simplest dressed lady. Their money goes in other ways, and
+the chief ornament of that lovely spot is a school, where poor girls may
+get an education. Mrs. T. gave a piece of her own garden for it, and
+teaches there herself, aided by her friends, who serve the poor girls
+like mothers and sisters, and help to lift them up from the slough of
+despond in which so many sink. That beats anything you'll find in
+Buckingham Palace, sister Mat.'
+
+'If they want a drawing-teacher I'll offer myself, for I think that is
+regularly splendid,' said Matilda warmly, as Livy paused for breath
+after her harangue.
+
+With these new ideas in her head, Lady Maud enjoyed her party, while the
+Duchess revelled in radicals to her heart's content; for Aubrey House
+was their head-quarters, and all were out in full force. It was cheering
+to our spinster to find that things had moved a good deal since a former
+visit, five or six years before, when Mill had carried into the House of
+Commons a Woman's Rights petition that filled both arms. People laughed
+then, and the stout-hearted women laughed also, but said, 'Our next
+petition shall be so big it will have to go in a wheel-barrow.' Now the
+same people talked over the question soberly, and began to think
+something besides fun might come of it. The pioneers rejoiced over
+several hard-won battles, and the scoffers came to see that the truest
+glory was won by those who did the hard work, and stood by a good cause
+when most unpopular; not by those who kept out of the field till the
+fight was over, and then came in to wave the flags and beat the drums
+over victories they had not helped to win.
+
+'It seems to me that these Englishwomen make less noise and do more work
+than we Americans. I shouldn't dare to say so in public; but their
+quiet, orderly ways suits me better than the more demonstrative
+performances of my friends at home. Slow coaches as we call them, I
+should not be surprised if they got the suffrage before we did, as the
+tortoise won in the fable,' was Lavinia's secret thought as they drove
+away, after a very charming evening.
+
+Perhaps the fact that reforms of all sorts had been poured into her ears
+till her head was like a hive of bees, may account for this unpatriotic
+thought. Or it may be the pleasant effect of the healthful aspect of
+these English workers. Old or young, all seemed to have cheerful,
+well-balanced minds, in strong, healthy bodies. No one complained of her
+nerves, or let them unconsciously put a sharp edge to her tongue, give a
+blue tinge to the world, or sour the milk of human kindness in her
+heart. Less quick and bright, perhaps, than the ladies over the sea, but
+more womanly, and full of a quiet tenacity of purpose better than
+eloquence.
+
+Miss Livy's tastes being of a peculiar sort, and pictures having palled
+upon her to such a degree that she couldn't even look at an ornamental
+sign-board without disgust, she often left her more artistic friends and
+went forth on excursions of her own. As she never used either map or
+guide book, it was a wonder how she found her way; and the infants were
+often on the point of sending for the city crier, if there is such a
+functionary, to find the lost duenna. But old Livy always turned up at
+last, mud to the eyes, tired out, and more deeply impressed than ever
+with the charms of London.
+
+One day she set forth to hear Spurgeon. Being told that Lambeth was a
+wretched quarter of the city, that the Tabernacle was two or three miles
+away, and very difficult to enter when found, only added zest to the
+thing, and she departed, sure of finding adventures, if not Spurgeon.
+
+If an omnibus conductor had not befriended her, she would probably have
+found herself at Hampstead or Chelsea, for London busses are as
+bewildering as London streets. Thanks to this amiable man, who evidently
+felt that the stranger in his gates needed all his care, the old lady
+safely reached the Elephant and Castle, and was dismissed with a moss
+rose-bud from the lips of her friend, a reassuring pat on the shoulder,
+and a paternal ''Ere yer are, my dear,' which unexpected attentions
+caused her to depart with speed.
+
+There certainly was need of a Tabernacle in that quarter, for the
+poverty and wickedness were very dreadful. Boys not yet in their teens
+staggered by half-tipsy, or lounged at the doors of gin-shops.
+Bonnetless girls roamed about singing and squabbling. Forlorn babies
+played in the gutter, and men and women in every stage of raggedness
+and degradation marred the beauty of that fair Sunday morning.
+
+Crowds were swarming into the Tabernacle: but, thanks to the order a
+friend had given her, Miss Livy was handed to a comfortable seat, with a
+haggard Magdalen on one side and a palsy-stricken old man on the other.
+Staring about her, she saw an immense building with two galleries
+extending round three sides, and a double sort of platform behind and
+below the pulpit, which was a little pen lifted high that all might see
+and hear.
+
+Every seat, aisle, window-ledge, step, and door-way, was packed with a
+strange congregation; all nations, all colours, all ages, and nearly all
+bearing the sad marks of poverty or sin. They all sung, cried out if
+anything affected or pleased them in the sermon, and listened with
+interest to the plain yet fervent words of the man who has gathered
+together this flock of black sheep and is so faithful a shepherd to
+them.
+
+Every one knows how Spurgeon looks in pictures, but in the pulpit he
+reminded Livy of Martin Luther. A square, florid face, stout figure, a
+fine keen eye, and a natural, decided manner, very impressive. A strong,
+clear voice of much dramatic power, and a way of walking the pulpit like
+Father Taylor.
+
+His sermon was on 'Small Temptations,' and he illustrated it by facts
+and examples taken from real life, pointing out several of his
+congregation, and calling them by name, which original proceeding seemed
+to find favour with his people. He used no notes, but talked rather than
+preached; and leaning over the railing, urged, argued, prayed, and sang
+with a hearty eloquence, very effective, and decidedly refreshing after
+High Church mummery abroad, and drowsy Unitarianism at home. Now and
+then he stopped to give directions for the comfort of his flock in a
+free and easy manner, which called up irresistible smiles on the faces
+of strangers.
+
+'Mrs. Flacker, you'd better take that child into the ante-room: he's
+tired.' 'Come this way, friends: there's plenty of room.' 'Open all the
+windows, Manning: it's very warm.' And when a sad sort of cry
+interrupted him, he looked down at an old woman shaking with epilepsy,
+and mildly remarked, 'Don't be troubled, brethren: our sister is subject
+to fits,' and preached tranquilly on.
+
+For two hours he held that great gathering, in spite of heat,
+discomfort, and other afflictions of the flesh, and ended by saying, in
+a paternal way,--
+
+'Now remember what I've said through the week, and next Sunday show me
+that I haven't talked in vain.'
+
+He read a list of meetings for every night in the week. One especially
+struck Livy, as it was for mothers to meet and talk over with him the
+best ways of teaching and training their children. Spurgeon evidently
+does not spare his own time and strength; and whatever his creed may be,
+he is a good Christian in loving his neighbour _better_ than himself,
+and doing the work his hand finds to do with all his might.
+
+'That is a better church than most of those I enter where respectable
+saints have the best seats, and there is no place for sinners,' said
+Livy when she got home. 'Spurgeon's congregation preached more
+eloquently to me than he did. The Magdalen cried as if her heart was
+broken, and I am sure those tears washed some of her sins away. The
+feeble old man looked as if he had found a staff for his trembling hands
+to lay hold upon, and the forlorn souls all about me, for a time at
+least, laid down their burdens and found rest and comfort in their
+Father's house. It did me more good than the preaching of all the
+bishops in London, or the finest pageant at St. Paul's; and I am truly
+glad I went, though the saucy conductor did smirk at me over the
+rosebud.'
+
+In contrast to this serious expedition, the old lady had a very jolly
+one not long afterward. A certain congenial Professor asked her one day
+what person, place, or thing in London she most desired to see.
+
+Clasping her hands with the energy of deep emotion, she replied,--
+
+'The home of the immortal Sairy Gamp. Long ago I made a vow, if I ever
+came to London I'd visit that spot. Let me keep my vow.'
+
+'You shall!' responded the Professor with a responsive ardour, which
+caused Livy to dive into her waterproof without another word.
+
+Away they went in a pouring rain, and what people thought of the damp
+but enthusiastic couple who pervaded the city that day I can't say; I
+only know a merrier pair of pilgrims never visited those grimy shrines.
+They met several old friends, and passed several familiar spots by the
+way. Major Bagstock and Cousin Phenix stared at them from a club-house
+window. Tigg Montague's cab dashed by them in Regent Street, more
+gorgeous than ever. The brothers Cheeryble went trotting cityward arm in
+arm, with a smile and ha'penny for all the beggars they met; and the
+Micawber family passed them in a bus, going, I suppose, to accompany
+the blighted Wilkins to gaol.
+
+In a certain grimly genteel street they paused to stare up at a row of
+grimly respectable houses; for, though the name wasn't on any of the
+doors, they were sure Mr. Dombey still lived there. A rough dog lay on
+one of the doorsteps, and a curtain fluttered at an open upper window.
+Poor Di was growling in his sleep, and above there little Paul was
+watching for the golden water on the wall, while faithful Florence sung
+to him, and Susan Nipper put away derisive sniffs and winks in closets
+and behind doors for the benefit of 'them Pipchinses.'
+
+Coming to a poorer part of the city, they met Tiny Tim tapping along on
+his little crutch, passed Toby Veck at a windy street-corner, and saw
+all the little Tetterbys playing in the mud.
+
+'Come down this street, and take a glimpse at St. Giles's, the worst
+part of London,' said the Professor; and, following, Livy saw misery
+enough in five minutes to make her heart ache for the day. A policeman
+kept near them, saying it wasn't safe to go far there alone.
+
+Vice, poverty, dirt, and suffering reigned supreme within a stone's
+throw of one of the great thoroughfares, and made Alsatia dangerous
+ground for respectable feet. Here, too, they saw familiar phantoms: poor
+Jo, perpetually moving on; and little Oliver led by Nancy, with a shawl
+over her head and a black eye; Bill Sykes, lounging in a doorway,
+looking more ruffianly than ever; and the Artful Dodger, who kept his
+eye on them as two hopeful 'plants' with profitable pockets ready for
+him.
+
+They soon had enough of this, and hurried on along High Holborn, till
+they came to Kingsgate Street, so like the description that I am sure
+Dickens must have been there and taken notes. They knew the house in a
+moment: there were the two dingy windows over the bird-shop; the checked
+curtains were drawn, but of course the bottomless bandboxes, the wooden
+pippins, green umbrella, and portrait of Miss Harris were all behind
+them. It seemed so real that they quite expected to see a red, snuffy
+old face appear, and to hear a drowsy voice exclaim: 'Drat that bell:
+I'm a coming. Don't tell me it's Mrs. Wilkins, without even a pincushion
+prepared.'
+
+While Livy stood gazing in silent satisfaction (merely regretting that
+the name on the door was Pendergast, not Sweedle-pipes), the Professor
+turned to a woman, and asked with admirable gravity, 'Can you tell me
+where Mrs. Gamp lives?'
+
+'What's her business?' demanded the matron, with interest.
+
+'A nurse, ma'am.'
+
+'Is she a little fat woman?'
+
+'Fat, decidedly, and old,' returned the Professor, without a smile on
+his somewhat cherubic countenance.
+
+'Well, she lives No. 5, round the corner.'
+
+On receiving this unexpected reply, they looked at one another in comic
+dismay; but would certainly have gone to No. 5, and taken a look at the
+modern Sairy, if the woman hadn't called out as they moved on--
+
+'I b'lieve that nuss's name is Britiain, not Gamp; but you can ask.'
+
+Murmuring a hasty 'thank you,' they fled precipitately round the corner,
+and there enjoyed a glorious laugh under an umbrella, to the great
+amazement of all beholders.
+
+Being on a Dickens pilgrimage, they went to Furnival's Inn, where he
+wrote 'Pickwick' in a three-story room, and read it to the old porter.
+The same old porter told them all about it, and quite revelled in the
+remembrance. It did one's heart good to see the stiff, dried-up old
+fellow thaw and glow with the recollection of the handsome young man who
+was kind to him long ago, before the world had found him out.
+
+'Did you think the book would be famous when he read it to you in 1834,
+as you say?' asked the Professor, beaming at him in a way that would
+have melted the heart of the stiff-tailed lion of the Northumberlands,
+if he'd possessed such an organ.
+
+'O dear, yes, sir; I felt sure it would be summat good, it made me laugh
+so. _He_ didn't think much of it; but I know a good thing when I see
+it;' and the old man gave an important nod, as if all the credit of the
+blessed 'Pickwick' belonged to him. 'He married Miss Hogarth while
+livin' here; and you can see the room, if you like,' he added, with a
+burst of hospitality, as the almighty sixpence touched his palm.
+
+Up they went, over the worn stairs; and, finding the door locked,
+solemnly touched the brass knob, read the name 'Ed Peck' on the plate,
+and wiped their feet on a very dirty mat. It was ridiculous, of course;
+but hero-worship is not the worst of modern follies, and when one's hero
+has won from the world some of its heartiest smiles and tears, one may
+be forgiven for a little sentiment in a dark entry.
+
+Next they went to the Saracen's Head, where Mr. Squeers stopped when in
+London. The odd old place looked as if it hadn't changed a particle.
+There was the wooden gallery outside, where the chamber-maids stood to
+see the coach off; the archway under which poor Nicholas drove that cold
+morning; the office, or bar, where the miserable little boys shivered
+while they took alternate sips out of one mug, and bolted hunches of
+bread and butter as Squeers 'nagged' them in private and talked to them
+like a father in public. Livy was tempted to bring away a little
+porter-pot hanging outside the door, as a trophy; but fearing Squeers's
+squint eye was upon her, she refrained, and took a muddy pebble instead.
+
+They took a peep at the Temple and its garden. The fountain was not
+playing, but it looked very pleasant, nevertheless; and as they stood
+there the sun came out, as if anxious that they should see it at its
+best. It was all very well to know that Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'
+was played in Middle Temple Hall, that the York and Lancaster roses grew
+here, that Dr. Johnson lived No. 1 Inner Temple Lane, and that Goldsmith
+died No. 2 Brick Court, Middle Temple; these actual events and people
+seemed far less real than the scenes between Pendennis and Fanny, John
+Westlock and little Ruth Pinch. For their sakes Livy went to see the
+place; and for their sakes she still remembers that green spot in the
+heart of London, with the June sunshine falling on it as it fell that
+day.
+
+The pilgrimage ended with a breathless climb up the Monument, whence
+they got a fine view of London, and better still of Todgerses. Livy
+found the house by instinct; and saw Cherry Pecksniff, now a sharp-nosed
+old woman, sitting at the back window. A gaunt, anxious-looking lady, in
+a massive bonnet, crossed the yard, with a basket in her hand; and the
+Professor said at once, 'That's Mrs. Todgers, and the amount of gravy
+single gentlemen eat is still weighing heavy on her mind.' As if to
+make the thing quite perfect, they discovered fitful glimpses of a
+tousled-looking boy, cleaning knives or boots, in a cellar-kitchen; and
+all the lawyers in London couldn't have argued them out of their firm
+belief that it was young Bailey, undergoing his daily torment in company
+with the black beetles and the mouldy bottles.
+
+That nothing might be wanting to finish off the rainy-day ramble in an
+appropriate manner, when Livy's companion asked what she'd have for
+lunch, she boldly replied,--
+
+'Weal pie and a pot of porter.'
+
+As she was not fond of either, it was a sure proof of the sincerity of
+her regard for the persons who have made them immortal. They went into
+an eating-house, and ordered the lunch, finding themselves objects of
+interest to the other guests. But, though a walking doormat in point of
+mud, and somewhat flushed and excited by the hustling, climbing, and
+adoring, it is certain there wasn't a happier spinster in this 'Piljin
+Projess of a wale,' than the one who partook of 'weal pie' in memory of
+Sam Weller, and drank 'a modest quencher' to the health of Dick
+Swiveller at the end of that delightful Dickens day.
+
+Much might be written about the domestic pleasures of English people,
+but as the compiler of this interesting work believes in the sacredness
+of private life, and has a holy horror of the dreadful people who
+outrage hospitality by basely reporting all they have seen and heard,
+she will practise what she preaches, and firmly resist the temptation to
+describe the delights of country strolls with poets, cosey five-o'clock
+teas in famous drawing-rooms, and interviews with persons whose names
+are household words.
+
+This virtuous reticence leaves the best untold, and brings the story of
+two of our travellers to a speedy end. Matilda decided to remain and
+study art, spending her days copying Turner at the National Gallery, and
+her evenings in the society of the eight agreeable gentlemen who adorned
+the house where she abode.
+
+Amanda hurried home with friends to enjoy a festive summer among the
+verdant plains of Cape Cod. With deep regret did her mates bid her
+adieu, and nothing but the certainty of soon embracing her again would
+have reconciled Livy to the parting; for in Amanda she had found that
+rare and precious treasure, a friend.
+
+'Addio, my beloved Granny; take care of your dear bones and come home
+soon,' said Amanda, in the little back entry, while her luggage was
+being precipitated downstairs.
+
+'Heaven bless and keep you safe, my own Possum. I shall not stay long
+because I can't possibly get on without you,' moaned Livy, clinging to
+the departing treasure as Diogenes might have clung to his honest man,
+if he ever found him; for, with better luck than the old philosopher,
+Livy had searched long years for a friend to her mind, and got one at
+last.
+
+'Don't be sentimental, girls' said Matilda, with tears in her eyes, as
+she hugged her Mandy, and bore her to the cab.
+
+'Rome and Raphael for ever!' cried Amanda, as a cheerful parting salute.
+
+'London and Turner!' shouted Matilda with her answering war-cry.
+
+'Boston and Emerson!' sobbed Lavinia, true to her idols even in the
+deepest woe.
+
+Then three damp pocket-handkerchiefs waved wildly till the dingy cab
+with the dear Egyptian nose at the window, and the little bath-pan
+clattering frantically up aloft, vanished round the corner, leaving a
+void behind that all Europe could not fill.
+
+A few weeks later Livy followed, leaving Mat to enjoy the liberty with
+which American girls may be trusted when they have a purpose or a
+profession to keep them steady. And so ended the travels of the trio,
+travels which had filled a year with valuable experiences, memorable
+days, and that culture which a larger knowledge of the world, our
+fellow-men, and ourselves gives to the fortunate souls to whom this
+pleasure is permitted.
+
+One point was satisfactorily proved by the successful issue of this
+partnership; for, in spite of many prophecies to the contrary, three
+women, utterly unlike in every respect, had lived happily together for
+twelve long months, had travelled unprotected safely over land and sea,
+had experienced two revolutions, an earthquake, an eclipse, and a flood,
+yet met with no loss, no mishap, no quarrel, and no disappointment worth
+mentioning.
+
+With this triumphant statement as a moral to our tale, we would
+respectfully advise all timid sisters now lingering doubtfully on the
+shore, to strap up their bundles in light marching order, and push
+boldly off. They will need no protector but their own courage, no guide
+but their own good sense and Yankee wit, and no interpreter, if that
+woman's best gift, the tongue, has a little French polish on it.
+
+Dear Amandas, Matildas, and Lavinias, why delay? Wait on no man, but
+take your little store and invest it in something far better than Paris
+finery, Geneva jewellery, or Roman relics. Bring home empty trunks, if
+you will, but heads full of new and larger ideas, hearts richer in the
+sympathy that makes the whole world kin, hands readier to help on the
+great work God gives humanity, and souls elevated by the wonders of art
+and the diviner miracles of Nature.
+
+Leave _ennui_ and discontent, frivolity and feebleness, among the ruins
+of the Old World, and bring home to the New the grace, the culture, and
+the health which will make American women what now they just fail of
+being, the bravest, brightest, happiest, and handsomest women in the
+world.
+
+
+PRINTED BY
+SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
+LONDON
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shawl-Straps, by Louisa M. Alcott
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