Very awkward to find
myself without them ten miles away. Thank you,
John. Don't neglect to water the lettuce,
Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little
'Martha.' Come--"
At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like
"Mrs. Gamp," in a sort of walking swoon, apparently
deaf and blind to all mundane matters,
except the refreshments awaiting him ten miles
away; and the benign old pastor disappeared,
humming "Hebron" to the creaking accompaniment
of the bulgy chaise.
Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a
small carbonaro of herself by sharpening her
sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for
past sins, tried her patience over a piece of knitting,
in which she soon originated a somewhat remarkable
pattern, by dropping every third stitch, and seaming
ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly creature,
with refined tastes, he would have elevated his feet
and made a nuisance of himself by indulging in a "weed;"
but being only an uncultivated youth, with a rustic
regard for pure air and womankind in general, he kept
his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of
smoking like a chimney.
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