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Chapter one of Shawstraps, a second series of Aunt Joe's
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scrap Bag. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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are in the public domean. For more information or to volunteer,
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please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Rachel shawl Straps,
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a second series of Aunt Joe's scrap Bag by Louisa
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may Alcott. Chapter one off on the first day of February.
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We three will sail from Boston for Messina in the
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little fruit ship Wasp. We shall probably be a month
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going unless we cross in a gale as I did,
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splitting sails every night and standing on our heads most
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of the way, said Amanda, folding up her maps with
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an air of calm decision. Hurrah, what fun, cried Matilda,
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waving a half finished dressing case over her head. But Lavigna,
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with one sepulchral groan, fell flat upon her bed and
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lay there dumb with the horrors of such a voyage.
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Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think
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of the balmy airs of Sicily, the oranges, the flowers.
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Then a delicious month or two at Sorrento, with no
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east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be
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as merry as griggs, and get as books and as
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dairy maids in a month, said the sprightly Amanda. You
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promised to go, and if you back out, we are lost,
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for we must have a duenna. You can lie round
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in Europe just as well as here, and I have
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no doubt it will do you a world of good,
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added Matilda. I shall keep my word, but you will
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bury me in the Atlantic. So make up your minds
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to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used
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up old invalid who can't look at a sail boat
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without a qualm, can survive thirty days of standing on
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my head and thirty nights of sail splitting as we go,
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slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans, demanded Livignia,
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with the energy of despair. Before any one could reply,
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Amanda's little mercury appeared with a note the wasp will
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not take passengers, and no other fruit ship sails this spring,
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read Amanda. Oh dear, I had Matilda saved, cried Lavignere,
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be calm. We shall go sooner or later if I
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buy a ship and sail here myself with which indomitable remark,
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Amanda went forth to grapple with and conquer untoward circumstances.
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A month of plans, vicissitudes, and suspense followed, during which
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Amanda strove manfully, Matilda suffered agonies of hope and fear,
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and Livignia remained a passive shuttlecock waiting to be tossed
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to wherever Fat's battle door chose to center. Exactly two
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weeks from to day, we sail with a party of
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friends in the French steamer Lafayette from New York for breast.
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Will you be ready, demanded Amanda, after a protracted wrestle
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with a foresaid averse circumstances. But that is exactly what
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we didn't mean to do. It's expensive and fashionable France
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and not Italy, north and not south. That's because I'm
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in the party. If you take a Jonah, nothing will
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go well. Leave me behind. You will have a charming trip,
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said Levigner, who had an oyster like objection to being
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torn from her bed. No matter, we are going live
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or die, sink or swim, and I shall expect to
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meet you all booted and spurred and fit for the fight.
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April first, said the unwavering Amanda. A most appropriate day
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for three lone women to start off on a wild
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goose chase after health and pleasure, groaned Lavigna from among
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her pillows. Very well, then I leave you now, and
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she'll expect to meet on the appointed day if I'm spared,
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answered the sufferer. I'll bring her never fear, added the
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sanguine mat as she rattled the trays out of an
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immense trunk. How they ever did it, no one knows.
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But in a week everything was ready, and the sisters
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had nothing left to do but sit and receive the
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presents that showered upon them from all quarters. How kind
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every one was, to be sure, six fine dressing cases
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arrived and were hung upon the walls, four smelling bottles,
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one for each, nostril, bed socks, rigolettes, afghans, lunch baskets,
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pocket flasks, guide books, needle cases, bouquets and staff, and
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a great cake with their names on top in red
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and blue letters three inches long. Friendly fingers sewed for them,
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even the gentlemen of the house, and there were eight
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head a bee and hemmed handkerchiefs from matt marked towels,
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and one noble being actually took off his coat and
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packed the trunks in layers of mosaic work, wonderful to behold.
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A supper celebrated the last evening, and even the doleful Livina,
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touched by such kindness, emerged from her slew of despond
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and electrified the ball by dancing a jig with great
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spirit and grace. Devoted beams were up at dawn to
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share the early breakfast. Lug trunks fly up and down
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with last messages, cheer heartily as the carriage drove off,
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and then adjourn en masse to the station, there to
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shake hands all around once more, and wave and wring handkerchiefs.
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As the train at last bore the josuned Matt and
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the resigned Livinya towards the tristing place, and Amanda all
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along the route. More friends kept bursting into the cars
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as they stopped at different places, more gifts, more handshakes
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and kisses, more good wishes and kind prophecies, till at last,
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in a chaos of smiles, tears, smelling bottles, luncheon cloaks,
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boots and footwarmers, the travelers left the last friendly face
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behind and steamed away to new York. How delicious this is,
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cried the un traveled Matilda as they stepped upon the
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deck of the Lafayette, and she sniffed the shippy fragrance
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that caused Lavinia to gasp and at so darkly wait
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till to morrow. While Matt surveyed the steamer under the
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care of devoted being Number ten, who appeared to see
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them off, Levignette arranged the stateroom, stowing away all useless
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gear and laying forth, dressing gowns, slippers, pocket handkerchiefs with
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an anguished smile. She had crossed the ocean twice and
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was a wiser, sadder woman for it. At eight she
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turned in, and ten minutes later Amanda came aboard with
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a flock of gay friends. But no temptations of the
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flesh could lure the wary spinster from her den, for
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the night was rough and cold, and the steamer a
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babel of confusion. It's perfectly delightful. I wish you'd been there, Livy.
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We had supper and songs and funny stories and all
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sorts of larks. There are quantities of nice people aboard,
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and we shall have a perfectly splendid trip. I shall
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be up bright and early, put on my scarlet stockings,
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my new boots and pretty sea suit, and go in
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for a jolly day, said the ardent Matilda as she
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came skipping down at midnight and fell asleep, full of
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rosy visions of the joys of a life on the ocean. Wave.
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Deluded child, sighed Levigna, closing her dizzy eyes upon the
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swaying garments on the wall and feebly wishing she had
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hung herself along with them in the gray dawn. She
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was awakened by sounds of woe, and peering forth beheld
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the festive Matilda, with one red stalking and one off,
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her blond locks wildly disheveled, her face of a pale green,
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and her hands clasping lemons, cologne and salts, as she
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lay with her brow upon the cool marble of the
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toilet table. How do you like it, dear, asked the
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unfeeling Levigna. Oh what is it? I feel as if
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I was dying if somebody would only stop the swing
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in one minute? Is it sea sickness? It's awful, but
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it will do me good? Oh yes, I hope. So
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I've tried everything, and I feel worse and worse. Hold meat,
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save me. Oh, I wish I hadn't come. Ship meets ahoy,
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how are you my laves? And Amanda appeared rosy, calm
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and gay, with her pea jacket on skirts close reefed
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hat well to windward, and everything taught in ship shape,
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for she was a fine sailor and never missed a meal.
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Wales greeted her and faint inquiries as to the state
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of things in the upper world. Flowing a gale, rain,
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hail and snow, very dirty weather, and we are flying
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off the coast in fine style, was the cheerful reply.
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Have we split any sails, asked Levigner, not daring to
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open her eyes. Dozens, I dare say, ship and seas
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every five minutes, all the passengers ill, but me and
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every prospect of a northeast are all the way over,
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continued the lively Amanda, lurching briskly about the passage with
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her hands in her pocket. Matilda dropped her lemons and
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her bottles to wring her hands, and Livinya softly murmured, Lord,
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what fools we mortals be that we ever go to sea? Breakfast? Ladies,
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cried the pretty French stewardess, prancing in with tea cups,
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bowls of gruel, and piles of toast, balanced in some
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miraculous manner all over her arms. Oh take it away,
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I shall never eat again, moaned Matilda, clinging frantically to
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the marble, as the water pitcher went down the middle
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with a hair brush, and all the boots and shoes
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had a grand promenade round the room. Don't speak to me,
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don't look at me, don't even think of me. For
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three days at least, go and enjoy yourself and leave
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us toward doom, with which tragical remark levin Ye drew
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her curtains and was seen no more. Great Heavens, what
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a week that was. Rain, wind, fog, creak, pitch toss, noise, smells, cold,
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broken sleep by day, woe in every variety by night.
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Food and drink, a delusion and a snare, society and affliction.
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Life a burden, death, a far off blessing, not to
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be had at any price. Slowly, slowly, the victims emerge
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from the lower depths of gloom. Feebly, smile, faintly, joke,
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pick fearfully but wistfully. At once rejected dishes, talk, about
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getting up, but don't do it. Read a little look
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at their sallow countenances and hand glasses, and speculate upon
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the good effects of travel upon the constitution. Then they
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suddenly become daring, gay and social rise, adorn themselves, pervade
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the cabins, sniff the odors of engine and chicken without qualms,
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play games, go to table, and just as the voyage
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is over, begin to enjoy it. Alas for poor Lavigna,
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no such resurrection as possible for her. Long after Matt
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had bravely donned the scarlet hose, cocked up her beaver,
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and gone forth to festive scenes, her shipmate remained below
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in Chrysali's state, fed by faithful Marie, visited by the
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ever cheerful Amanda, and enlivened by notes and messages from
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fellow sufferers in far off cells. Mister and missus Henry
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Walmers Junior called and had private theatricals in the passage
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dried ginger parties were held about the invalid's berth, Poems
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were composed, and conundrums circulated. A little newspaper was concocted,
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replete with wit and spirit by these secluded ladies and
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called the Sherald to distinguish it from the Herald got
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up by sundry gentlemen whose shining hours were devoted to flirtation,
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cards and wine. Perfect gentlemen, I assure you, my dear
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forge drunk or sober. They wore yellow kids from morning
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till night, smoked the best cigars, and danced divinely, as
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Missus Twaddle said, sitting erect in the saloon, shrouded in
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fur and velvet, and with five diamond rings well displayed
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as she recounted the diseases she had enjoyed, and did
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the honors of a remarkable work basket containing eat different
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sorts of scissors. We shall be in to morrow, so
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you'd better be digging up the treasures you have buried, you,
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old magpie, said Matt, appearing to the pensive Livy. On
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the eleventh day, the sun is out, Come on deck
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and help us get up the last edition of our paper.
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How will this do? Query? If steamers were named the Asia,
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the Russia, and the Scotia, why not call on the Nausea,
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added Amanda, popping her head into the den. Levinya threw
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a pillow at her, but the undaunted joker continued, also
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this financial this being a feminine paper, gold is no
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longer at Pa, but at ma. Good add this argument
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in favor of the superiority of women. The Sliggard was
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not told to go to his uncle, thank you, and
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Amanda departed to Twine with her forty third bosom friend,
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while Livignya disinterred from holes and corners of her berth, money,
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nuts and raisins, books, biscuits, and literary efforts, much the
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worse for deluges of soap and daubs of butter. The
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cry of land on the morrow caused passages unseen before
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to appear like worms. After a shower, all heroically did
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up their back hair, put on their best suits, and
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walked forth with the delusive hope that no one would
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know how ill they had been. A French marquis with
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a sickly little son whose diet of fried potatoes and
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sour wine accanted for his having the temper of a
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young fiend, appeared and were made much of by dear
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title loving Americans. A Spanish opera singer stout, saffron colored
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and imperious, likewise emerged from obscurity with a meek little
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husband who waited on her like a servant, and a
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big bald parrot who swore like a trooper. A mysterious
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lady in green velvet with many diamonds, and a shabby,
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speechless companion sailed about the ship regardless of the rumors,
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told of her deserted husbands, stolen jewelry, lovers waiting on
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the other side, and many equally pleasant little tales. The
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gentlemen with orange gloves and copper colored noses got themselves
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up in the most superb style, though few were going
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to land at breast, and took tender farewells of such ladies,
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as did each, professing desolation and despair at the termination
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of a twelve days flotation. I am not fond of dirt,
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but I could kneel down and kiss the mud. So
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grateful am I to feel solid grand into my feet
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after eating the life of a fly for so long,
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said Livigna with emotion, as the three trudged up the
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wharf at breast into a sort of barn which served
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for a custom house. Now let each sit upon her
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luggage and clamor till some one comes and examines it,
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else it will get whisked away. Heaven only knows where,
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ordered Amanda, who was the leader in right of her
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knowledge of tongues. Each perched accordingly on her one big
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trunk and tried to clamor. But nothing came of it
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save loss of time and temper, for no one paid
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the slightest heed to them, and it was maddening to
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see trunk after trunk passed and sent off, followed by
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its rejoicing owner. Especially hard to bear was the sight
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of the green velvet sinner, who with a small or
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two won the sternest official to pass her five trunks
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without turning a key, and sailed away with a scornful
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glance at the virtuous three planted on their property and
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feebly beckoning for help. I shall bear this no longer.
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Matt sit there and guard the small things, while you
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and I Livy charge boldly among these imbicyles, and dragged
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them to their duty, and Amandam marched away to clutch
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a caucaded victim by the shoulder with an awe inspiring countenance.
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Levigna picked out a feeble gray officer and dogged him
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like an Indian, smiling affably and pointing to her luggage
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with a persistent mildness that nearly drove the poor man mad,
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no matter where he went or what he did, no
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matter how thick the crowd about him, or how loud
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the din still like a relentless ghost, that mild old
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lady was ever at his side, mutely pointing and affably smiling.
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Of course, he gave in, lifted one tray, saw much flannel,
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nearly blew his venerable nose off, sniffing at one suspicious bottle,
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and slamming down the lid, scrawled a mysterious cross, bowed
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and fled proudly. Returning to Amanda, the victorious one found
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her friend in a high state of indignation, for no
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officer there would touch a trunk because some American express
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had put little lead and stamps here and there for
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some unknown purpose. Not even in her best French could
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be our rate lady. Make that thick headed man understand
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that it was not a high crime against the nation
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to undo a strap till some superior officer arrived to
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take the responsibility of so rash a step if they
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had comprehended the dire threats, the personal remarks an unmitigated
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scorn of those three fair travelers. The Blue coated in
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Macaw's who would have been reduced to submission. Fortunately the
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great Man came in at time to save them from
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utter route. For the ladies were just trying to decide
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whether to go and leave the luggage to its fate,
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or to hul it forth and depart vi et armies,
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when a stautthold party came saw said, it is nothing
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past the trunk. A thousand partums, Madame, and peace was
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restored instantly. The porters, who till then had stood back,
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eyeing the innocent black arc as if it was an
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infernal machine, liable to explode it a touch, threw themselves
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upon it, bore forth, and, heaving it a top of
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an omnibus, returned to demand vast sums for having waited
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so long. Then was Amanda sublime? Then did her comrades
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for the first time then the magnitude of her powers,
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and realized the treasure they possessed. Stewing Matilda and the
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smaller traps in the bus and saying to Vigna stand
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by me. This dauntless maid faced one dozen blue blouse,
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black bearded, vociferous demonstrative frenchmen, and calmly offering the proper
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sum refused to add one sow more. Vainly, the drivers
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perjured themselves in behalf of the porters. Vainly the guard
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looked on with imposing uniforms and impertuent observations. Vainly, Matt cried, imploringly,
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pay anything and let us get off before there was
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a mob. Still, the indomitable Amanda held forth the honest frank,
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and when no one would take it, laid it on
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the post, and, entering the omnibus, drove calmly away. What
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should we do without you, sighed Livigna, with fervent gratitude.
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Be cheated right and left and never know it, dear,
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responded Amanda, preparing for another fight with the omnibus driver,
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and she had it for. Unwarned by the fate of
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the porters, this short sighted man insisted on carrying the
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ladies to a dirty little hotel to dine, Though expressly
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ordered to go at once to the station. Nothing would
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induce them to a light, but oh, the landlord came
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out in person and begged them to do so, And
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after a protracted struggle and a drive all over the town,
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they finally reached the depot. Here another demand for double
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fare was promptly quenched by an appeal to the Chief
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de Station, who, finding that Mademoiselle was wide awake, crushed
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the driver and saw justice done. Exhausted but triumphant, the
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three at length found themselves rolling slowly towards Morlay, through
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a green and blooming country so unlike the New England
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they left behind that they rejoiced like butterflies in the sunshine.
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End of chapter one,