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Page 41
CHAPTER II.
A JOURNEY.
Great was the excitement in the doctor's house at Buchberg. July had
come at last, and the long-looked-for journey was at hand. Only one more
day! The big trunk was packed and locked and placed in the lower hall,
ready to go. Now there were only the hand-bags and satchels to be filled
with the last needful articles. This task was not so easy as one might
expect, however. On the contrary, mother and aunty found it the most
difficult part of the whole. For the three older children had received
permission to choose each the things which he wanted most to fill up his
own bag, with the express understanding that these must be _useful_
things. But the three had their own definitions of "useful." So they
worked with all their might, running, breathless, up stairs and down,
loaded with most extraordinary articles, most of which were rejected by
the packers as utterly unsuitable, and consigned to the places whence
they came.
Fred came first with four great boxes under each arm, which were tied up
with so many strings, that no accident could have opened them if they
had gone all the way round the world. These he brought to his aunt,
while Emma was, at the same time, pressing upon her mother a heavy roll,
which she had brought under one arm, and an enormous package which she
could scarcely carry.
"Those can't go, Fred," said his aunt, decidedly. "I couldn't possibly
get those eight boxes into this bag, and what's the use? You certainly
can't need whatever there is in them."
"Yes, I do, aunty; six of them are full of living creatures which I must
carry with me to take care of them, or they would all die. The other two
have in them specimens of beetles and snails and other things of the
same kinds as those I expect to find near the Rhine, but, of course,
they are somewhat different, and I want to carry these to compare with
those, don't you see, aunty? Perhaps if we squeeze the boxes with all
our might we can get them in, except those that have the live
creatures."
"No, Fred, it can't be done," said his aunt, kindly. "Take them back
into your room; and you needn't be in the least anxious. I'll take care
of the live ones while you are gone, and, as to the others, when you
want to compare any of them with what you find, write to me about it,
and I will send you as good a description as I can make."
Meantime, Mrs. Stein had been gazing in despair at the two huge,
misshapen packages which Emma had placed upon the table to be put into
her hand-bag.
"What have you in that big roll? It is too large to go even into the
trunk! What are you thinking about?" she cried.
"Oh, mamma, can't they be tied on the outside of the bag? I could carry
them all together myself. I do want to take them with me so much. In the
roll are ever so many drawing-copies, such as we had at school, and some
that were given us on the Christmas-tree. Fani spoke of them in one of
his letters, and I'm sure he'll be delighted to have them. I put in all
ours, and I borrowed some from the master, who said I could have them if
I would take great care of them and bring them safely back again."
"What foolishness, Emma! You seem to forget that, for the last year,
Fani has had his own drawing-teacher, who gives his pupils what he
thinks best for them to copy, and, doubtless, has plenty of patterns of
all kinds. So take the roll away; it would be absurd to carry it. And
that hideous bundle, what is in it? It is twice too big to go in here."
"I was afraid it would be," said Emma, rather crestfallen. "But I
thought I could carry it in my lap, and, really, I must take it, mamma.
It is that book which I chose for a Christmas present, you know; the
'Lives of Distinguished Painters.' I want to carry it for Fani to read;
and, for fear of hurting the handsome binding, I wrapped it up in two
petticoats and a waterproof cloak and a small table-cloth, and then I
put some enamel-cloth outside the whole."
"You do get hold of most unfortunate ideas, my child! we shall never
get ready at this rate. Come, we'll take the book out of all these
wrappings, and then perhaps we can get it in. But you haven't brought
anything that you really need, though you have had such a long time to
think about it all. And here aunty and I are standing waiting and can't
get through, because you have nothing ready for us."
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