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Page 49
To Emma there was no such word as impossible.
"Of course we can get there, Fani. What a delightful ideal" she cried.
"We can make a trip on the steamboat, and we can see the river, and you
must make a sketch of it as fast as you can."
"Oh, yes! I shall just get a few strokes on the paper, and
then--whizz!--we shall be past it like a flash of lightning. What good
would that do?"
Emma was not to be discouraged. If the only thing needful was a way to
take a sketch from the river, she would set herself to find such a way.
At this moment Fani interrupted her meditations by the exclamation: "Oh,
the bell! the bell!" and she heard the ringing of the supper-bell; and
the two children scampered back to the house, and joined the scattered
guests, who came from every direction to meet in the great dining-room.
At the upper end of the table, spread with many delicious luxuries, sat
Mrs. Stanhope, and she welcomed the children in the kindest manner. Aunt
Clarissa seated them in their places, then sat down herself at the foot
of the table, and the meal began. The guests brought wonderful appetites
to the feast. The conversation was subdued, for in Mrs. Stanhope's
presence the children's liveliness was somewhat checked. Elsli spoke
least, and also partook least of the tempting viands. Her abstinence
attracted the attention of Fred, who sat next her, and, in spite of a
warning shove which she gave him under the table, to show him that she
wished to avoid observation, he exclaimed in a loud whisper:--
"What's the matter with you, Elsli? Why don't you eat?"
After supper Mrs. Stanhope led them all out upon the terrace, and they
sat down in a semicircle on the garden benches. Then she told them that
she had a plan of taking them very soon on a steamboat excursion down
the Rhine, as far as Cologne; where there was a remarkably fine
zo�logical garden which they would all visit together. Emma's eyes
blazed with delight, but she did not speak; her thoughts were busy, but
not wholly with the animals of the garden. Fred was delighted at the
prospect; but the zo�logical garden had a powerful rival in an enormous
night-moth which was humming about his head, and which he could hardly
resist his desire to jump up and catch. Such a prize it would be! But he
recollected his aunt's advice, on the good manners of sitting still,
especially in Mrs. Stanhope's presence. Oscar was overjoyed at the
prospect of a voyage, and he bethought himself immediately of the
possibility of meeting with persons much more desirable for his Society
than Elsli's baker's boy.
The next day the children sat down to keep their promise of writing home
an account of their experiences. The three letters were very different
in style, but they were all filled with the delight of their writers at
the beauty and magnificence of the villa, and with the pleasures they
enjoyed and the kindness they received. They hoped they should stay
twelve weeks instead of six. These were the letters. But into each
letter was secretly slipped a private note, addressed to Aunty, begging
her to persuade papa to allow the visit to be prolonged as much as
possible. Fred added that if the time fixed should be a year, and then a
cipher added to the number of days, three thousand six hundred and fifty
would not be one too many for him.
CHAPTER IV.
IN THE FISHERMAN'S HUT.
The next morning, Oscar was early on hand at the iron gate; waiting to
see the baker's boy, when he brought the bread. The boy came along with
a huge basket on his arm, from which issued an agreeable smell of
freshly baked loaves. Oscar went to meet him, and asked abruptly:--
"Which canton are you from?"
"That is none of your business," answered the boy.
Oscar was not a whit surprised or daunted by this reply.
"You needn't be so rough," he said; "I've a very good reason for
asking." And he went on to explain to the boy what he had in mind, and
to enlarge on the pleasure of collecting as many Swiss as possible; and
of holding a festival in honor of their country. Then it appeared that
the fellow was not a bad fellow at all, and had only answered in that
rude way to show his independence. He received Oscar's proposal with
great interest, though he owned that he knew but very few Swiss in the
neighborhood. He had come from Lucerne only about six months before, to
work for the baker, whose wife was his cousin. A shoemaker's boy from
Uri lived near by, and a porter at the "Bunch of Grapes" came from
Schwyz. Then there was the great factory down by the canal, which
belonged to some Swiss gentlemen. He carried bread there every day, and
had often seen two boys playing ball in the garden, but they had never
spoken to him. Oscar was well pleased with this information. He asked
the boy to invite the shoemaker's boy and the porter to join the
society, and he would see the others himself. He would appoint the day,
and decide on other particulars later; as the baker's boy came every day
to the house, there would be no difficulty in keeping him informed.
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