bought a pair of dog-skin gloves, some ugly, thick shoes, and
an umbrella, and got shaved à la mutton-chop, the first thing.
Then he flattered himself that he looked like a true Briton; but
the first time he had the mud cleaned off his shoes, the little
bootblack knew that an American stood in them, and said, with
a grin, 'There yer har, sir. I've give 'em the latest Yankee
shine.' It amused uncle immensely. Oh, I must tell you what
that absurd Lennox did! He got his friend Ward, who came on
with us, to order a bouquet for me, and the first thing I saw in
my room was a lovely one, with ' Robert Lennox's compliments,'
on the card. Wasn't that fun, girls? I like travelling.
"I never shall get to London if I don't hurry. The trip was
like riding through a long picture-gallery, full of lovely lan-
scapes. The farmhouses were my delight; with thatched roofs,
ivy up to the eaves, latticed windows, and stout women with
rosy children at the doors. The very cattle looked more tranquil
than ours, as they stood knee-deep in clover, and the hens had a
contented cluck, as if they never got nervous, like Yankee
biddies. Such perfect color I never saw, -- the grass so green,
sky so blue, grain so yellow, woods so dark, -- I was in a rapture
all the way. So was Flo; and we kept bouncing from one side
to the other, trying to see everything while we were whisking
along at the rate of sixty miles an hour. Aunt was tired and
went to sleep, but uncle read his guide-book, and wouldn't be
astonished at anything. This is the way we went on: Amy,
flying up, --'Oh, that must be Kenilworth, that gray place
among the trees!' Flo, darting to my window, --'How sweet!
We must go there some time, won't we, papa?' Uncle, calmly
admiring his boots -- ' No, my dear, not unless you want
beer; that's a brewery.'
"A pause, -- then Flo cried out, 'Bless me, there's a gallows
and a man going up.' ' where?' shrieks Amy, staring
out at two tall posts with a cross-beam and some dangling
chains. 'A colliery,' remarks uncle, with a twinkle of the eye.
'Here's a lovely flock of lambs all lying down' says Amy.
'See, papa, aren't they pretty!' added Flo sentimentally.