The girls in the other boats kissed their hands to
mother and me, and shouted to Aristides, and then, when our boat set out
for the shore, they got on each side of us and sang song after song as
they pulled even stroke with our crew. Half-way, we met three other
boats, really _manned,_ these ones, and going out to get our baggage, and
then you ought to have heard the shouting and laughing, that ended in
more singing, when the young fellows' voices mixed with the girls, till
they were lost in the welcome that came off to us from the crowded quay,
where I should have thought half Altruria had gathered to receive us.
I was afraid it was going to be too much for my mother, but she stood it
bravely; and almost at a glance people began to take her into
consideration, and she was delivered over to two young married ladies,
who saw that she was made comfortable, the first of any, in the pretty
Regionic guest-house where they put us.
I wish I could give you a notion of that guest-house, with its cool,
quiet rooms, and its lawned and gardened enclosure, and a little fountain
purring away among the flowers! But what astonished me was that there
were no sort of carriages, or wheeled conveyances, which, after our
escort from the ship, I thought might very well have met the returning
Emissary and his wife.
Pages:
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204