Fate would not hear of our having a houseboat that summer,--which was an
exceptionally fine summer,--but promised us that if we were good and
saved up our money, we should have one next year; and Ethelbertha and I,
being simple-minded, inexperienced children, were content with the
promise, and had faith in its satisfactory fulfilment.
As soon as we reached home we informed Amenda of our plan. The moment
the girl opened the door, Ethelbertha burst out with:--"Oh! can you swim,
Amenda?"
"No, mum," answered Amenda, with entire absence of curiosity as to why
such a question had been addressed to her, "I never knew but one girl as
could, and she got drowned."
"Well, you'll have to make haste and learn, then," continued Ethelbertha,
"because you won't be able to walk out with your young man, you'll have
to swim out. We're not going to live in a house any more. We're going
to live on a boat in the middle of the river."
Ethelbertha's chief object in life at this period was to surprise and
shock Amenda, and her chief sorrow that she had never succeeded in doing
so. She had hoped great things from this announcement, but the girl
remained unmoved. "Oh, are you, mum," she replied; and went on to speak
of other matters.
I believe the result would have been the same if we had told her we were
going to live in a balloon.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105