Shawl-Straps

CONTENTS.

PAGE
I. OFF 1

II. BRITTANY 24

III. FRANCE 92

IV. SWITZERLAND 175

V. ITALY 205

VI. LONDON 265




SHAWL-STRAPS.




I.

_OFF._


'On the first day of February we three will sail from Boston for
Messina, in the little fruit-ship "Wasp." We shall probably be a month
going, unless we cross in a gale as I did, splitting sails every night,
and standing on our heads most of the way,' said Amanda, folding up her
maps with an air of calm decision.

'Hurrah! what fun!' cried Matilda, waving a half-finished dressing-case
over her head.

But Lavinia, with one sepulchral groan, fell flat upon her bed, and lay
there, dumb with the horrors of such a voyage.

'Just the thing for you, my poor old dear. Think of the balmy airs of
Sicily, the oranges, the flowers. Then a delicious month or two at
Sorrento, with no east winds, no slush, no spring cleaning. We shall be
as merry as grigs, and get as buxom as dairy-maids in a month,' said the
sprightly Amanda.

'You promised to go, and if you back out we are lost, for we _must_ have
a duenna. You can lie round in Europe just as well as here, and I have
no doubt it will do you a world of good,' added Matilda.

'I shall keep my word; but you will bury me in the Atlantic, so make up
your minds to it. Do you suppose that I, a poor, used-up old invalid,
who can't look at a sail-boat without a qualm, can survive thirty days
of standing on my head, and thirty nights of sail-splitting, as we go
slamming and lurching across two or three awful oceans?' demanded
Lavinia, with the energy of despair.