o
go, or resigned to stay, but most resigned to go"; and we went.

The statue of William Penn seemed to look benignantly down upon us as
we passed, bag and bundle in hand, along the regular Philadelphia
shortcut which leads through the bowels of the Courthouse, from the
Broad Street station to John Wanamaker's store. Philadelphians always
have the air of doing something very modern, hurried, and time-saving
when they lead you through that short-cut. But we were not really in a
hurry; we had all the time there is; we could afford to gape a little
in the shop-windows. The spasmodic Market Street trolley-car and the
deliberate Camden ferry-boat were rapid enough for us. The gait of the
train on the Great Sandy and Oceanic Railway was neither too fast nor
too slow. Even the deserted condition of Hummingtown, where we
disembarked about eleven o'clock in the morning, and found that the
entire population had apparently gone to a Decoration Day ball-game,
leaving post-office, telegraph station, fruit store, bakery, all
closed--even this failure to meet our expectations did not put us out
of humour with the universe, or call forth rude words on the degeneracy
of modern times.

Our good temper was imperturbable; for had we not all "escaped as a
bird from the hand of the fowler"--Master Thomas from the mastery of
his famous boarding-school in Old Chester, and Friends Walter and
Arthur from the uninspired scripture of their ledgers and day-books,
and I from the incubation of those hideous examination papers, and the
gentle Friend William from his--there! I have forgotten what particular
monotony William was glad to get away from; but I know it was from
something. I could read it in his face; in his pleased, communicative
silence; in the air of almost reckless abandon with which he took off
his straight-breasted Quaker coat, and started out in his shirt-sleeves
to walk with Walter, ahead of the cart which carried our two canoes and
the rest of us over to the river.

It was just an ordinary express wagon, with two long, heavy planks
fastened across the top of it. On these the canoes were lashed, with
their prows projecting on either flank of the huge, pachydermatous
horse, who turned his head slowly from one side to the other, as he
stalked along the level road, and looked back at his new environment
with stolid wonder. He must have felt as if he were suffering "a sea
change," and going into training for Neptune's stud. The driver