their own sweet will. Not a fear assailed them;
for all men were civil, all women friendly, and the world wore its
sunniest aspect. Not a doubt perplexed them; for the gifted Amanda spoke
many tongues, understood all sorts of money, could grapple successfully
with Murray and Bradshaw, and never got into the wrong corporation when
she traced a route with unerring accuracy through the mysteries of an
Indicator. No lord and master, in the shape of brother, spouse, or
courier, ordered their outgoings and incomings; but liberty the most
entire was theirs, and they enjoyed it heartily. Wisely and well too;
for, though off the grand route, they behaved themselves in public as
decorously as if the eyes of all prim Boston were upon them, and proved
by their triumphant success, that the unprotected might go where they
liked, if they conducted themselves with the courtesy and discretion of
gentlewomen.

How pleasant were the early sail down the Ranee from Dinan to St. Malo,
the comfortable breakfast in the flowery little court of Hotel Franklin,
and the stroll afterward about the quaint old town, looking at the
churches, buying fruit, and stoutly resisting the temptations of antique
jewelry displayed in the dingy shops! Lavinia never forgave herself,
however, for not securing a remarkable watch, and Amanda sighed months
afterward for a Breton collar and cross of charming antiquity and
ugliness.

Matilda boldly planted her camp-stool, unfurled her umbrella, and,
undaunted by the crowd of round-capped, blue-bloused, wooden-shoed
children about her, began to draw the church.

'I intend to study architecture, and to sketch _all_ the cathedrals we
see,' said the ardent art-student, struggling manfully with the unruly
umbrella, the unsavoury odours from the gutter, and the garrulous crowd
leaning over her shoulder, peering under her hat-brim, and examining all
her belongings with a confiding freedom rather embarrassing.

'Do you know what impertinent things these little scamps are saying to
you?' asked Amanda, pausing in a lecture on surface drainage which she
was delivering to Lavinia, who was vainly struggling to cram a fat wine
bottle, a cabbage leaf of strawberries, and some remarkable cakes into
the lunch-basket.

'No: I don't; and that is the advantage of not knowing any language but
my own,' complacently replied Matilda, who considered all study but that
of art as time wasted, and made her small store of French answer
admi