"You don't get over your prejudices. The cars are
perfectly safe, and more comfortable than coaches."
"I can't go; it's no use to coax me."
"I have but one thing to trouble me, mother,--and that is, that I can
never get you away from this spot."
"I'm very happy, Walter, and it's a very pleasant spot; why should I
wish to go?"
"How long since you have been down Washington Street?"
"Ten years, I think."
"And you have never seen the new theatre, nor the Music Hall?"
"No."
"Nor any of the new warehouses?"
"I don't want to see them."
"And you wouldn't go to church, if it were more than a stone's throw
away?"
"I am afraid not."
"How long since you were in a carriage?"
Her eyes filled with tears, but she made no reply.
"Forgive me, mother! I remember the time,--five years! and it seems
like yesterday when father"--
There was a silence which, for a time, neither cared to break.
"Well," said Walter, at length, "I shall have to go alone. To-morrow
morning I will arrange my business,--not forgetting our
securities,--and start in the afternoon train."
"Your father often spoke of Cousin Augustus and his lovely wife; I
wonder if the daughter has her mother's beauty?"
"I can't tell.
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