'
"'Coming,' she said, in a loud voice.
"There was nobody calling, but somebody ought to have called; so she
fastens the hook, and flies back as fast as she came.
"Sarah Matilda, you were not born yesterday; first you put your mother
on the defensive, and then you stroked her down with the grain, and
made her feel good all over, while you escaped from a scolding you
know you deserved. A jealous mother makes an artful daughter. But,
Sarah Matilda, one word in your ear. Art ain't cleverness, and cunning
ain't understanding. Semblance only answers once; the second time the
door ain't opened to it.
"Henrietta is all adrift, too; she is an old maid, and Di nicknamed
her 'the old hen.' She has been shamefully neglected today. The young
men have been flirting about with those forward young
girls--children--mere children, and have not had the civility to
exchange a word with her. The old ladies have been whispering gossip
all day, and the old gentlemen busy talking about freights, the
Fall-catch of mackarel, and ship-building. Nor could their talk have
been solely confined to these subjects, for once when she approached
them, she heard the head of the firm say:
"'The 'lovely lass' must be thrown down and scraped, for she is so
foul, and her knees are all gone.'
"And so she turned away in disgust. Catch her at a pic-nic again! No,
never! It appears the world is changed; girls in her day were never
allowed to romp that way, and men used to have some manners.
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