loved the scarlet quill in my grey hat,
and the set of my new shoes. I hoped,
above all, that no one would notice that
I was trembling and lay it down to fear.

Of course, I had been away before.
It was not the first time I had left
everything to take care of itself. But
this time I was going alone, and that
gave rather a different aspect to things.
To go into the country for a few days,
or even to Detroit, in the company of
a watchful parent, might be called a
"visit"; but to go alone, partly by
train and partly by stage, and to arrive
by one's self, amounted to "travel." I
had an aunt who had travelled, and I
felt this morning that love of travel
ran in the family. Probably even
Aunt Cordelia had been a trifle nervous,
at first, when she started out for Ha-
waii, say, or for Egypt.

Mother and I were both fearful that
the driver of the station 'bus hadn't
really understood that he was to call.
First she would ask father, and then I
would ask him, if he was quite sure the
man understood, and father said that
if the man could understand English