Mrs Jo walked off with her sister, leaving Daisy to attend to the
muffins, Ted to appease Josie, and Tom and Nan to give their
respective patients a very bad quarter of an hour.



Chapter 2

PARNASSUS

It was well named; and the Muses seemed to be at home that day, for
as the newcomers went up the slope appropriate sights and sounds
greeted them. Passing an open window, they looked in upon a library
presided over by Clio, Calliope, and Urania; Melpomene and Thalia
were disporting themselves in the hall, where some young people were
dancing and rehearsing a play; Erato was walking in the garden with
her lover, and in the music-room Phoebus himself was drilling a
tuneful choir.

A mature Apollo was our old friend Laurie, but comely and genial as
ever; for time had ripened the freakish boy into a noble man. Care
and sorrow, as well as ease and happiness, had done much for him; and
the responsibility of carrying out his grandfather's wishes had been
a duty most faithfully performed. Prosperity suits some people, and
they blossom best in a glow of sunshine; others need the shade, and
are the sweeter for a touch of frost. Laurie was one of the former
sort, and Amy was another; so life had been a kind of poem to them
since they married--not only harmonious and happy, but earnest,
useful, and rich in the beautiful benevolence which can do so much
when wealth and wisdom go hand in hand with charity. Their house was