the boat, and, with legs and feet as red as a boiled lobster, ran
along the guards like a squirrel along a fence.

"O dear!" sighed Mousie, "I'd rather live in a city flat than in
such a house."

"I think it would be splendid," protested Winnie, "to live in a
travelling house. You could go all over and still stay at home."

I was glad on our return to find my wife dozing in her chair. She
was determined to spend in rest the hours on the boat, and had said
that Mousie also must be quiet much of the afternoon.

Between three and four the crush on the wharf became very great.
Horses and drays were so mixed up that to inexperienced eyes it
looked as if they could never be untangled. People of every
description, loaded down with parcels, were hurrying on board, and
it would seem from our point of view that American women shared with
their French sisters an aptness for trade, for among the passengers
were not a few substantial, matronly persons who appeared as if they
could look the world in the face and get the better of it.




CHAPTER XI

A VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON