Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The Seven Vagabonds (From "Twice Told Tales") by Nathaniel Hawthorne
page 4 of 22 (18%)
pleasurable adventure, in driving his huge vehicle sometimes through
the sands of Cape Cod, and sometimes over the rough forest roads of
the north and east, and halting now on the green before a village
meeting-house, and now in a paved square of the metropolis. How often
must his heart have been gladdened by the delight of children, as they
viewed these animated figures! or his pride indulged, by haranguing
learnedly to grown men on the mechanical powers which produced such
wonderful effects! or his gallantry brought into play (for this is an
attribute which such grave men do not lack) by the visits of pretty
maidens! And then with how fresh a feeling must he return, at
intervals, to his own peculiar home!

"I would I were assured of as happy a life as his," thought I. Though
the showman's wagon might have accommodated fifteen or twenty
spectators, it now contained only himself and me, and a third person
at whom I threw a glance on entering. He was a neat and trim young
man of two or three and twenty; his drab hat, and green frock-coat
with velvet collar, were smart, though no longer new; while a pair of
green spectacles, that seemed needless to his brisk little eyes, gave
him something of a scholar-like and literary air. After allowing me a
sufficient time to inspect the puppets, he advanced with a bow, and
drew my attention to some books in a corner of the wagon. These he
forthwith began to extol, with an amazing volubility of well-sounding
words, and an ingenuity of praise that won him my heart, as being
myself one of the most merciful of critics. Indeed, his stock
required some considerable powers of commendation in the salesman;
there were several ancient friends of mine, the novels of those happy
days when my affections wavered between the Scottish Chiefs and Thomas
Thumb; besides a few of later date, whose merits had not been
acknowledged by the public. I was glad to find that dear little
DigitalOcean Referral Badge