find to their great relief a subject on which they can converse with one and a copious one too � steam � wonderful thing ah a deep drawn sigh it is indeed great power sir immense � immense great deal done by steam sir ah another sigh at the of the subject and a knowing shake of the head you may say dr � still in its in they say sir novel remarks of this kind are generally the of a conversation which is prolonged until the conclusion of the trip and perhaps lays the of a speaking acquaintance between half a dozen gentlemen having their families at take son tickets for the boat and dine oo board every afternoon c chapter xl s we never see any large staring black roman in a book or or on a wall their immediately recalling to our mind an indistinct and confused recollection of the time when we were first in the mysteries of the we almost fancy we see the pin s point following the letter to impress its form more strongly on oar bewildered imagination and as we remember the hard with which the reverend old lady who into oar mind the first principles of education for per week or ten and sixpence per quarter was wont to oar head occasionally by way of the confusion of ideas in which we were generally involved the same kind of feeling us in many other instances but there is no place which so strongly our recollections of childhood as s it was not a in those days nor had arisen to shed the light of classic taste and gas over the of the but the whole character of the place was the same the pieces were the same the s jokes were the same the riding were equally grand the comic equally witty the equally hoarse and the highly trained equally spirited s has altered for the better � we have changed for the worse our taste is gone and with shame we confess that we are � more delighted and amused with the audience than with the we once so highly we like to watch a regular s party in the or pa and ma and nine or ten children varying from five foot six to two foot eleven fourteen years of to four we had just our seat in one of the boxes in the centre of the house the other when the next was occupied by just such a party as we should have attempted to describe had we depicted our beau ideal of a group of s visitors first of all there came three little boys and a little girl who in of pa s directions issued in a very audible voice from the box door occupied the front row then two more uttle girls were ushered in by a young lady evidently the then came three more uttle boys dressed like the first in blue and trousers with lay down shirt then a child in a frock and high state of with very large round eyes opened to their utmost width was lifted over the seats � a process which occasioned a display of httle pink legs � then came and pa and then the eldest son a boy of fourteen years old who was evidently trying to look as if he did not belong to the family the five minutes were occupied in taking the off the little girls and the bows which ornamented their hair then it was discovered that one of the little boys was seated behind a pillar and could not see so the was stuck behind the pillar and the boy lifted into her place then pa the boys and directed the away of their pocket handkerchiefs and ma having first nodded and winked to the to the girls a more off their stood up to review the little troop an inspection which i to to her own satisfaction for she looked with a complacent air at pa who was at the further end of the seat fa the glance and his nose very emphatically b b sc sketches by i got m peeped mt from behind the pillar and timidly tried to catch ma s eye with a look of her high admiration of the whole then two of little boys who had been the point whether s was more than twice as large as agreed to refer it to george for his decision at which george who was no other than the gentleman before noticed indignant and remonstrated in no gentle terms on the gross of having his name repeated m so loud a voice at a public place on which all the children laughed very heartily and one of the boys wound up by expressing his opinion that george began to think himself quite a man now whereupon both pa and laughed too and who carried a dress cane and was whiskers muttered that william always was encouraged in his impertinence and assumed a look of profound contempt which lasted the whole evening the play began and the interest of the little boys knew no bounds pa was clearly interested too although he very endeavoured to look as if he wasn t as for ma she was perfectly overcome by the of the principal and laughed till every one of the immense bows on her ample cap trembled at which the peeped out from behind the pillar again and whenever she could catch ma s eye put her handkerchief to her mouth and as in duty bound to be in of laughter also then when the man in the splendid vowed to rescue the lady or perish in the attempt the little boys applauded vehemently especially one little fellow who was apparently on a visit to tho family and had been on a child s the whole evening with a small of twelve years old who looked like a 