 | Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family |  |
A LEAF FROM MEMORY.
As Mrs. Partington stepped from the steamboat, she
perused the signboard which requested passengers not to
leave till the boat was secured to the drop.
“How different from my poor Paul!” murmured she,
as memory awakened something long forgotten. “How
different from my poor Paul! for he never would leave
till the `drop' was secured to him. Dear, dear! it seems
as if I could see him now, holding to his lovely lips the
big quart tumbler, which he used to call his `horn of
plenty;' and plenty it was, to be sure, and often too
much for him. How much better off he 'd have been if
he had n't taken such deep importations!”
And she passed up the steamboat wharf, her mind
still pondering on the inscription that had so vividly
recalled the past, and did n't even recognize the minister
as he bowed his sedate neck to her.
It is often shocking to perceive, in “thrilling tales
of the seas,” the indifference with which authors tell us
of the winds “whistling through the shrouds!” as if
such wanton levity did n't deserve a rebuke.
| Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family | |