ill cling to not a little
of my old friendship for them. How long seemed the few days I was
absent from my father's house. I had seen a great deal of the world, I
thought, during that time. There seemed to be an illusion about it--a
feeling as if I had been from home for weeks; and when I returned, and
found some of the good things upon the table which were baked before I
left home, I thought they must be very old--very old indeed.

"I should like to know how long you think you have been gone," said
some member of the family.

Sure enough! How long had I been away? Not quite a week. But you need
not smile, for that week _was_ a long one. We do not always measure
time by minutes and hours. That is not the only week of my life that
has appeared long. I have seen other weeks that seemed as long as some
months. We sometimes live very fast, and at other times, more slowly.

But this is not _the_ journey I am going to tell you about. I was
young then, and a little green, no doubt; but before I left home
again, I had got rid of my ignorance on some points. Miss Tompkins, a
maiden lady, who sometimes came to our house to sew, and who laid
claim to more personal experience in such matters than myself, had
received from some one a chapter of instructions about traveling--a
kind of traveler's guide--and as she did not wish to be so selfish as
to keep all her knowledge for her own use, she very freely gave away
some of it for my benefit.

[Illustration: AUNT KATE AND HER TUTOR]

"When you travel," said my instructor, "you must not be too modest
and retiring. You must always help yourself to the best things that
come within your reach, as if you considered them yours, as a matter
of course. If you only act as if you think yourself a person of
consequence, you will be treated as such. But if you stand one side,
and seem to think that anything is good enough for you, every one will
be sure to think so too. It is as much as saying that you don't think
yourself of much importance. Others, of course, will conclude that you
ought to be the best judge, and that you are a sort of nobody, who
may be disposed of to suit anybody's convenience."

Now as these items of advice were given as the result of the
experience of those who had seen a great deal of the world, and as I
was very ready to admit my own ignorance, I resolved to lay up these
hints for future service, when I should travel again.

The time came, at length, for another jou