near. Madame (who had
shed tears as she bade us adieu) opened the gate again, ran out, cried
shrilly to the driver to stop, and buying up half Bridget's basketful at
one sweep, with more tears and much excitement, flung the flowers in
amongst us. As she went backwards off the step, on to which she had
climbed, she fell upon Bridget, who, with even more excitement and I
think also with ready tears, clung to the already moving omnibus, and
turned her basket upside down over our laps.

I have a dim remembrance of seeing her and Madame seem to fall over each
other, or into each other's arms; and then, amid a shrill torrent of
farewells and blessings in French and Irish, the omnibus rolled on, and
Bush House was hid from our eyes.

CHAPTER XIX.

NORTHWARDS--THE BLACK COUNTRY--THE STONE COUNTRY.

We had a very noisy, happy journey to London. We chattered, and laughed,
and hopped about like a lot of birds turned out of a cage. Emma sat by
the window, and made a running commentary upon everybody and everything
we passed in a strain of what seemed to us irresistible wit and humour.
I fear that our conduct was not very decorous, but in the circumstances
we were to be excused. The reaction was overwhelming.

Eleanor and I sobered down after we parted from the other girls, and
thus became sensible of some fatigue and faintness. We had been too much
excited to eat any of the bread-and-butter prepared for our early
breakfast at Bush House. We had run up and down and stood on our feet
about three times as much as need was; we had talked and laughed and
shaken ourselves incessantly; we had put out our heads in the wind and
sun as the train flew on; we had tried to waltz between the seats, and
had eaten two ounces of "mixed sweets" given us by the housemaid, and
deluged each other with some very heavy-scented perfume belonging to
one of us.

After all this, Eleanor and I felt tired before our journey had begun.
We felt faint, sick, anything but hungry, and should probably have
travelled north in rather a pitiful plight, had not a motherly-looking
lady, who sat in the waiting-room reading a very dirty book of
tracts--and who had witnessed both our noisy parting from our companions
and the subsequent collapse--advised us to go to the refreshment-room
and get some breakfast. We yielded at last, out of complaisance towards
her, and were rewarded by feeling wonderfully refreshed by a solid meal.

We laid in a stock of buns a