thrust out of the window, a stern, dark, warlike, soldierly face,
full of surprise and indignation--and this was Cardigan himself. The
unhappy guard tumbled over themselves in vain efforts to get into form;
it was too late, and the haughty and hot-tempered commander drove on
without his salute. Blair, not being on guard duty, had no part in this
catastrophe, but I well remember his unaffected sorrow over it. He was
a grave man, though of an equable and cheerful temper, and he felt his
comrades' misfortune as his own. But I never heard that any casualties
occurred in consequence of the mishap.

I have left two years of our English sojourn unaccounted for. In
the summer of 1855, my father nearly made up his mind to resign his
consulship (since it had become hardly worth keeping from the money
point of view), and, after making a visit to Italy, going back to
Concord. This plan seemed the more advisable, because my mother's lungs
could not endure the English climate. But while he was weighing the
matter, John O'Sullivan wrote from Lisbon, urgently inviting my mother
and sisters to come out and spend a few months with him and his family
there. The Lisbon climate was a specific for bronchial disease; my
father could complete his term, and we could go to Italy the following
year. There was only one objection to this--it involved the parting of
my father from my mother, a thing which had never before happened. But
it did not take him long to decide that it would be a good thing for
her, and, therefore, in the long run, for him. Each loved the other
unselfishly, and had the courage of such love. Liverpool without my
mother would be a dismal trial for him to face; Lisbon without my father
would be tenfold an exile for her. But they made up their minds, each
for the other's sake, to undergo the separation, and accordingly, in the
autumn of the year, she and my sisters sailed from Southampton, and my
father and I went back to Liverpool. How we fared there shall be told in
the next chapter.

X

If there were boarding-houses in paradise--Blodgett, the
delight of mankind--Solomon foresaw her--A withering retort--
A modest, puny poise about her--Hidden thoughts derived
from Mother Eve and Grecian Helen--The feminine council that
ruled the Yankee captains--Bonds of fraternity, double-
riveted and copper-fastened--Through the looking-glass--Men
only of the manliest sort--The lady-paramount--