Produced by David Widger VAGABONDIA By Frances Hodgson Burnett JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY - 1884 CONTENTS AUTHOR'S NOTE. VAGABONDIA. CHAPTER I. ~ IN WHICH WE HOLD COUNSEL. CHAPTER II ~ IN THE CAMPS OF THE PHILISTINES. CHAPTER III. ~ IN WHICH THE TRAIN IS LAID. CHAPTER IV. ~ A LILY OF THE FIELD. CHAPTER V. ~ IN WHICH THE PHILISTINES BE UPON US. CHAPTER VI. ~ “WANTED, A YOUNG PERSON.” CHAPTER VII. ~ IN WHICH A SPARK IS APPLIED. CHAPTER VIII. ~ THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDING. CHAPTER IX. ~ IN WHICH WE ARE UNORTHODOX. CHAPTER X. ~ IN SLIPPERY PLACES. CHAPTER XI. ~ IN WHICH COMES A WIND WHICH BLOWS NOBODY GOOD. CHAPTER XII. ~ IN WHICH THERE IS AN EXPLOSION. CHAPTER XIII ~ A DEAD LETTER. CHAPTER XIV. ~ SEVEN LONG YEARS, BELOVED, SEVEN LONG YEARS. CHAPTER XV. ~ IN WHICH WE TRY SWITZERLAND. CHAPTER XVI. ~ IF YOU SHOULD DIE. CHAPTER XVII. ~ DO YOU KNOW THAT SHE IS DYING? CHAPTER XVIII. ~ GRIF! CHAPTER XIX. ~ ROSE COLOR. AUTHOR'S NOTE. This my first novel was written several years ago, and published (without any revision by me) first in a ladies' magazine under the name of “Dorothea,” and afterwards in book form as “Dolly.” For reasons not necessary to state here, all control over the book had passed from my hands. It has been for some time out of print; but, having at last obtained control of the copyright, I have made such corrections as seemed advisable, given it the name I originally intended for it, and now issue it through my regular publishers. FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. Washington, November, 1883. VAGABONDIA. CHAPTER I. ~ IN WHICH WE HOLD COUNSEL. It was a nondescript sort of a room, taking it altogether. A big, sunny room, whose once handsome papering and corniceing had grown dingy, and whose rich carpeting had lost its color and pile in places, and yet asserted its superiority to its surroundings with an air of lost grandeur in every shabby medallion. There were pictures in abundance on the walls, and more than one of them were gems in their way, despite the evidence all bore to being the work of amateurs. The tables were carved elaborately, and the faded, brocaded chairs were of the order _pouf_, and as inviting as they were disreputable in appearance; there was manuscript music among the general litter, a guitar hung from the wall by a tarnished blue and silver ribbon, and a violin lay on the piano; and yet, notwithstanding the air of free-and-easy disorder, one could hardly help recognizing a sort of vagabond comfort and luxury in the Bohemian surroundings. It was so very evident that the owners must enjoy life in an easy, light-hearted, though perhaps light-headed fashion; and it was also so very evident that their light hearts and light heads rose above their knowledge of their light purses.