A Walk and a Drive. — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
A Walk and a Drive.
John Stuart Mill · en
They walked all in a row with their baskets on their heads, and with
their hands stuck into their sides, and they talked very fast as they
came along. On their heads they wore very, very large hats, with small
crowns. Rosy had never seen such hats before, and she heard her mamma
say that she had never seen them either. Under these great hats they had
nice white caps, with colored handkerchiefs over them, which hung down
behind. They had, besides, other colored handkerchiefs over their
shoulders, and two of them had red gowns.
Now Rosy had had a present given her in Paris. It was a piece of French
money, worth ten English pennies; and with this money she had bought ten
Dutch dolls, which nursey was going to dress for her. At first she
meant them to make an English school; but now that she had seen so many
funny people she thought she would like her dolls to be dressed like the
people in Cannes, because then they would just show her dear grandmamma
how very nice they looked, and how very different to English people.
She was very quiet for a little while, because she was making this grand
plan; but they soon turned out of the narrow street, and all at once she
saw the sea again.
They had come now to what was called the "port," and there were all the
great ships which had come home lately, and were waiting to go out
again,--one, two, three, four, five, six, all in a row, quite quiet, and
"taking their naps," as Rosy's papa said, "after all their hard work."
He lifted Rosy out first, and said that they would go and look at them,
while mamma went into the shops.
Rosy was not quite sure whether she was pleased at that, because
sometimes her mamma bought her very nice things, such as toys, or
sugar-plums, or cakes, when she took her out shopping. But they soon
found plenty to look at, and some funny men with blue coats and cocked
hats amused the little girl very much. Her papa wondered why she looked
at them so often; but then he did not know Rosy's grand scheme, and how
she was thinking of asking nurse to dress one doll just like them. She
kept this little plan quite a secret till she got back to her nurse.
It was half the fun to have a secret.
[Illustration]
ROSY'S VISIT TO THE COWS.
THE dear, good nursey did not forget about the cows next morning, for
when Rosy opened her little blue peepers there she was half dressed.
Rosy jumped up in a minute, crying out,--
"The cows! the cows! Shall we go and see them?"
"If you will make great haste," said the nurse; "but it is getting
late."
Rosy never got dressed more quickly. She did not much like even to wait
for her morning splash; and while her curls were being combed, she kept
saying, "Won't it do, nurse?" and then rather hindering by holding up
her little face for a kiss.
As soon as she was quite ready she bustled off, and got down stairs
first. Whom should she see there but papa himself, with his hat on?