But was it not curious,
Anne? when first I woke, before I had opened my eyes, those words
were sounding in my ears, like a dream of Papa's voice, reading the
Lesson at church; I almost fell asleep again, and again those words
came back in Papa's voice, and then I woke entirely, and before I had
seen what kind of day it was, before I knew whether it was Saturday
or Sunday, I was sure there was something wrong, and then there was
all this black Mechanics' Institute business before me. And all
through this day those words have been ringing in my ears, and coming
upon me like the pressure of King James's iron belt.'
'Have they indeed?' said Anne, 'I could hardly have believed it.
I have not seen your "look o'ercast and lower," like his.'
'Perhaps not,' said Elizabeth; 'but yet I was like him.
"Forward he rushed with double glee
Into the tide of revelry."
And I believe that having anything on my mind puts me in wilder
spirits, apparently, than usual, but I am sure that my merriment to-
day was no proof that I was happy. It was partly, I believe, from a
mad spirit, like what drives wicked men to drinking, and partly from
folly and levity.
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