"
"Good Gad! Amelia," cried the brother, in serious alarm, "what do
you mean?" and plunging with all his might at the bell-rope, that
article of furniture came away in his hand, and increased the honest
fellow's confusion. "For heaven's sake see if my buggy's at the
door. I CAN'T wait. I must go. D--- that groom of mine. I must go."
At this minute the father of the family walked in, rattling his
seals like a true British merchant. "What's the matter, Emmy?" says
he.
"Joseph wants me to see if his--his buggy is at the door. What is a
buggy, Papa?"
"It is a one-horse palanquin," said the old gentleman, who was a wag
in his way.
Joseph at this burst out into a wild fit of laughter; in which,
encountering the eye of Miss Sharp, he stopped all of a sudden, as
if he had been shot.
"This young lady is your friend? Miss Sharp, I am very happy to see
you. Have you and Emmy been quarrelling already with Joseph, that
he wants to be off?"
"I promised Bonamy of our service, sir," said Joseph, "to dine with
him."
"O fie! didn't you tell your mother you would dine here?"
"But in this dress it's impossible."
"Look at him, isn't he handsome enough to dine anywhere, Miss
Sharp?"
On which, of course, Miss Sharp looked at her friend, and they both
set off in a fit of laughter, highly agreeable to the old gentleman.
"Did you ever see a pair of buckskins like those at Miss
Pinkerton's?" continued he, following up his advantage.
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