It was a perfect morning in late March when the pale little invalid3 was carried in her uncle's strong arms, and placed in the carriage which was to take them to the old town on the mountain slopes which they had seen shining from far away for so many weeks past. Spring had come in her fairest shape to Italy. The Campagna had lost its brown and tawny4 hues5 and taken on a tinge6 of fresher color. The olive orchards7 were budding thickly. Almond boughs8 extended their dazzling shapes across the blue sky. Arums and acanthus and ivy9 filled every hollow, roses nodded from over every gate, while a carpet of violets and cyclamen and primroses10 stretched over the fields and freighted every wandering wind with fragrance11.
When once the Campagna with its long line of aqueducts, arches, and hoary12 tombs was left behind, and the carriage slowly began to mount the gradual rises of the hill, Amy revived. With every breath of the fresher air her eyes seemed to brighten and her voice to grow stronger. She held Mabel up to look at the view; and the sound of her laugh, faint and feeble as it was, was like music to her mother's ears.
Amy wore a droll14 little silk-lined cap on her head, over which a downy growth of pale-brown fuzz was gradually thickening. Already it showed a tendency to form into tiny rings, which to Amy, who had always hankered for curls, was an extreme satisfaction. Strange to say, the same thing exactly had happened to Mabel; her hair had grown out into soft little round curls also! Uncle Ned and Katy had ransacked15 Rome for this baby-wig16, which filled and realized all Amy's hopes for her child. On the same excursion they had bought the materials for the pretty spring suit which Mabel wore, for it had been deemed necessary to sacrifice most of her wardrobe as a concession17 to possible fever-germs. Amy admired the pearl-colored dress and hat, the fringed jacket and little lace-trimmed parasol so much, that she was quite consoled for the loss of the blue velvet18 costume and ermine muff which had been the pride of her heart ever since they left Paris, and whose destruction they had scarcely dared to confess to her.
So up, up, up, they climbed till the gateway19 of the old town was passed, and the carriage stopped before a quaint20 building once the residence of the Bishop21 of Albano, but now known as the H?tel de la Poste. Here they alighted, and were shown up a wide and lofty staircase to their rooms, which were on the sunny side of the house, and looked across a walled garden, where roses and lemon trees grew beside old fountains guarded by sculptured lions and heathen divinities with broken noses and a scant22 supply of fingers and toes, to the Campagna, purple with distance and stretching miles and miles away to where Rome sat on her seven hills, lifting high the Dome23 of St. Peter's into the illumined air.
Nurse Swift said that Amy must go to bed at once, and have a long rest. But Amy nearly wept at the proposal, and declared that she was not a bit tired and couldn't sleep if she went to bed ever so much. The change of air had done her good already, and she looked more like herself than for many weeks past. They compromised their dispute on a sofa, where Amy, well wrapped up, was laid, and where, in spite of her protestations, she presently fell asleep, leaving the others free to examine and arrange their new quarters.
Such enormous rooms as they were! It was quite a journey to go from one side of them to another. The floors were of stone, with squares of carpet laid down over them, which looked absurdly small for the great spaces they were supposed to cover. The beds and tables were of the usual size, but they seemed almost like doll furniture because the chambers24 were so big. A quaint old paper, with an enormous pattern of banyan25 trees and pagodas26, covered the walls, and every now and then betrayed by an oblong of regular cracks the existence of a hidden door, papered to look exactly like the rest of the wall.
These mysterious doors made Katy nervous, and she never rested till she had opened every one of them and explored the places they led to. One gave access to a queer little bathroom. Another led, through a narrow dark passage, to a sort of balcony or loggia overhanging the garden. A third ended in a dusty closet with an artful chink in it from which you could peep into what had been the Bishop's drawing-room but which was now turned into the dining-room of the hotel. It seemed made for purposes of espial; and Katy had visions of a long line of reverend prelates with their ears glued to the chink, overhearing what was being said about them in the apartment beyond.
The most surprising of all she did not discover till she was going to bed on the second night after their arrival, when she thought she knew all about the mysterious doors and what they led to. A little unexplained draught28 of wind made her candle flicker29, and betrayed the existence of still another door so cunningly hid in the wall pattern that she had failed to notice it. She had quite a creepy feeling as she drew her dressing-gown about her, took a light, and entered the narrow passage into which it opened. It was not a long passage, and ended presently in a tiny oratory30. There was a little marble altar, with a kneeling-step and candlesticks and a great crucifix above. Ends of wax candles still remained in the candlesticks, and bunches of dusty paper flowers filled the vases which stood on either side of them. A faded silk cushion lay on the step. Doubtless the Bishop had often knelt there. Katy felt as if she were the first person to enter the place since he went away. Her common-sense told her that in a hotel bedroom constantly occupied by strangers for years past, some one must have discovered the door and found the little oratory before her; but common-sense is sometimes less satisfactory than romance. Katy liked to think that she was the first, and to "make believe" that no one else knew about it; so she did so, and invented legends about the place which Amy considered better than any fairy story.
Before he left them Lieutenant31 Worthington had a talk with his sister in the garden. She rather forced this talk upon him, for various things were lying at her heart about which she longed for explanation; but he yielded so easily to her wiles32 that it was evident he was not averse33 to the idea.
"Come, Polly, don't beat about the bush any longer," he said at last, amused and a little irritated at her half-hints and little feminine finesses34. "I know what you want to ask; and as there's no use making a secret of it, I will take my turn in asking. Have I any chance, do you think?"
"Any chance?—about Katy, do you mean? Oh, Ned, you make me so happy."
"Yes; about her, of course."
"I don't see why you should say 'of course,'" remarked his sister, with the perversity35 of her sex, "when it's only five or six weeks ago that I was lying awake at night for fear you were being gobbled up by that Lilly Page."
"There was a little risk of it," replied her brother, seriously. "She's awfully36 pretty and she dances beautifully, and the other fellows were all wild about her, and—well, you know yourself how such things go. I can't see now what it was that I fancied so much about her, I don't suppose I could have told exactly at the time; but I can tell without the smallest trouble what it is in—the other."
"In Katy? I should think so," cried Mrs. Ashe, emphatically; "the two are no more to be compared than—than—well, bread and syllabub! You can live on one, and you can't live on the other."
"Come, now, Miss Page isn't so bad as that. She is a nice girl enough, and a pretty girl too,—prettier than Katy; I'm not so far gone that I can't see that. But we won't talk about her, she's not in the present question at all; very likely she'd have had nothing to say to me in any case. I was only one out of a dozen, and she never gave me reason to suppose that she cared more for me than the rest. Let us talk about this friend of yours; have I any chance at all, do you think, Polly?"
"Ned, you are the dearest boy! I would rather have Katy for a sister than any one else I know. She's so nice all through,—so true and sweet and satisfactory."
"She is all that and more; she's a woman to tie to for life, to be perfectly37 sure of always. She would make a splendid wife for any man. I'm not half good enough for her; but the question is,—and you haven't answered it yet, Polly,—what's my chance?"
"I don't know," said his sister, slowly.
"Then I must ask herself, and I shall do so to-day."
"I don't know," repeated Mrs. Ashe. "'She is a woman, therefore to be won:' and I don't think there is any one ahead of you; that is the best hope I have to offer, Ned. Katy never talks of such things; and though she's so frank, I can't guess whether or not she ever thinks about them. She likes you, however, I am sure of that. But, Ned, it will not be wise to say anything to her yet."
"Not say anything? Why not?"
"No. Recollect38 that it is only a little while since she looked upon you as the admirer of another girl, and a girl she doesn't like very much, though they are cousins. You must give her time to get over that impression. Wait awhile; that's my advice, Ned."
"I'll wait any time if only she will say yes in the end. But it's hard to go away without a word of hope, and it's more like a man to speak out, it seems to me."
"It's too soon," persisted his sister. "You don't want her to think you a fickle39 fellow, falling in love with a fresh girl every time you go into port, and falling out again when the ship sails. Sailors have a bad reputation for that sort of thing. No woman cares to win a man like that."
"Great Scott! I should think not! Do you mean to say that is the way my conduct appears to her, Polly?"
"No, I don't mean just that; but wait, dear Ned, I am sure it is better."
Fortified40 by this sage27 counsel, Lieutenant Worthington went away next morning, without saying anything to Katy in words, though perhaps eyes and tones may have been less discreet41. He made them promise that some one should send a letter every day about Amy; and as Mrs. Ashe frequently devolved the writing of these bulletins upon Katy, and the replies came in the shape of long letters, she found herself conducting a pretty regular correspondence without quite intending it. Ned Worthington wrote particularly nice letters. He had the knack42, more often found in women than men, of giving a picture with a few graphic43 touches, and indicating what was droll or what was characteristic with a single happy phrase. His letters grew to be one of Katy's pleasures; and sometimes, as Mrs. Ashe watched the color deepen in her cheeks while she read, her heart would bound hopefully within her. But she was a wise woman in her way, and she wanted Katy for a sister very much; so she never said a word or looked a look to startle or surprise her, but left the thing to work itself out, which is the best course always in love affairs.
Little Amy's improvement at Albano was something remarkable44. Mrs. Swift watched over her like a lynx. Her vigilance never relaxed. Amy was made to eat and sleep and walk and rest with the regularity45 of a machine; and this exact system, combined with the good air, worked like a charm. The little one gained hour by hour. They could absolutely see her growing fat, her mother declared. Fevers, when they do not kill, operate sometimes as spring bonfires do in gardens, burning up all the refuse and leaving the soil free for the growth of fairer things; and Amy promised in time to be only the better and stronger for her hard experience.
She had gained so much before the time came to start for Florence, that they scarcely dreaded46 the journey; but it proved worse than their expectations. They had not been able to secure a carriage to themselves, and were obliged to share their compartment47 with two English ladies, and three Roman Catholic priests, one old, the others young. The older priest seemed to be a person of some consequence; for quite a number of people came to see him off, and knelt for his blessing48 devoutly49 as the train moved away. The younger ones Katy guessed to be seminary students under his charge. Her chief amusement through the long dusty journey was in watching the terrible time that one of these young men was having with his own hat. It was a large three-cornered black affair, with sharp angles and excessively stiff; and a perpetual struggle seemed to be going on between it and its owner, who was evidently unhappy when it was on his head and still more unhappy when it was anywhere else. If he perched it on his knees it was sure to slide away from him and fall with a thump50 on the floor, whereupon he would pick it up, blushing furiously as he did so. Then he would lay it on the seat when the train stopped at a station, and jump out with an air of relief; but he invariably forgot, and sat down upon it when he returned, and sprang up with a look of horror at the loud crackle it made; after which he would tuck it into the baggage-rack overhead, from which it would presently descend52, generally into the lap of one of the staid English ladies, who would hand it back to him with an air of deep offence, remarking to her companion,—
"I never knew anything like it. Fancy! that makes four times that hat has fallen on me. The young man is a feedgit! He's the most feegitty creature I ever saw in my life."
The young seminariat did not understand a word she said; but the tone needed no interpreter, and set him to blushing more painfully than ever. Altogether, the hat was never off his mind for a moment. Katy could see that he was thinking about it, even when he was thumbing his Breviary and making believe to read.
At last the train, steaming down the valley of the Arno, revealed fair Florence sitting among olive-clad hills, with Giotto's beautiful Bell-tower, and the great, many-colored, soft-hued Cathedral, and the square tower of the old Palace, and the quaint bridges over the river, looking exactly as they do in the photographs; and Katy would have felt delighted, in spite of dust and fatigue53, had not Amy looked so worn out and exhausted54. They were seriously troubled about her, and for the moment could think of nothing else. Happily the fatigue did no permanent harm, and a day or two of rest made her all right again. By good fortune, a nice little apartment in the modern quarter of the city had been vacated by its winter occupants the very day of their arrival, and Mrs. Ashe secured it for a month, with all its conveniences and advantages, including a maid named Maria, who had been servant to the just departed tenants55.
Maria was a very tall woman, at least six feet two, and had a splendid contralto voice, which she occasionally exercised while busy over her pots and pans. It was so remarkable to hear these grand arias56 and recitatives proceeding57 from a kitchen some eight feet square, that Katy was at great pains to satisfy her curiosity about it. By aid of the dictionary and much persistent58 questioning, she made out that Maria in her youth had received a partial training for the opera; but in the end it was decided that she was too big and heavy for the stage, and the poor "giantess," as Amy named her, had been forced to abandon her career, and gradually had sunk to the position of a maid-of-all-work. Katy suspected that heaviness of mind as well as of body must have stood in her way; for Maria, though a good-natured giantess, was by no means quick of intelligence.
"I do think that the manner in which people over here can make homes for themselves at five minutes' notice is perfectly delightful59," cried Katy, at the end of their first day's housekeeping. "I wish we could do the same in America. How cosy60 it looks here already!"
It was indeed cosy. Their new domain61 consisted of a parlor62 in a corner, furnished in bright yellow brocade, with windows to south and west; a nice little dining-room; three bedrooms, with dimity-curtained beds; a square entrance hall, lighted at night by a tall slender brass63 lamp whose double wicks were fed with olive oil; and the aforesaid tiny kitchen, behind which was a sleeping cubby, quite too small to be a good fit for the giantess. The rooms were full of conveniences,—easy-chairs, sofas, plenty of bureaus and dressing-tables, and corner fireplaces like Franklin stoves, in which odd little fires burned on cool days, made of pine cones64, cakes of pressed sawdust exactly like Boston brown bread cut into slices, and a few sticks of wood thriftily65 adjusted, for fuel is worth its weight in gold in Florence. Katy's was the smallest of the bedrooms, but she liked it best of all for the reason that its one big window opened on an iron balcony over which grew a Banksia rose-vine with a stem as thick as her wrist. It was covered just now with masses of tiny white blossoms, whose fragrance was inexpressibly delicious and made every breath drawn66 in their neighborhood a delight. The sun streamed in on all sides of the little apartment, which filled a narrowing angle at the union of three streets; and from one window and another, glimpses could be caught of the distant heights about the city,—San Miniato in one direction, Bellosguardo in another, and for the third the long olive-hung ascent68 of Fiesole, crowned by its gray cathedral towers.
It was astonishing how easily everything fell into train about the little establishment. Every morning at six the English baker69 left two small sweet brown loaves and a dozen rolls at the door. Then followed the dairyman with a supply of tiny leaf-shaped pats of freshly churned butter, a big flask70 of milk, and two small bottles of thick cream, with a twist of vine leaf in each by way of a cork71. Next came a contadino with a flask of red Chianti wine, a film of oil floating on top to keep it sweet. People in Florence must drink wine, whether they like it or not, because the lime-impregnated water is unsafe for use without some admixture.
Dinner came from a trattoria, in a tin box, with a pan of coals inside to keep it warm, which box was carried on a man's head. It was furnished at a fixed72 price per day,—a soup, two dishes of meat, two vegetables, and a sweet dish; and the supply was so generous as always to leave something toward next day's luncheon73. Salad, fruit, and fresh eggs Maria bought for them in the old market. From the confectioners came loaves of pane74 santo, a sort of light cake made with arrowroot instead of flour; and sometimes, by way of treat, a square of pan forte75 da Siena, compounded of honey, almonds, and chocolate,—a mixture as pernicious as it is delicious, and which might take a medal anywhere for the sure production of nightmares.
Amy soon learned to know the shops from which these delicacies76 came. She had her favorites, too, among the strolling merchants who sold oranges and those little sweet native figs77, dried in the sun without sugar, which are among the specialties78 of Florence. They, in their turn, learned to know her and to watch for the appearance of her little capped head and Mabel's blond wig at the window, lingering about till she came, and advertising79 their wares80 with musical modulations, so appealing that Amy was always running to Katy, who acted as housekeeper81, to beg her to please buy this or that, "because it is my old man, and he wants me to so much."
"But, chicken, we have plenty of figs for to-day."
"No matter; get some more, please do. I'll eat them all; really, I will."
And Amy was as good as her word. Her convalescent appetite was something prodigious82.
There was another branch of shopping in which they all took equal delight. The beauty and the cheapness of the Florence flowers are a continual surprise to a stranger. Every morning after breakfast an old man came creaking up the two long flights of stairs which led to Mrs. Ashe's apartment, tapped at the door, and as soon as it opened, inserted a shabby elbow and a large flat basket full of flowers. Such flowers! Great masses of scarlet83 and cream-colored tulips, and white and gold narcissus, knots of roses of all shades, carnations84, heavy-headed trails of wistaria, wild hyacinths, violets, deep crimson85 and orange ranunculus, giglios, or wild irises,—the Florence emblem86, so deeply purple as to be almost black,—anemones, spring-beauties, faintly tinted87 wood-blooms tied in large loose nosegays, ivy, fruit blossoms,—everything that can be thought of that is fair and sweet. These enticing88 wares the old man would tip out on the table. Mrs. Ashe and Katy would select what they wanted, and then the process of bargaining would begin, without which no sale is complete in Italy. The old man would name an enormous price, five times as much as he hoped to get. Katy would offer a very small one, considerably89 less than she expected to give. The old man would dance with dismay, wring90 his hands, assure them that he should die of hunger and all his family with him if he took less than the price named; he would then come down half a franc in his demand. So it would go on for five minutes, ten, sometimes for a quarter of an hour, the old man's price gradually descending91, and Katy's terms very slowly going up, a cent or two at a time. Next the giantess would mingle92 with the fray93. She would bounce out of her kitchen, berate94 the flower-vender, snatch up his flowers, declare that they smelt95 badly, fling them down again, pouring out all the while a voluble tirade96 of reproaches and revilings, and looking so enormous in her excitement that Katy wondered that the old man dared to answer her at all. Finally, there would be a sudden lull97. The old man would shrug98 his shoulders, and remarking that he and his wife and his aged99 grandmother must go without bread that day since it was the Signora's will, take the money offered and depart, leaving such a mass of flowers behind him that Katy would begin to think that they had paid an unfair price for them and to feel a little rueful, till she observed that the old man was absolutely dancing downstairs with rapture100 over the good bargain he had made, and that Maria was black with indignation over the extravagance of her ladies!
"The Americani are a nation of spend-thrifts," she would mutter to herself, as she quickened the charcoal101 in her droll little range by fanning it with a palm-leaf fan; "they squander102 money like water. Well, all the better for us Italians!" with a shrug of her shoulders.
"But, Maria, it was only sixteen cents that we paid, and look at those flowers! There are at least half a bushel of them."
"Sixteen cents for garbage like that! The Signorina would better let me make her bargains for her. Già! Già! No Italian lady would have paid more than eleven sous for such useless roba. It is evident that the Signorina's countrymen eat gold when at home, they think so little of casting it away!"
Altogether, what with the comfort and quiet of this little home, the numberless delightful things that there were to do and to see, and Viessieux's great library, from which they could draw books at will to make the doing and seeing more intelligible103, the month at Florence passed only too quickly, and was one of the times to which they afterward104 looked back with most pleasure. Amy grew steadily105 stronger, and the freedom from anxiety about her after their long strain of apprehension106 was restful and healing beyond expression to both mind and body.
Their very last excursion of all, and one of the pleasantest, was to the old amphitheatre at Fiesole; and it was while they sat there in the soft glow of the late afternoon, tying into bunches the violets which they had gathered from under walls whose foundations antedate107 Rome itself, that a cheery call sounded from above, and an unexpected surprise descended108 upon them in the shape of Lieutenant Worthington, who having secured another fifteen days' furlough, had come to take his sister on to Venice.
"I didn't write you that I had applied109 for leave," he explained, "because there seemed so little chance of my getting off again so soon; but as luck had it, Carruthers, whose turn it was, sprained110 his ankle and was laid up, and the Commodore let us exchange. I made all the capital I could out of Amy's fever; but upon my word, I felt like a humbug111 when I came upon her and Mrs. Swift in the Cascine just now, as I was hunting for you. How she has picked up! I should never have known her for the same child."
"Yes, she seems perfectly well again, and as strong as before she had the fever, though that dear old Goody Swift is just as careful of her as ever. She would not let us bring her here this afternoon, for fear we should stay out till the dew fell. Ned, it is perfectly delightful that you were able to come. It makes going to Venice seem quite a different thing, doesn't it, Katy?"
"I don't want it to seem quite different, because going to Venice was always one of my dreams," replied Katy, with a little laugh.
"I hope at least it doesn't make it seem less pleasant," said Mr. Worthington, as his sister stopped to pick a violet.
"No, indeed, I am glad," said Katy; "we shall all be seeing it for the first time, too, shall we not? I think you said you had never been there." She spoke112 simply and frankly113, but she was conscious of an odd shyness.
"I simply couldn't stand it any longer," Ned Worthington confided114 to his sister when they were alone. "My head is so full of her that I can't attend to my work, and it came to me all of a sudden that this might be my last chance. You'll be getting north before long, you know, to Switzerland and so on, where I cannot follow you. So I made a clean breast of it to the Commodore; and the good old fellow, who has a soft spot in his heart for a love-story, behaved like a brick, and made it all straight for me to come away."
Mrs. Ashe did not join in these commendations of the Commodore; her attention was fixed on another part of her brother's discourse115.
"Then you won't be able to come to me again? I sha'n't see you again after this!" she exclaimed. "Dear me! I never realized that before. What shall I do without you?"
"You will have Miss Carr. She is a host in herself," suggested Ned Worthington. His sister shook her head.
"Katy is a jewel," she remarked presently; "but somehow one wants a man to call upon. I shall feel lost without you, Ned."
The month's housekeeping wound up that night with a "thick tea" in honor of Lieutenant Worthington's arrival, which taxed all the resources of the little establishment. Maria was sent out hastily to buy pan forte da Siena and vino d'Asti, and fresh eggs for an omelette, and chickens' breasts smothered116 in cream from the restaurant, and artichokes for a salad, and flowers to garnish117 all; and the guest ate and praised and admired; and Amy and Mabel sat on his knee and explained everything to him, and they were all very happy together. Their merriment was so infectious that it extended to the poor giantess, who had been very pensive118 all day at the prospect119 of losing her good place, and who now raised her voice in the grand aria51 from "Orfeo," and made the kitchen ring with the passionate120 demand "Che farò senza Eurydice?" The splendid notes, full of fire and lamentation121, rang out across the saucepans as effectively as if they had been footlights; and Katy, rising softly, opened the kitchen door a little way that they might not lose a sound.
The next day brought them to Venice. It was a "moment," indeed, as Katy seated herself for the first time in a gondola122, and looked from beneath its black hood67 at the palace walls on the Grand Canal, past which they were gliding123. Some were creamy white and black, some orange-tawny, others of a dull delicious ruddy color, half pink, half red; but all, in build and ornament124, were unlike palaces elsewhere. High on the prow125 before her stood the gondolier, his form defined in dark outline against the sky, as he swayed and bent126 to his long oar13, raising his head now and again to give a wild musical cry, as warning to other approaching gondolas127. It was all like a dream. Ned Worthington sat beside her, looking more at the changes in her expressive128 face than at the palaces. Venice was as new to him as to Katy; but she was a new feature in his life also, and even more interesting than Venice. They seemed to float on pleasures for the next ten days. Their arrival had been happily timed to coincide with a great popular festival which for nearly a week kept Venice in a state of continual brilliant gala. All the days were spent on the water, only landing now and then to look at some famous building or picture, or to eat ices in the Piazza129 with the lovely fa?ade of St. Mark's before them. Dining or sleeping seemed a sheer waste of time! The evenings were spent on the water too; for every night, immediately after sunset, a beautiful drifting pageant131 started from the front of the Doge's Palace to make the tour of the Grand Canal, and our friends always took a part in it. In its centre went a barge132 hung with embroideries133 and filled with orange trees and musicians. This was surrounded by a great convoy134 of skiffs and gondolas bearing colored lanterns and pennons and gay awnings135, and managed by gondoliers in picturesque136 uniforms. All these floated and shifted and swept on together with a sort of rhythmic137 undulation as if keeping time to the music, while across their path dazzling showers and arches of colored fire poured from the palace fronts and the hotels. Every movement of the fairy flotilla was repeated in the illuminated138 water, every torch-tip and scarlet lantern and flake139 of green or rosy140 fire; above all the bright full moon looked down as if surprised. It was magically beautiful in effect. Katy felt as if her previous sober ideas about life and things had melted away. For the moment the world was turned topsy-turvy. There was nothing hard or real or sordid142 left in it; it was just a fairy tale, and she was in the middle of it as she had longed to be in her childhood. She was the Princess, encircled by delights, as when she and Clover and Elsie played in "Paradise,"—only, this was better; and, dear me! who was this Prince who seemed to belong to the story and to grow more important to it every day?
Fairy tales must come to ending. Katy's last CHAPTER closed with a sudden turn-over of the leaf when, toward the end of this happy fortnight, Mrs. Ashe came into her room with the face of one who has unpleasant news to communicate.
"Katy," she began, "should you be awfully disappointed, should you consider me a perfect wretch143, if I went home now instead of in the autumn?"
Katy was too much astonished to reply.
"I am grown such a coward, I am so knocked up and weakened by what I suffered in Rome, that I find I cannot face the idea of going on to Germany and Switzerland alone, without Ned to take care of me. You are a perfect angel, dear, and I know that you would do all you could to make it easy for me, but I am such a fool that I do not dare. I think my nerves must have given way," she continued half tearfully; "but the very idea of shifting for myself for five months longer makes me so miserably144 homesick that I cannot endure it. I dare say I shall repent145 afterward, and I tell myself now how silly it is; but it's no use,—I shall never know another easy moment till I have Amy safe again in America and under your father's care."
"I find," she continued after another little pause, "that we can go down with Ned to Genoa and take a steamer there which will carry us straight to New York without any stops. I hate to disappoint you dreadfully, Katy, but I have almost decided to do it. Shall you mind very much? Can you ever forgive me?" She was fairly crying now.
Katy had to swallow hard before she could answer, the sense of disappointment was so sharp; and with all her efforts there was almost a sob141 in her voice as she said,—
"Why yes, indeed, dear Polly, there is nothing to forgive. You are perfectly right to go home if you feel so." Then with another swallow she added: "You have given me the loveliest six months' treat that ever was, and I should be a greedy girl indeed if I found fault because it is cut off a little sooner than we expected."
"You are so dear and good not to be vexed," said her friend, embracing her. "It makes me feel doubly sorry about disappointing you. Indeed I wouldn't if I could help it, but I simply can't. I must go home. Perhaps we'll come back some day when Amy is grown up, or safely married to somebody who will take good care of her!"
This distant prospect was but a poor consolation146 for the immediate130 disappointment. The more Katy thought about it the sorrier did she feel. It was not only losing the chance—very likely the only one she would ever have—of seeing Switzerland and Germany; it was all sorts of other little things besides. They must go home in a strange ship with a captain they did not know, instead of in the "Spartacus," as they had planned; and they should land in New York, where no one would be waiting for them, and not have the fun of sailing into Boston Bay and seeing Rose on the wharf147, where she had promised to be. Furthermore, they must pass the hot summer in Burnet instead of in the cool Alpine148 valleys; and Polly's house was let till October. She and Amy would have to shift for themselves elsewhere. Perhaps they would not be in Burnet at all. Oh dear, what a pity it was! what a dreadful pity!
Then, the first shock of surprise and discomfiture149 over, other ideas asserted themselves; and as she realized that in three weeks more, or four at the longest, she was to see papa and Clover and all her dear people at home, she began to feel so very glad that she could hardly wait for the time to come. After all, there was nothing in Europe quite so good as that.
"No, I'm not sorry," she told herself; "I am glad. Poor Polly! it's no wonder she feels nervous after all she has gone through. I hope I wasn't cross to her! And it will be very nice to have Lieutenant Worthington to take care of us as far as Genoa."
The next three days were full of work. There was no more floating in gondolas, except in the way of business. All the shopping which they had put off must be done, and the trunks packed for the voyage. Every one recollected150 last errands and commissions; there was continual coming and going and confusion, and Amy, wild with excitement, popping up every other moment in the midst of it all, to demand of everybody if they were not glad that they were going back to America.
Katy had never yet bought her gift from old Mrs. Redding. She had waited, thinking continually that she should see something more tempting151 still in the next place they went to; but now, with the sense that there were to be no more "next places," she resolved to wait no longer, and with a hundred francs in her pocket, set forth152 to choose something from among the many tempting things for sale in the Piazza. A bracelet153 of old Roman coins had caught her fancy one day in a bric-à-brac shop, and she walked straight toward it, only pausing by the way to buy a pale blue iridescent154 pitcher155 at Salviate's for Cecy Slack, and see it carefully rolled in seaweed and soft paper.
The price of the bracelet was a little more than she expected, and quite a long process of bargaining was necessary to reduce it to the sum she had to spend. She had just succeeded and was counting out the money when Mrs. Ashe and her brother appeared, having spied her from the opposite side of the Piazza, where they were choosing last photographs at Naga's. Katy showed her purchase and explained that it was a present; "for of course I should never walk out in cold blood and buy a bracelet for myself," she said with a laugh.
"This is a fascinating little shop," said Mrs. Ashe. "I wonder what is the price of that queer old chatelaine with the bottles hanging from it."
The price was high; but Mrs. Ashe was now tolerably conversant156 with shopping Italian, which consists chiefly of a few words repeated many times over, and it lowered rapidly under the influence of her troppo's and è molto caro's, accompanied with telling little shrugs157 and looks of surprise. In the end she bought it for less than two thirds of what had been originally asked for it. As she put the parcel in her pocket, her brother said,—
"If you have done your shopping now, Polly, can't you come out for a last row?"
"Katy may, but I can't," replied Mrs. Ashe. "The man promised to bring me gloves at six o'clock, and I must be there to pay for them. Take her down to the Lido, Ned. It's an exquisite158 evening for the water, and the sunset promises to be delicious. You can take the time, can't you, Katy?"
Katy could.
Mrs. Ashe turned to leave them, but suddenly stopped short.
"Katy, look! Isn't that a picture!"
The "picture" was Amy, who had come to the Piazza with Mrs. Swift, to feed the doves of St. Mark's, which was one of her favorite amusements. These pretty birds are the pets of all Venice, and so accustomed to being fondled and made much of by strangers, that they are perfectly tame. Amy, when her mother caught sight of her, was sitting on the marble pavement, with one on her shoulder, two perched on the edge of her lap, which was full of crumbs159, and a flight of others circling round her head. She was looking up and calling them in soft tones. The sunlight caught the little downy curls on her head and made them glitter. The flying doves lit on the pavement, and crowded round her, their pearl and gray and rose-tinted and white feathers, their scarlet feet and gold-ringed eyes, making a shifting confusion of colors, as they hopped160 and fluttered and cooed about the little maid, unstartled even by her clear laughter. Close by stood Nurse Swift, observant and grimly pleased.
The mother looked on with happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, Katy, think what she was a few weeks ago and look at her now! Can I ever be thankful enough?"
She squeezed Katy's hand convulsively and walked away, turning her head now and then for another glance at Amy and the doves; while Ned and Katy silently crossed to the landing and got into a gondola. It was the perfection of a Venice evening, with silver waves lapsing161 and lulling162 under a rose and opal sky; and the sense that it was their last row on those enchanted163 waters made every moment seem doubly precious.
I cannot tell you exactly what it was that Ned Worthington said to Katy during that row, or why it took so long to say it that they did not get in till after the sun was set, and the stars had come out to peep at their bright, glinting faces, reflected in the Grand Canal. In fact, no one can tell; for no one overheard, except Giacomo, the brown yellow-jacketed gondolier, and as he did not understand a word of English he could not repeat the conversation. Venetian boatmen, however, know pretty well what it means when a gentleman and lady, both young, find so much to say in low tones to each other under the gondola hood, and are so long about giving the order to return; and Giacomo, deeply sympathetic, rowed as softly and made himself as imperceptible as he could,—a display of tact164 which merited the big silver piece with which Lieutenant Worthington "crossed his palm" on landing.
Mrs. Ashe had begun to look for them long before they appeared, but I think she was neither surprised nor sorry that they were so late. Katy kissed her hastily and went away at once,—"to pack," she said,—and Ned was equally undemonstrative; but they looked so happy, both of them, that "Polly dear" was quite satisfied and asked no questions.
Five days later the parting came, when the "Florio" steamer put into the port of Genoa for passengers. It was not an easy good-by to say. Mrs. Ashe and Amy both cried, and Mabel was said to be in deep affliction also. But there were alleviations. The squadron was coming home in the autumn, and the officers would have leave to see their friends, and of course Lieutenant Worthington must come to Burnet—to visit his sister. Five months would soon go, he declared; but for all the cheerful assurance, his face was rueful enough as he held Katy's hand in a long tight clasp while the little boat waited to take him ashore165.
After that it was just a waiting to be got through with till they sighted Sandy Hook and the Neversinks,—a waiting varied166 with peeps at Marseilles and Gibraltar and the sight of a whale or two and one distant iceberg167. The weather was fair all the way, and the ocean smooth. Amy was never weary of lamenting168 her own stupidity in not having taken Maria Matilda out of confinement169 before they left Venice.
"That child has hardly been out of the trunk since we started," she said. "She hasn't seen anything except a little bit of Nice. I shall really be ashamed when the other children ask her about it. I think I shall play that she was left at boarding-school and didn't come to Europe at all! Don't you think that would be the best way, mamma?"
"You might play that she was left in the States-prison for having done something naughty," suggested Katy; but Amy scouted170 this idea.
"She never does naughty things," she said, "because she never does anything at all. She's just stupid, poor child! It's not her fault."
The thirty-six hours between New York and Burnet seemed longer than all the rest of the journey put together, Katy thought. But they ended at last, as the "Lake Queen" swung to her moorings at the familiar wharf, where Dr. Carr stood surrounded with all his boys and girls just as they had stood the previous October, only that now there were no clouds on anybody's face, and Johnnie was skipping up and down for joy instead of grief. It was a long moment while the plank171 was being lowered from the gangway; but the moment it was in place, Katy darted172 across, first ashore of all the passengers, and was in her father's arms.
Mrs. Ashe and Amy spent two or three days with them, while looking up temporary quarters elsewhere; and so long as they stayed all seemed a happy confusion of talking and embracing and exclaiming, and distributing of gifts. After they went away things fell into their customary train, and a certain flatness became apparent. Everything had happened that could happen. The long-talked-of European journey was over. Here was Katy at home again, months sooner than they expected; yet she looked remarkably173 cheerful and content! Clover could not understand it; she was likewise puzzled to account for one or two private conversations between Katy and papa in which she had not been invited to take part, and the occasional arrival of a letter from "foreign parts" about whose contents nothing was said.
"It seems a dreadful pity that you had to come so soon," she said one day when they were alone in their bedroom. "It's delightful to have you, of course; but we had braced174 ourselves to do without you till October, and there are such lots of delightful things that you could have been doing and seeing at this moment."
"Oh, yes, indeed," replied Katy, but not at all as if she were particularly disappointed.
"Katy Carr, I don't understand you," persisted Clover. "Why don't you feel worse about it? Here you have lost five months of the most splendid time you ever had, and you don't seem to mind it a bit! Why, if I were in your place my heart would be perfectly broken. And you needn't have come, either; that's the worst of it. It was just a whim175 of Polly's. Papa says Amy might have stayed as well as not. Why aren't you sorrier, Katy?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps because I had so much as it was,—enough to last all my life, I think, though I should like to go again. You can't imagine what beautiful pictures are put away in my memory."
"I don't see that you had so awfully much," said the aggravated176 Clover; "you were there only a little more than six months,—for I don't count the sea,—and ever so much of that time was taken up with nursing Amy. You can't have any pleasant pictures of that part of it."
"Yes, I have, some."
"Well, I should really like to know what. There you were in a dark room, frightened to death and tired to death, with only Mrs. Ashe and the old nurse to keep you company—Oh, yes, that brother was there part of the time; I forgot him—"
Clover stopped short in sudden amazement177. Katy was standing178 with her back toward her, smoothing her hair, but her face was reflected in the glass. At Clover's words a sudden deep flush had mounted in Katy's cheeks. Deeper and deeper it burned as she became conscious of Clover's astonished gaze, till even the back of her neck was pink. Then, as if she could not bear it any longer, she put the brush down, turned, and fled out of the room; while Clover, looking after her, exclaimed in a tone of sudden comical dismay,—
"What does it mean? Oh, dear me! is that what Katy is going to do next?"
The End
The End
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1
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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primroses
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| n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 )；淡黄色；追求享乐（招至恶果） | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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banyan
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| n.菩提树，榕树 | |
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pagodas
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| 塔，宝塔( pagoda的名词复数 ) | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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28
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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29
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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finesses
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| v.手腕，手段，技巧( finesse的第三人称单数 ) | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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40
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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46
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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48
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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49
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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50
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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51
aria
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| n.独唱曲，咏叹调 | |
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52
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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53
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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54
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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55
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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56
arias
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| n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 ) | |
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57
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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58
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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59
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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60
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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61
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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62
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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63
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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64
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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65
thriftily
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| 节俭地； 繁茂地； 繁荣的 | |
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66
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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67
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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68
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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69
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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70
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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71
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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72
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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73
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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74
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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75
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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76
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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77
figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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78
specialties
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| n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约 | |
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79
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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80
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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81
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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82
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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83
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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84
carnations
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| n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 ) | |
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85
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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86
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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87
tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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88
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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89
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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90
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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91
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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92
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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93
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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94
berate
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| v.训斥，猛烈责骂 | |
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95
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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96
tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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97
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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98
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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99
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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100
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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101
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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102
squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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103
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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104
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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105
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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106
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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107
antedate
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| vt.填早...的日期，早干，先干 | |
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108
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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109
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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110
sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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111
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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112
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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113
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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114
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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115
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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116
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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117
garnish
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| n.装饰，添饰，配菜 | |
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118
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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119
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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120
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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121
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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122
gondola
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| n.威尼斯的平底轻舟；飞船的吊船 | |
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123
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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124
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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125
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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126
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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127
gondolas
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| n.狭长小船( gondola的名词复数 )；货架（一般指商店，例如化妆品店）；吊船工作台 | |
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128
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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129
piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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130
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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131
pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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132
barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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133
embroideries
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| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
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134
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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135
awnings
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| 篷帐布 | |
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136
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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137
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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138
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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139
flake
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| v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片 | |
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140
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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141
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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142
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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143
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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144
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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145
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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146
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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147
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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148
alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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149
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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150
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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151
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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152
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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153
bracelet
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| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
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154
iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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155
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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156
conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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157
shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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158
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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159
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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160
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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161
lapsing
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| v.退步( lapse的现在分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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162
lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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163
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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164
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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165
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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166
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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167
iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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168
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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169
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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170
scouted
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| 寻找，侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 )； 物色（优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等） | |
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171
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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172
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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173
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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174
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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175
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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176
aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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177
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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178
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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