"I am afraid there will be no one here to meet me," she said.

 

"Then I'll see you safe home," said Sam, rather hoping that it would be necessary for him to do so.

 

They got out of the cars and walked slowly along, Julia scanning every face anxiously, in the hope of seeing her father or brother. But she could see no familiar face.

 

"They must have been at the first train, and gone home," she said, in disappointment.

 

"Have a carriage, sir?" asked the hackman.

 

"I guess you'd better take one," said Sam.

 

"Will you ride, too? I should be afraid to go alone."

 

"Yes, I will go, too," answered Sam.

 

"Any baggage?" asked the hackman.

 

"I've got a trunk," said Julia; "I got it checked."

 

"Give me the check, and I'll see to it."

 

"Shall I?" asked Julia, appealing to Sam.

 

"Yes, it'll be all right. How much will you charge?"

 

"Where do you want to be carried?"

 

"No.—-, Mount Vernon Street," answered Julia.

 

"I guess that's about right," said Sam, agreeably surprised with the smallness of the charge in comparison with the extortionate demands of New York hackmen. He considered it only gallant³ to offer to pay the hack² fare, and was glad it would not be too heavy a tax on his scanty⁴ resources.

 

The trunk was soon secured, and Sam and Julia entered the hack.

 

"It seems so good to be in dear old Boston again," said Julia, with a young girl's warmth of feeling.

 

"I suppose it does," said Sam, "but I never was here. I don't think the streets are as wide as they are in New York."

 

"Oh, we've got some wide streets," said. Julia, jealous of the fair fame of her native city. "This isn't the best part of Boston, by any means. Wait till you see the common."

分享到：