And I cast them all away,
And gathered the dandelion buds,
And the wild grapes gadding spray.
Ballad.
“Clara, my love,” said Mrs. Cleveland one morning to our heroine, “you have now been here for some weeks, and have received several calls, not half so many though as you would have, had I the industry to return visits that I owe to some of the most agreeable of my acquaintances; however, we will to-morrow return those which have been paid; and do, my dear, wear the new silk which you thought me so extravagant in making you purchase, merely because, like a little country girl that you are, you thought that it did not accord with your means.”
To this proposal Clara readily acceded, but could not avoid thinking that her cousin might have exerted herself sufficiently to return the calls she mentioned, if it were only on her account. Accordingly, on the following morning Clara, dressed with much care, descended to the parlor, looking beautifully.
“Dear me, Clara,” exclaimed Mrs. Cleveland, “how charmingly you are dressed, are you going out?”
“Why, my dear Florence, have you forgotten our arrangement to make calls this morning.”
“Calls! how provoking that I should have forgotten all about it; and what is still more so, have sent the carriage driver into the country, to purchase some necessary articles for family use; which, however, I could easily have done without, had I recollected our intended excursion. Never mind, Clara, my dear, you shall not be disappointed, for after dinner we will go shopping, for I have some purchases to make which you shall assist me to select.”
But the walk did not afford much pleasure to Clara, for it was nothing more than a continued search for articles in which Mrs. Cleveland was too fastidious to be pleased, and they returned home in the evening, Mrs. Cleveland much fatigued, where they found that Mr. Cleveland had just arrived before them.