Jo's Boys - Bibliotecadigital.puc-campinas.edu.br

Chapter 4 41'Oh, please don't begin on that. People always quarrel over that question, and call names, and never agree. Dolet us be quiet and happy tonight,' pleaded Daisy, who hated discussion as much as Nan loved it.'You shall vote as much as you like in our new town, Nan; be mayor and aldermen, and run the wholeconcern. It's going to be as free as air, or I can't live in it,' said Dan, adding, with a laugh, 'I see MrsGiddygaddy and Mrs Shakespeare Smith don't agree any better than they used to.''If everyone agreed, we should never get on. Daisy is a dear, but inclined to be an old fogy; so I stir her up;and next fall she will go and vote with me. Demi will escort us to do the one thing we are allowed to do asyet.''Will you take 'em, Deacon?' asked Dan, using the old name as if he liked it. 'It works capitally in Wyoming.''I shall be proud to do it. Mother and the aunts go every year, and Daisy will come with me. She is my betterhalf still; and I don't mean to leave her behind in anything,' said Demi, with an arm round his sister of whomhe was fonder than ever.Dan looked at them wistfully, thinking how sweet it must be to have such a tie; and his lonely youth seemedsadder than ever as he recalled its struggles. A gusty sigh from Tom made sentiment impossible, as he saidpensively:'I always wanted to be a twin. It's so sociable and so cosy to have someone glad to lean on a fellow andcomfort him, if other girls are cruel.'As Tom's unrequited passion was the standing joke of the family, this allusion produced a laugh, which Nanincreased by whipping out a bottle of Nux, saying, with her professional air:'I knew you ate too much lobster for tea. Take four pellets, and your dyspepsia will be all right. Tom alwayssighs and is silly when he's overeaten.''I'll take 'em. These are the only sweet things you ever give me.' And Tom gloomily crunched his dose.'"Who can minister to a mind diseased, or pluck out a rooted sorrow?" quoted Josie tragically from her perchon the railing.'Come with me, Tommy, and I'll make a man of you. Drop your pills and powders, and cavort round the worlda spell, and you'll soon forget you've got a heart, or a stomach either,' said Dan, offering his one panacea forall ills.'Ship with me, Tom. A good fit of seasickness will set you up, and a stiff north-easter blow your blue-devilsaway. Come along as surgeon--easy berth, and no end of larks.''"And if your Nancy frowns, my lad, And scorns a jacket blue, Just hoist your sails for other ports, And find amaid more true."'added Emil, who had a fragment of song to cheer every care and sorrow, and freely offered them to hisfriends.'Perhaps I'll think of it when I've got my diploma. I'm not going to grind three mortal years and have nothingto show for it. Till then,--''I'll never desert Mrs Micawber,' interrupted Teddy, with a gurgling sob. Tom immediately rolled him off the