“The pickles would have done ye little good packed away in the trunk
which ye will not see till we come to land again, honey; and don’t ye
fret your little soul about it, for your mamma has provided all things
needful; and I promise you if all the rest are taken down but yourself,
ye shall play nurse to your heart’s content, and wait on everybody. Ye
did mean to be considerate and thoughtful, I’m sure; but it’s always
best for such young heads to take counsel of those that are wiser and
older in such things.”
Having allowed so much to be confessed, Maggie thought she might as
well make a clean breast of the whole affair; and produced the bottle
of vinegar, with many entreaties to be allowed to keep it. Nurse shook
her head; but Mrs. Bradford came into the room just then, and she
turned the matter over to her.
Mamma laughed too when she heard the story, and told Maggie to give
up her pickles and vinegar, and she would provide her with something
better; so taking both the little girls into her own room, she
delighted them by presenting each with a beautiful morocco satchel,
just of a right size for small travellers, and with lock and key all
complete, to say nothing of a light chain by which they could be hung
over the shoulder.
Maggie was farther consoled by a bottle of smelling salts, one
of hartshorn, and three lemons; and this she appeared to think a
sufficient safeguard against seasickness for all the passengers and
crew of the steamer. For the rest of the day her restless energies
found satisfaction in locking and unlocking, arranging and rearranging
this satchel and its contents, and the busy head and fingers were kept
from farther mischief or hindering “help.”