Chapter XII: Romance and Reality

A day’s ramble about town—Strange sights 191
and sounds—Fatigue—The alarm of
fire—Where it came from—General
indifference to it—The fire engine—The
boys at home—Ettie and her dissected
map—Queer transformations—Description
of the fire-alarm telegraph—The signal
stations—The central office—How the
bells are struck—Its value—Mr.
Davenport’s questions—His fatigue—A
comparison between city and country
workers—Whistler’s anticipated
farm—Playful retort—Romance of the
farm—All men not made for
farmers—Other pursuits necessary—The
great mistake—A dry but important
subject—Clinton’s choice of a
profession—Why he would like to be a
merchant—Romantic notions of
mercantile life—The other
side—Practical application—The summing
up—A few first principles of political
economy—A legal opinion without a fee,

CHAPTER XIII.

SIGHT-SEEING.

School—The tramp begun—Dogs—The 206
dog-cart—The image dealer—The released
bird—An unnecessary piece of
information—How received—The
invitation—The birds—A surprise—The
Common—A beautiful scene—The
fountain—View of it—Its various
jets—Vast quantity of water required
to feed it—Changing the jet—The great
elm—A new acquaintance—A proposal
accepted—The State House—A journey to
its top—The lantern—A magnificent
view—The descent—Clinton’s wanderings
in unknown regions—A discovery—How he
happened to get turned round—Safe
arrival—A laugh over the adventure—The
distracted Quaker—The bewildered boy,