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Warner, Susan, 1819-1885

"Melbourne House, Volume 2"

"
Preston did not quite understand the philosophy of the tray; however,
Daisy must be humoured. It was brought. By Daisy's order it had been
carefully protected from dust and danger; and the lineaments of England,
as traced by the captain some time ago, were fresh and in good order.
Daisy hung over the map with great interest, renewing her acquaintance
with various localities, and gradually getting Preston warmed up to the
play. It was quite exciting; for with every movement of William's
victorious footsteps, the course of his progress had to be carefully
studied out on a printed map, and then the towns and villages which
marked his way noted on the clay map, and their places betokened by
wooden pins. Daisy suggested that these pins should have sealing-wax
heads of different colours to distinguish the cities, the villages, and
the forts from each other. Making these, interrupted doubtless the march
of the Conqueror and of history, but in the end much increased Daisy's
satisfaction, and if the truth be told, Preston's too.
"There,--now you can see at a glance where the castles are; don't their
red heads look pretty! And, O Preston! we ought to have some way of
marking the battle-fields; don't you think so?"
"The map of England will be nothing but marks then, by and by," said
Preston.
"Will it? But it would be very curious. Preston, just give me a little
piece of that pink blotting paper from the library table; it is in the
portfolio there. Now I can put a little square bit of this on every
battle-field, and pressing it a little, it will stick, I think.


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