That these persons were
not of a very high social class was evident enough, even in their
language. There was much occasion to mention New York, we found, and
they uniformly called it "the city." By no accident did either of
them happen to use the expression that she had been "in town," as
one of us would be apt to say. "He's gone to the city," or "She's in
the city," are awkward phrases, and tant soit peu vulgar; but even
our pretty young boarding-school eleves would use them. We have a
horror of the expression "city," and are a little fastidious,
perhaps, touching its use.
But these little peculiarities were spots on the sun. The entire
family, taken as a whole, was really charming; and long before the
hour for retiring came, we had become much interested in them all.
We found there was a fifth person belonging to this party, who did
not make his appearance that night. From the discourse of these
females, however, it was easy to glean the following leading facts:
This fifth person was a male; he was indisposed, and kept his berth;
and he was quite aged. Several nice little dishes were carried from
the table into his state-room that evening, by one or the other of
the young sisters, and each of the party appeared anxious to
contribute to the invalid's comfort.
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