the tearstearshed with such wild passion of griefgriefby the little girl of nine , as she hidhideher face under the bed-clothes , in that first night ; and how she was biddenbidnot to cry by the nurse , because it would disturb Miss Edith ; and how she had criedcryas bitterly , but more quietlyquietly, till her newly-seennewly, grand , pretty aunt had comecomesoftly upstairs with Mr. Hale to show him his little sleepingsleepdaughter .
They clamoredclamorat each other , numbers making futile bidsbidfor the popular attention .
Then he wentgoto her sister and badebidher good-bye too .
The officer , whose name was Blakeney , tappedtapat the door , and was bidbidto enter by a voice melodiously soft .
Whether sea-going people were short of money about that time , or were short of faith and preferred cork jackets , I do n’t know ; all I know is , that there was but one solitary biddingbid, and that was from an attorney connected with the bill-broking business , who offeredoffertwo pounds in cash , and the balance in sherry , but declineddeclineto be guaranteed from drowning on any higher bargain .
He badebidme observe it , and I should always find that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind , but that the middle station had the fewest disasters , and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind ; nay , they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses , either of body or mind , as those were who , by vicious living , luxury , and extravagances on the one hand , or by hard labour , want of necessaries , and mean or insufficient diet on the other hand , bring distemper upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living ; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtue and all kind of enjoyments ; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle fortune ; that temperance , moderation , quietness , health , society , all agreeable diversions , and all desirable pleasures , were the blessings attending the middle station of life ; that this way men went silently and smoothly through the world , and comfortably out of it , not embarrassed with the labours of the hands or of the head , not sold to a life of slavery for daily bread , nor harassed with perplexed circumstances , which rob the soul of peace and the body of rest , nor enraged with the passion of envy , or the secret burning lust of ambition for great things ; but , in easy circumstances , sliding gently through the world , and sensibly tasting the sweets of living , without the bitter ; feeling that they are happy , and learning by every day ’s experience to know it more sensibly .
You certainly do not know the value of the article you are biddingbidon .
My daughter and my grandchild join with me in desiring to be most kindly remembered to the amiable girl ; and they bidbidme remindremindyou , that the annual visit to Howard Grove , which we were formerly promisedpromise, has been discontinueddiscontinuefor more than four years .
On March 3 , 1866 , Powell and I packedpackhis provisions on two of our burros , and biddingbidme good-bye he mountedmounthis horse , and startedstartdown the mountainside toward the valley , across which led the first stage of his journey .