I hope I shall go abroad some day , but I 'd rather go to Rome than the Row , '' said Amy , who had not the remotest idea what the Row was and would n't have asked for the world . Frank , sitting just behind the little girls , heard what they were saying , and pushed his crutch away from him with an impatient gesture as he watched the active lads going through all sorts of comical gymnastics . Beth , who was collecting the scattered Author cards , looked up and said , in her shy yet friendly way , `` I 'm afraid you are tired . Can I do anything for you ? '' `` Talk to me , please . It 's dull , sitting by myself , '' answered Frank , who had evidently been used to being made much of at home . If he asked her to deliver a Latin oration , it would not have seemed a more impossible task to bashful Beth , but there was no place to run to , no Jo to hide behind now , and the poor boy looked so wistfully at her that she bravely resolved to try . `` What do you like to talk about ? '' she asked , fumbling over the cards and dropping half as she tried to tie them up . `` Well , I like to hear about cricket and boating and hunting , '' said Frank , who had not yet learned to suit his amusements to his strength . My heart ! What shall I do ? I do n't know anything about them , thought Beth , and forgetting the boy 's misfortune in her flurry , she said , hoping to make him talk , `` I never saw any hunting , but I suppose you know all about it . '' `` I did once , but I can never hunt again , for I got hurt leaping a confounded five-barred gate , so there are no more horses and hounds for me , '' said Frank with a sigh that made Beth hate herself for her innocent blunder . `` Your deer are much prettier than our ugly buffaloes , '' she said , turning to the prairies for help and feeling glad that she had read one of the boys ' books in which Jo delighted . Buffaloes proved soothing and satisfactory , and in her eagerness to amuse another , Beth forgot herself , and was quite unconscious of her sisters ' surprise and delight at the unusual spectacle of Beth talking away to one of the dreadful boys , against whom she had begged protection . `` Bless her heart ! She pities him , so she is good to him , '' said Jo , beaming at her from the croquet ground . `` I always said she was a little saint , '' added Meg , as if there could be no further doubt of it . `` I have n't heard Frank laugh so much for ever so long , '' said Grace to Amy , as they sat discussing dolls and making tea sets out of the acorn cups .
`` My sister Beth is a very fastidious girl , when she likes to be , '' said Amy , well pleased at XXXXX 's success .
Amy Author Beth Frank Jo Meg Row acorn croquet day