Then it was weighed , stamped , and pronounced ready for the post . `` I shall write and tell aunty they are coming , because she will want to be prepared for such distinguished visitors , '' said papa , taking up his pen with a glance at the six excited little faces round him . Silence reigned while the letter was written , and as he sealed it up Mr. Plum said solemnly , with his hand on the parcel : `` For the last time , shall they go ? '' `` Yes ! '' answered the Spartan mothers with one voice , while the other sisters danced round them , and Kate patted the curly heads approvingly . `` Going , going , gone ! '' answered papa as he whisked on his coat and hat , and slammed the door behind him . The children clustered at the window to see him set out on this momentous errand , and he often looked back waving his umbrella at them , till he vanished round the corner , with a reassuring pat on the pocket out of which dear Do and Flo popped their heads for a last look at their sweet home . `` Now let us take out poor old Lucinda and Rose Augusta to play with . I know their feelings were hurt at our leaving them for the new dolls , '' said Maggie , rummaging in the baby-house , whither Margery soon followed her to reinstate the old darlings in the place of the departed new ones . `` Safely off , '' reported Mr. Plum , when he came into tea , `` and we may expect to hear from them in a week or two . Parcels go more slowly than letters , and this is Aunty 's busy season , so wait patiently and see what will happen . '' `` We will , '' said the little girls ; and they did , but week after week went by and nothing was heard of the wanderers . We , however , can follow them and learn much that their anxious mothers never knew . As soon as Flora and Dora recovered from the bewilderment occasioned by the confusion of the post office , they found themselves in one of the many leathern mail bags rumbling Eastward . As it was perfectly dark they could not see their companions , so listened to the whispering and rustling that went on about them . The newspapers all talked politics , and some of them used such bad language that the dolls would have covered their ears , if their hands had not been tied down . The letters were better behaved and more interesting , for they told one another the news they carried , because nothing is private in America , and even gummed envelopes can not keep gossip from leaking out . `` It is very interesting , but I should enjoy it more if I was not grinding my nose against the rough side of this leather bag , '' whispered Dora , who lay undermost just then . `` So should I , if a heavy book was not pinching my toes .
I 've tried to kick it away , but it wo n't stir , and keeps droning on about reports and tariffs and such dull things , '' answered XXXXX , with a groan .
America Augusta Aunty Flora Kate Maggie Spartan baby-house darlings leathern