No , thank you . Another name is engraved upon my heart as indelibly as the blue anchor on my arm . `` Hope '' is my motto , and `` No surrender '' , yours ; see who will hold out longest . ' ` You silly boys think we must pair off as we did when children ; but we shall do nothing of the kind . How well Parnassus looks from here ! ' said Nan , abruptly changing the conversation again . ` It is a fine house ; but I love old Plum best . Would n't Aunt March stare if she could see the changes here ? ' answered Tom , as they both paused at the great gate to look at the pleasant landscape before them . A sudden whoop startled them , as a long boy with a wild yellow head came leaping over a hedge like a kangaroo , followed by a slender girl , who stuck in the hawthorn , and sat there laughing like a witch . A pretty little lass she was , with curly dark hair , bright eyes , and a very expressive face . Her hat was at her back , and her skirts a good deal the worse for the brooks she had crossed , the trees she had climbed , and the last leap , which added several fine rents . ` Take me down , Nan , please . Tom , hold Ted ; he 's got my book , and I will have it , ' called Josie from her perch , not at all daunted by the appearance of her friends . Tom promptly collared the thief , while Nan picked Josie from among the thorns and set her on her feet without a word of reproof ; for having been a romp in her own girlhood , she was very indulgent to like tastes in others . ` What 's the matter , dear ? ' she asked , pinning up the longest rip , while Josie examined the scratches on her hands . ' I was studying my part in the willow , and Ted came slyly up and poked the book out of my hands with his rod . It fell in the brook , and before I could scrabble down he was off . You wretch , give it back this moment or I 'll box your ears , ' cried Josie , laughing and scolding in the same breath .
Escaping from XXXXX , Ted struck a sentimental attitude , and with tender glances at the wet , torn young person before him , delivered Claude Melnotte 's famous speech in a lackadaisical way that was irresistibly funny , ending with ` Dost like the picture , love ? '
Josie Nan Parnassus Ted Tom girlhood hawthorn kangaroo rents rod