Though it was still mid-afternoon , the air had now grown dark about us , and a few drops of rain came down upon the roof of our vehicle , pattering like the feet of birds that had flown thither to rest . A sound of pleasant voices made us listen , and there soon appeared halfway up the ladder the pretty person of a young damsel whose rosy face was so cheerful that even amid the gloomy light it seemed as if the sunbeams were peeping under her bonnet . We next saw the dark and handsome features of a young man who , with easier gallantry than might have been expected in the heart of Yankee-land , was assisting her into the wagon . It became immediately evident to us , when the two strangers stood within the door , that they were of a profession kindred to those of my companions , and I was delighted with the more than hospitable -- the even paternal -- kindness of the old showman 's manner as he welcomed them , while the man of literature hastened to lead the merry-eyed girl to a seat on the long bench . `` You are housed but just in time , my young friends , '' said the master of the wagon ; `` the sky would have been down upon you within five minutes . '' The young man 's reply marked him as a foreigner -- not by any variation from the idiom and accent of good English , but because he spoke with more caution and accuracy than if perfectly familiar with the language . `` We knew that a shower was hanging over us , '' said he , `` and consulted whether it were best to enter the house on the top of yonder hill , but , seeing your wagon in the road -- '' `` We agreed to come hither , '' interrupted the girl , with a smile , `` because we should be more at home in a wandering house like this . '' I , meanwhile , with many a wild and undetermined fantasy was narrowly inspecting these two doves that had flown into our ark . The young man , tall , agile and athletic , wore a mass of black shining curls clustering round a dark and vivacious countenance which , if it had not greater expression , was at least more active and attracted readier notice , than the quiet faces of our countrymen . At his first appearance he had been laden with a neat mahogany box of about two feet square , but very light in proportion to its size , which he had immediately unstrapped from his shoulders and deposited on the floor of the wagon . The girl had nearly as fair a complexion as our own beauties , and a brighter one than most of them ; the lightness of her figure , which seemed calculated to traverse the whole world without weariness , suited well with the glowing cheerfulness of her face , and her gay attire , combining the rainbow hues of crimson , green and a deep orange , was as proper to her lightsome aspect as if she had been born in it . This gay stranger was appropriately burdened with that mirth-inspiring instrument the fiddle , which her companion took from her hands , and shortly began the process of tuning . Neither of us the previous company of the wagon needed to inquire their trade , for this could be no mystery to frequenters of brigade-musters , ordinations , cattle-shows , commencements , and other festal meetings in our sober land ; and there is a dear friend of mine who will smile when this page recalls to his memory a chivalrous deed performed by us in rescuing the show-box of such a couple from a mob of great double-fisted countrymen . `` Come , '' said I to the damsel of gay attire ; `` shall we visit all the wonders of the world together ? '' She understood the metaphor at once , though , indeed , it would not much have troubled me if she had assented to the literal meaning of my words . The mahogany box was placed in a proper position , and I peeped in through its small round magnifying-window while the girl sat by my side and gave short descriptive sketches as one after another the pictures were unfolded to my view . We visited together -- at least , our imaginations did -- full many a famous city in the streets of which I had long yearned to tread . Once , I remember , we were in the harbor of Barcelona , gazing townward ; next , she bore me through the air to Sicily and bade me look up at blazing Ætna ; then we took wing to Venice and sat in a gondola beneath the arch of the Rialto , and anon she set me down among the thronged spectators at the coronation of Napoleon . But there was one scene -- its locality she could not tell -- which charmed my attention longer than all those gorgeous palaces and churches , because the fancy haunted me that I myself the preceding summer had beheld just such a humble meeting-house , in just such a pine-surrounded nook , among our own green mountains . All these pictures were tolerably executed , though far inferior to the girl 's touches of description ; nor was it easy to comprehend how in so few sentences , and these , as I supposed , in a language foreign to her , she contrived to present an airy copy of each varied scene .
When we had travelled XXXXX the vast extent of the mahogany box , I looked into my guide 's face . ''
about among if into over through upon whether within without