The moment the girl opened the door, Ethelbertha burst out with:--"Oh! can you swim, Amenda ?" "No, mum," answered Amenda, with entire absence of curiosity as to why such a question had been addressed to her, "I never knew but one girl as could, and she got drowned." "Well, you'll have to make haste and learn, then," continued Ethelbertha, "because you won't be able to walk out with your young man, you'll have to swim out.

We're not going to live in a house any more.

We're going to live on a boat in the middle of the river." Ethelbertha's chief object in life at this period was to surprise and shock Amenda, and her chief sorrow that she had never succeeded in doing so.

She had hoped great things from this announcement, but the girl remained unmoved.

"Oh, are you, mum," she replied; and went on to speak of other matters.
I believe the result would have been the same if we had told her we were going to live in a balloon.
I do not know how it was, I am sure.