The dictionaries were kept
upstairs, which was very inconvenient, and the volumes of the
Encyclop?dia could not be together. There was not room for all in
one place. So from A to P were to be found downstairs, and from
Q to Z were scattered in different rooms upstairs. And the worst of
it was, you could never remember whether from A to P included
P. "I always went upstairs after P," said Agamemnon, "and then
always found it downstairs, or else it was the other way."
Of course now there were more conveniences for study. With the
books all in one room, there would be no time wasted in looking
for them.
Mr. Peterkin suggested they should each take a separate language.
If they went abroad, this would prove a great convenience.
Elizabeth Eliza could talk French with the Parisians; Agamemnon,
German with the Germans; Solomon John, Italian with the
Italians; Mrs. Peterkin, Spanish in Spain; and perhaps he could
himself master all the Eastern Languages and Russian.
Mrs. Peterkin was uncertain about undertaking the Spanish, but all
the family felt very sure they should not go to Spain (as Elizabeth
Eliza dreaded the Inquisition), and Mrs. Peterkin felt more
willing.
Still she had quite an objection to going abroad. She had always
said she would not go till a bridge was made across the Atlantic,
and she was sure it did not look like it now.
Agamemnon said there was no knowing.
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