Of course he thought
Casabianca's was the noblest life that perished there; there could
be no two opinions about that; it never occurred to him that the moral
of the poem was that young people cannot begin too soon to exercise
discretion in the obedience they pay to their papa and mamma. Oh,
no! the only thought in his mind was that he should never, never
have been like Casabianca, and that Casabianca would have despised him
so much, if he could have known him, that he would not have
condescended to speak to him. There was nobody else in the ship
worth reckoning at all: it did not matter how much they were blown up.
Mrs. Hemans knew them all and they were a very indifferent lot.
Besides, Casabianca was so good-looking and came of such a good
family."
And thus his small mind kept wandering on till he could follow it no
longer, and again went off into a doze.
CHAPTER XXX
NEXT morning Theobald and Christina arose feeling a little tired
from their journey, but happy in that best of all happiness, the
approbation of their consciences. It would be their boy's fault
henceforth if he were not good, and as prosperous as it was at all
desirable that he should be.
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