Martha Finley

Elsie at Nantucket Martha Finley

Publisher Marketing: "How happy they, Who from the toil and tumult of their lives Steal to look down where naught but ocean strives." -Byron. "Well, captain, for how long have you Uncle Sam's permission to stay on shore this time?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, as the family at Ion sat about the breakfast-table on the morning after Captain Raymond's arrival. "Just one month certain, sir, with the possibility that the leave of absence may be extended," was the reply, in a cheery tone; "and as I want to make the very most of it, I propose that our plans for a summer outing be at once discussed, decided upon, and carried out." "I second the motion," said Mr. Dinsmore. "Are all the grown people agreed? The consent of the younger ones may safely be taken for granted," he added, with a smiling glance from one to another. "I am agreed and ready for suggestions," replied his wife. "And I," said his daughter. "Vi is, of course, since the proposition comes from her husband," Edward remarked, with a sportive look at her; then glancing at his own little wife: "and as I approve, Zoe will be equally ready with her consent." "Have you any suggestion to offer, captain?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. "I have, sir; and it is that we make the island of Nantucket our summer resort for this year, dividing the time, if you like, between Nantucket Town and the quaint little fishing village Siasconset, or 'Sconset, as they call it for short. There is an odd little box of a cottage there belonging to a friend of mine, a Captain Coffin, which I have partially engaged until the first of September. It wouldn't hold nearly all of us, but we may be able to rent another for the season, or we can pitch a tent or two, and those who prefer it can take rooms, with or without board, at the hotels or boarding-houses. What do you all say?" glancing from his mother-in-law to his wife. Contributor Bio:  Finley, Martha Martha Finley (1828 1909) was born in Ohio. She was a private educator in Pennsylvania until she became ill and moved to Elkton, Maryland, where at age twenty-six, she began her literary career as a means to support herself. She wrote twenty-eight Elsie books and was one of the most beloved children s authors of all time, with over twenty-five million readers in both America and England.