Eight Cousins

lugubrious sniff and a solemn wag of the funereal bonnet,

friend in all their tender trials and delights.

Uncle Mac was a merchant, very rich and busy, and as quiet as a mouse at home

Aunt Myra was a widow.

Uncle Jem and Uncle Steve, the husbands of Aunt Jessie and Aunt Clara,

momentary dread of an unseemly outbreak

Alec detained her, feeling that he must define his position at once, and maintain it manfully if he hoped to have any success in his new undertaking.