We did not give much thought, either to
the preparations in advance, or to our mode of life when settled
there. We were to live near to Nature: that was the main thing.
"`What shall we call the place?' asked Eunice.
"`Arcadia!' said Abel Mallory, rolling up his large green eyes.
"`Then,' said Hollins, `let us constitute ourselves the Arcadian
Club!'"
"Aha!" interrupted Mr. Johnson, "I see! The A. C.!"
"Yes, you can see the A. C. now," said Mrs. Billings; "but to
understand it fully, you should have had a share in those Arcadian
experiences."
"I am all the more interested in hearing them described. Go on,
Enos."
"The proposition was adopted. We called ourselves The Arcadian
Club; but in order to avoid gossip, and the usual ridicule, to
which we were all more or less sensitive, in case our plan should
become generally known, it was agreed that the initials only should
be used. Besides, there was an agreeable air of mystery about it:
we thought of Delphi, and Eleusis, and Samothrace: we should
discover that Truth which the dim eyes of worldly men and women
were unable to see, and the day of disclosure would be the day of
Triumph.
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