Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives , or unmaidenly girls , running about to find husbands , '' said Mrs. March decidedly . `` Do n't be troubled , Meg , poverty seldom daunts a sincere lover . Some of the best and most honored women I know were poor girls , but so love-worthy that they were not allowed to be old maids . Leave these things to time . Make this home happy , so that you may be fit for homes of your own , if they are offered you , and contented here if they are not . One thing remember , my girls . Mother is always ready to be your confidant , Father to be your friend , and both of us hope and trust that our daughters , whether married or single , will be the pride and comfort of our lives . '' `` We will , Marmee , we will ! '' cried both , with all their hearts , as she bade them good night . CHAPTER TEN THE P.C. AND P.O. . As spring came on , a new set of amusements became the fashion , and the lengthening days gave long afternoons for work and play of all sorts . The garden had to be put in order , and each sister had a quarter of the little plot to do what she liked with . Hannah used to say , `` I 'd know which each of them gardings belonged to , ef I see 'em in Chiny , '' and so she might , for the girls ' tastes differed as much as their characters . Meg 's had roses and heliotrope , myrtle , and a little orange tree in it . Jo 's bed was never alike two seasons , for she was always trying experiments . This year it was to be a plantation of sun flowers , the seeds of which cheerful land aspiring plant were to feed Aunt Cockle-top and her family of chicks . Beth had old-fashioned fragrant flowers in her garden , sweet peas and mignonette , larkspur , pinks , pansies , and southernwood , with chickweed for the birds and catnip for the pussies . Amy had a bower in hers , rather small and earwiggy , but very pretty to look at , with honeysuckle and morning-glories hanging their colored horns and bells in graceful wreaths all over it , tall white lilies , delicate ferns , and as many brilliant , picturesque plants as would consent to blossom there . Gardening , walks , rows on the river , and flower hunts employed the fine days , and for rainy ones , they had house diversions , some old , some new , all more or less original . One of these was the ` P.C. ' , for as secret societies were the fashion , it was thought proper to have one , and as all of the girls admired Dickens , they called themselves the Pickwick Club .
With a few interruptions , they had kept this up for a year , and met every Saturday evening in the big garret , on which occasions the ceremonies were as follows : Three chairs were arranged in a row before a table on which was a lamp , also four white badges , with a big ` P.C. ' in different colors on each , and the weekly newspaper XXXXX , The Pickwick Portfolio , to which all contributed something , while Jo , who reveled in pens and ink , was the editor .
Do Make aspiring called consent cried know look running thought