Page:Margaret Fuller Ossoli (Higginson).djvu/291

Rh “I do not think I shall publish till I can be there [in America] in person. I had first meant to [publish] in England; but you know this new regulation that a foreigner cannot hold copyright there. I think if I publish in the United States I should be there to correct the proofs, see about the form of the work and alterations in MS.; also I hope on the spot I may make better terms than are offered by letter.”

This was soon so plain that nothing stood in the way but the obstacles which she thus reported to her brother: —

&emsp; … “I hoped by this time to say decisively when I [shall] come home, but do not yet know, we not being sure yet we can get the money. The voyage, made in the cheapest way we can, must cost us about two hundred and fifty dollars, as, even if we have the length and discomforts of voyage by a merchantman, and go without any help for care of the baby in case of being sick, we must still buy stores, and have a cow or goat to insure him proper food. We may have in this way two months on the ocean. I have always suffered much in my head at sea. However, to go by France would be more than double the expense. Happy the fowls of the air, who don’t have to think so much about these things. I hope by hook (we shan’t try by crook) to get the means and come somehow.”

There were thus some actual difficulties in the way, and there was, besides, an obstacle of foreboding. It is common for those who are undertaking an important step in their lives, especially