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.The mercury stays in the body, heexplained, until a weak spot occurs, and then goesthere to make trouble.He recommended she take wineto help her circulation, wear long woolen underwear tokeep warm, and drink iodine of potash as an antidote.Whether this treatment actually worked or not, thepain in her leg eased up, she slept better, and was againable to enjoy her surroundings.She wrote to JohnPratt, who had also been treated with large doses ofcalomel and was now ill and lame, recommending thetreatment to him.As summer arrived, the travelers moved on to Geneva. CH.WT.LMA.C07.q.Final 4/30/09 2:40 PM Page 77TRAVELER 77This time Louisa could linger and look at monumentsand landscapes and ancient castles without a fretfulinvalid making her hurry past scenes she wanted toexplore.Soon after they reached Switzerland, theFranco-Prussian War broke out.France s EmperorNapoleon III was making his last stand, dreaming ofrestoring the glory days of his uncle, the legendaryNapoleon Bonaparte.Their hotel on Lake Geneva wasfull of refugees, and the three Americans listened to andobserved with great interest the excitement of thesepeople who were involved in history-making changestaking place in Europe.From America, editors kept bombarding Louisa withrequests to write for their papers or magazines.InAugust she wrote to Mr.Niles, telling him she had nointention of getting back on the treadmill until heryear s vacation was over.However, she enclosed apoem called The Lay of a Golden Goose, which shetold him he could print to appease her petitioners.Thepoem, in thirty-one four-line stanzas, traces her devel-opment as a writer from the time she was a littlegoose who was laughed at for trying to use her wingsto fly and advised to stay in her own puddle. It goeson through her failures and determination until shecomes to a stream ( most fertile of all Niles ) wheresuddenly a cry is heard that This goose lays goldeneggs. The goose is then stuffed with praise and requestsuntil she runs to the Atlantic pond and paddles across itfor her life.The last stanza says that when the prayersfor letters, tales, or verse pursued her across theocean, the rejuvenated fowl Took from her wing aquill and wrote/This lay of a Golden Goose. Thepoem, which cleverly sums up her career, appeared inseveral publications. CH.WT.LMA.C07.q.Final 4/30/09 2:40 PM Page 7878 LOUISA MAY ALCOTTIn October, the travelers enjoyed a memorable journeyto Italy, traveling over the Alps by moonlight.After afew heavenly days at the lakes, they visited the citiesof Milan, Parma, Pisa, Bologna, and Florence.Thelovely scenery, Louisa thought, made up for fadedpictures, chilly art galleries, and cold winds in sunnyItaly. In Rome, they settled into a warm and cozyapartment on the Piazza Barbarini for the winter.Luckily, their apartment was up high, and they stayeddry when heavy rains caused the Tiber River to overflowits banks and flood the city.December brought the sad news of the death of JohnPratt.He was just thirty-seven, and from his symptomsit has been speculated that it was mercury poisoningthat caused his death.Louisa wrote her sister a lovingletter, telling her that, no born brother was ever dearer,and each year I loved and respected and admired himmore and more. John Pratt had been a strong support toAbba during the ten years of his marriage to Anna, andLouisa was anxious about her mother.Cousin Lizziehad asked Abba to come to stay with her for a while,and Louisa wrote to thank her for her kindness to Annaand Abba.She asked Lizzie to fill her place until shecould come home.She longed to be with the family, butas she told her cousin, winter, distance, health and dutyhold me till April. What she could do was try to fulfill the promise shehad made to John Pratt to help take care of his childrenif anything happened to him.And she set about doing itin the only way she could think of writing a book.Andso she began to write Little Men, the story of life at aNew England school called Plumfield run by Jo Marchand her husband Professor Bhaer.Sitting at the windowof her room in Rome and looking out at the statue of old CH.WT.LMA.C07.q.Final 4/30/09 2:40 PM Page 79TRAVELER 79Louisa s nephews Frederick and John Pratt were the sons of hersister Anna and John Pratt.In 1887, Louisa legally adopted Johnso that he could manage her financial affairs and inherit thecopyrights to her books after her death.Triton in a fountain (usually with an icicle on his nose),she began to write of the adventures of a dozen boys anda few girls in a school which was run on the same prin-ciples as Bronson s Temple School in Boston whenLouisa was a very little girl. CH.WT.LMA.C07.q.Final 4/30/09 2:40 PM Page 8080 LOUISA MAY ALCOTTInto the novel she again put herself into Jo MarchBhaer, who has matured into a genial, comfortable kindof person with a genius for understanding little boys andwho still enjoys flying a kite.John Pratt is there as Meg shusband, John Brooke, as he was in Little Women.Abbaand Bronson reappear as Mr.And Mrs.March as doesMay as the artistic Amy.Mr.Hyde the naturalist whotickles lizards with straws, whistles to snakes, and tellstales about rocks and Indians is based on Thoreau.Thefun and games and tricks the children get up to arelargely based on childhood experiences of the Alcottsisters and their friends.As usual Louisa fell into a vortex of concentratedeffort, and after three months of intense writing, it wasrelaxing to spend two weeks in Venice, cruising thecanals in gondolas.Then they traveled to London wherethey settled in lodgings on Brompton Road.Louisaenjoyed showing May her favorite places and introduc-ing her to friends
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