""How on the livin" earth did you two got here?" says I, as soon as I could speak.
""Oh, we come by the same way you come--by the tem-per-ary stairs," says Mrs. Jackson. "We thought if it was too late to draw any money to-night, it might be well to be on hand bright an" early in the mornin". An" so we follered you two, as close as we could, because we knew you could take us right to the very bank doors, an" we didn"t know the way ourselves, not never havin" had no occasion to attend to nothin" of this kind before."
"Jone an" I looked at each other, but we didn"t speak for a minute.
""Then," says I, "here"s a pretty kittle o" fish."
""I should kinder say so," says Jone. "We"ve got these here two lunertics on our hands, sure enough, for there ain"t no train back to Pokus tonight, an" I wouldn"t go back with "em if there was. We must keep an eye on "em till we can see the doctor to-morrow."
""I suppose we must," said I, "but this don"t seem as much like a bridal-trip as it did a while ago."
""You"re right there," says Jone.
"When the conductor came along we had to pay the fare of them two lunertics, besides our own, for neither of "em had a cent about "em.
When we got to town we went to a smallish hotel, near the ferry, where Jone knowed the man who kep" it, who wouldn"t bother about none of us havin" a sc.r.a.p of baggage, knowin" he"d get his money all the same, out of either Jone or his father. The General an" his sister looked a kind o" funny in their little straw hats an" green carpet-slippers, an" the clerk didn"t know whether he hadn"t forgot how to read writin" when the big man put down the names of General Tom Thumb and Mrs. ex-President Andrew Jackson, which he wasn"t ex-President anyway, bein" dead; but Jone he whispered they was travelin" under nommys dess plummys (I told him to say that), an" he would fix it all right in the mornin". An" then we got some supper, which it took them two lunertics a long time to eat, for they was all the time forgettin" what particular kind o" business they was about, an" then we was showed to our rooms. They had two rooms right across the hall from ours. We hadn"t been inside our room five minutes before Mrs. General Jackson come a-knockin" at the door.
""Look a-here," she says to me, "there"s a unforeseen contingency in my room. An" it smells."
"So I went right in, an" sure enough it did smell, for she had turned on all the gases, besides the one that was lighted.
""What did you do that for?" says I, a-turnin" them off as fast as I could.
""I"d like to know what they"re made for," says she, "if they isn"t to be turned on."
"When I told Jone about this he looked real serious, an" jus" then a waiter came upstairs an" went into the big man"s room. In a minute he come out an" says to Jone an" me, a-grinnin":
""We can"t suit him no better in this house."
""What does he want?" asks Jone.
""Why, he wants a smaller bed," says the waiter. "He says he can"t sleep in a bed as big as that, an" we haven"t none smaller in this house, which he couldn"t get into if we had, in my opinion," says he.
""All right," says Jone. "Jus" you go downstairs, an" I"ll fix him." So the man goes off, still a-grinnin". "I tell you what it is," says Jone, "it wont do to let them two lunertics have rooms to themselves. They"ll set this house afire or turn it upside down in the middle of the night, if they has. There"s nuthin" to be done but for you to sleep with the woman an" for me to sleep with the man, an" to keep "em from cuttin" up till mornin"."
"So Jone he went into the room where General Tom Thumb was a-settin"
with his hat on, a-lookin" doleful at the bed, an" says he:
""What"s the matter with the bed?"
""Oh, it"s too large entirely," says the General. "It wouldn"t do for me to sleep in a bed like that. It would ruin my character as a genuine Thumb."
""Well," says Jone, "it"s nearly two times too big for you, but if you an" me was both to sleep in it, it would be about right, wouldn"t it?"
""Oh yes," says the General. An" he takes off his hat, an" Jone says good-night to me an" shuts the door. Our room was better than Mrs.
General Jackson"s, so I takes her in there, an" the fust thing she does is to turn on all the gases.
""Stop that!" I hollers. "If you do that again,--I"ll--I"ll break the United States Bank tomorrow!"
""How"ll you do that?" says she.
""I"ll draw out all my capital," says I.
""I hope really you wont," says she, "till I"ve been there," an" she leans out of the open winder to look into the street, but while she was a-lookin" out I see her left hand a-creepin" up to the gas by the winder, that wasn"t lighted. I felt mad enough to take her by the feet an" pitch her out, as you an the boarder," said Pomona, turning to me, "h"isted me out of the ca.n.a.l-boat winder."
This, by the way, was the first intimation we had had that Pomona knew how she came to fall out of that window.
"But I didn"t do it," she continued, "for there wasn"t no soft water underneath for her to fall into. After we went to bed I kep" awake for a long time, bein" afraid she"d get up in the night an" turn on all the gases and smother me alive. But I fell asleep at last, an" when I woke up, early in the mornin", the first thing I did was to feel for that lunertic. But she was gone!"
CHAPTER XVI. IN WHICH AN OLD FRIEND APPEARS AND THE BRIDAL TRIP TAKES A FRESH START.
"Gone?" cried Euphemia, who, with myself, had been listening most intently to Pomona"s story.
"Yes," continued Pomona, "she was gone. I give one jump out of bed and felt the gases, but they was all right. But she was gone, an" her clothes was gone. I dressed, as pale as death, I do expect, an" hurried to Jone"s room, an" he an" me an" the big man was all ready in no time to go an" look for her. General Tom Thumb didn"t seem very anxious, but we made him hurry up an" come along with us. We couldn"t afford to leave him nowheres. The clerk down-stairs--a different one from the chap who was there the night before--said that a middle-aged, elderly lady came down about an hour before an" asked him to tell her the way to the United States Bank, an" when he told her he didn"t know of any such bank, she jus" stared at him, an" wanted to know what he was put there for. So he didn"t have no more to say to her, an" she went out, an" he didn"t take no notice which way she went. We had the same opinion about him that Mrs. Jackson had, but we didn"t stop to tell him so. We hunted up an" down the streets for an hour or more; we asked every policeman we met if he"d seen her; we went to a police station; we did everything we could think of, but no Mrs. Jackson turned up. Then we was so tired an"
hungry that we went into some place or other an" got our breakfast. When we started out ag"in, we kep" on up one street an" down another, an"
askin" everybody who looked as if they had two grains of sense,--which most of "em didn"t look as if they had mor"n one, an" that was in use to get "em to where they was goin." At last, a little ways down a small street, we seed a crowd, an" the minute we see it Jone an" me both said in our inside hearts: "There she is!" An" sure enough, when we got there, who should we see, with a ring of street-loafers an" boys around her, but Mrs. Andrew Jackson, with her little straw hat an" her green carpet-slippers, a-dancin" some kind of a skippin" fandango, an"
a-holdin" out her skirts with the tips of her fingers. I was jus" agoin"
to rush in an" grab her when a man walks quick into the ring and touches her on the shoulder. The minute I seed him I knowed him. It was our old boarder!"
"It was?" exclaimed Euphemia.
"Yes it was truly him, an" I didn"t want him to see me there in such company, an" he most likely knowin" I was on my bridal-trip, an" so I made a dive at my bonnet to see if I had a vail on; an" findin" one, I hauled it down.
""Madam," says the boarder, very respectful, to Mrs. Jackson, "where do you live? Can"t I take you home?" "No, sir," says she, "at least not now. If you have a carriage, you may come for me after a while. I am waiting for the Bank of the United States to open, an" until which time I must support myself on the light fantastic toe," an" then she tuk up her skirts, an" begun to dance ag"in. But she didn"t make mor"n two skips before I rushed in, an" takin" her by the arm hauled her out o"
the ring. An" then up comes the big man with his face as red as fire.
"Look" here!" says he to her, as if he was ready to eat her up. "Did you draw every cent of that money?" "Not yet, not yet," says she. "You did, you purse-proud cantalope," says he. "You know very well you did, an"
now I"d like to know where my ox-money is to come from." But Jone an"
me didn"t intend to wait for no sich talk as this, an" he tuk the man by the arm, and I tuk the old woman, an" we jus" walked "em off. The boarder he told the loafers to get out an" go home, an" none of "em follered us, for they know"d if they did he"d a batted "em over the head. But he comes up alongside o" me, as I was a" walkin" behind with Mrs. Jackson, an" says he: "How d"ye do, Pomona?" I must say I felt as if I could slip in between two flagstones, but as I couldn"t get away, I said I was pretty well. "I heared you was on your bridal trip," says he ag"in; "is this it?" It was jus" like him to know that, an" as there was no help for it, I said it was. "Is that your husband?" says he, pointin"
to Jone. "Yes," says I. "It was very good in him to come along," says he. "Is these two your groomsman and bridesmaid?" "No sir," says I.
"They"re crazy." "No wonder," says he. "It"s enough to drive "em so, to see you two," an" then he went ahead an" shook hands with Jone, an" told him he"d know"d me a long time; but he didn"t say nuthin" about havin"
histed me out of a winder, for which I was obliged to him. An" then he come back to me an" says he, "Good-mornin", I must go to the office. I hope you"ll have a good time for the rest of your trip. If you happen to run short o" lunertics, jus" let me know, and I"ll furnish you with another pair." "All right," says I; "but you mustn"t bring your little girl along."
"He kinder laughed at this, as we walked away, an" then he turned around an" come back, and says he, "Have you been to any the-ay-ters, or anything, since you"ve been in town?" "No," says I, "not one." "Well,"
says he, "you ought to go. Which do you like best, the the-ay-ter, the cir-cus, or wild-beasts?" I did really like the the-ay-ter best, havin"
thought of bein" a play-actor, as you know, but I considered I"d better let that kind o" thing slide jus" now, as bein" a little too romantic, right after the "sylum, an" so I says, "I"ve been once to a circus, an"
once to a wild-beast garden, an" I like "em both. I hardly know which I like best--the roarin" beasts, a-prancin" about in their cages, with the smell of blood an" hay, an" the towerin" elephants; or the horses, an"
the music, an" the gauzy figgers at the circus, an" the splendid knights in armor an" flashin" pennants, all on fiery steeds, a-plungin" ag"in the sides of the ring, with their flags a-flyin" in the grand entry,"
says I, real excited with what I remembered about these shows.
""Well," says he, "I don"t wonder at your feelin"s. An" now, here"s two tickets for to-night, which you an" your husband can have, if you like, for I can"t go. They"re to a meetin" of the Hudson County Enter-mo-logical Society, over to Hoboken, at eight o"clock."
""Over to Hoboken!" says I; "that"s a long way."
""Oh no, it isn"t," says he. "An" it wont cost you a cent, but the ferry. They couldn"t have them shows in the city, for, if the creatures was to get loose, there"s no knowin" what might happen. So take "em, an"
have as much fun as you can for the rest of your trip. Good-bye!" An"
off he went.