Miss Flamm recognized us and asked us if we didn"t want to go in.
Wall, Josiah wuz agreeable to the idee and said so. And then she said sunthin" to the man that tended to the gate, probably sunthin" in our praise, and handed him sunthin", it might have been a ten cent piece, for all I know.
But anyway he wuz dretful polite to us, and let us through. And my land! if it wuzn"t a sight to behold! Of all the big roomy places I ever see all filled with vehicles of all shapes and sizes and folks on foot and big high platforms, all filled with men and wimmen and children! And Josiah sez to me, "I thought the hull dumb world wuz there outside in the road, and here there is ten times as many in here."
And I sez, "Yes, Josiah, be careful and not lose me, for I feel like a needle in a hay mow."
He looked down on me and sort a smiled. I s"pose it wuz because I compared myself to a needle, and he sez, "A cambric needle, or a darnin" needle?"
And I sez, "I wouldn"t laugh in such a time as this, Josiah Allen."
Sez I, "Do jest look over there on the race course."
And it wuz a thrillin" seen. It wuz a place big enough for all the horses of our land to run "round in and from Phario"s horses down to them of the present time. And beautiful broad smooth roads cut in the green velvet of the gra.s.s, and horses goin"
"round jest like lightnin", with little light buggys. .h.i.tched to "em, some like the quiver on sheet lightnin" (only different shape) and men a drivin" "em.
And then there wuz a broad beautiful race course with little cl.u.s.ters of trees and bushes, every little while right in the road, and if you"ll believe it, I don"t s"pose you will, but it is the livin" truth, when them horses, goin" jest like a flash of light, with little boys all dressed in gay colors a ridin" "em -- when them horses came to them trees instid of goin" "round "em, or pushin" in between "em, or goin" back agin, they jumped right over "em. I don"t spose this will be believed by lots of folks in Jonesville and Loontown, but it is the truth, for I see it with both my eyes. Josiah riz right up in the buggy and cheered jest as the rest of "em did, entirely unbeknown to himself, so he said, to see it a goin" on.
Why he got nearly rampant with excitement. And so did I, though I wouldn"t want it known by Tirzah Ann"s husband"s folks and others in Jonesville. They call it "steeple chasin"" so if they should hear on"t, it wouldn"t sound so very wicked any way. I should probable tell "em if they said too much, "That it wuz a pity if folks couldn"t get interested in a steeple and chase it up." But between you and me I didn"t see no sign of a steeple, nor meetin" house nor nuthin". I s"pose they gin it that name to make it seem more righter to perfessors. I know it wuz a great comfort to me. (But I don"t think they chased a steeple, and Josiah don"t, for we think we should have seen it if they had.)
Wall, as I say, we wuz both dretfully interested, excited, and wrought up, I s"pose I ort to say, when a chap accosted me and says to me sunthin" about buyin" a pool. And I shook my head and sez, "No, I don"t want to buy no pool."
But he kep" on a talkin" and a urgin", and sez, "Won"t you buy a French pool, mom, you can make lots of money out of it."
"A pool," sez I in dignified axents, and some stern, for I wuz weary with his importunities. "What do I want a pool for? Don"t you s"pose there"s any pools in Jonesville, and I never thought nothin" on "em, I always preferred runnin" water. But if I wuz a goin" to buy one, what under the sun do you s"pose I would buy one way off here for, hundreds of miles from Jonesville?"
"I might possibly," sez I, not wantin" to hurt his feelin"s and tryin" to think of some use I could put it tot " might if you had a good small American pool, that wuz a sellin" cheap; and I could have it set right in our back yard, clost to the horse barn, why I might possibly try to make a d.i.c.ker with you for it. I might use it for raisin" ducks and geese, though I"d rather have a runnin" stream then. But how under the sun you think I could take a pool home on a tower, how I could pack it, or transport it, or drive it home is a mystery to me."
Again he sez mechinecally, "Lots of wimmen do get "em."
"Wall, some wimmen," sez I mildly, for I see he wuz a lookin" at me perfect dumbfoundered. I see I wuz fairly stuntin" him with my eloquence. "Some wimmen will buy anything if it has a French name to it. But I prefer my own country, land or water. And some wimmen," sez I, "will buy anything if they can get it cheap, things they don"t need, and would be better off without, from a eliphant down to a magnificent nothin" to call husband. They"ll buy any worthless and troublesome thing jest to get "em to goin".
Now such wimmen would jest jump at that pool. But that haint my way. No, I don"t want to purchase your pool."
Sez he, "You are mistaken, mom!"
"No I haint," sez I firmly and with decesion. "No I haint. I don"t need no pool. It wouldn"t do me no good to keep it on my hands, and I haint no notion of settin" up in the pool or pond business, at my age."
"And then," sez I reasonably, "the ca.n.a.l runs jest down below our orchard, and if we run short, we could get all the water we wanted from there. And we have got two good cisterns and a well on the place."
Sez he, "What I mean is, bettin" on a horse. Do you want to bet on which horse will go the fastest, the black one or the bay one?"
"No," sez I, "I don"t want to bet."
But he kep" on a urgin" me, and thinkin" I had disappinted him in sellin" a pool, or rather pond, I thought it wouldn"t hurt me to kinder gin in to him in this, so I sez mildly, "Bettin" is sunthin"
I don"t believe in, but seein" I have disappinted you in sellin"
your water power, I don"t know as it would be wicked to humor you in this and say it to please you. You say the bay horse is the best, so I"ll say for jest this once - There! I"ll bet the bay one will go the best."
"Where is your money?" sez he. "It is five dollars for a bet.
You pay five dollars and you have a chance to get back mebby 100."
I riz right up in feerful dignity, and the buggy and I sez that one feerful word to him, "Gamblin"!" He sort a quailed. But sez he, "you had better take a five-dollar chance on the bay horse."
"No," sez I, with a freezin" coldness, that must have made his ears fairly tingle it wuz so cold, "no I shall not gamble, neither on foot nor on horseback."
Then I sot down and I sez in the same lofty tones to Josiah Allen, "Drive on, Josiah, instantly and to once."
He too had heerd the fearful word and his princeples too wuz rousted up. He driv right on rapidly, out of the gate and into the highway. But as he druv on fast and almost furius I heerd him murmur words to himself, that accounted for his eager looks while the man wuz d.i.c.kerin" about the pool. He sez, "It is dumb hard work pumpin" water for so many head of cattle." He thought a pool would come handy, so I see. But it wuz all done and I would have done the same thing if it was to do over agin, so I didn"t say nuthin", but kep" a serene silence, and let him drive along in quiet; and anon, I see the turbelence of his feelin"s subsided in a measure.
It wuz a gettin" along towards sundown and the air wuz a growin"
cool and balmy, as if it wuz a blowin" over some balm flowers, and we begun to feel quite well in our minds, though the crowd in the road wuz too big for comfert. The crowd of carriages and horses, and vehicles of all kinds, seemed to go in two big full rows or streams, one a goin" down on one side of the road, and the other a goin" up on the other. So the 2 tides swept past each other constantly -- but the bubbles on the tide wuzn"t foam but feathers, and bows, and laces, and parasols, and b.u.t.tons, and diamonds, and etcetry, etcetry, etcetry.
And all of a sudden my Josiah jest turned into a big gate that wuz a standin" wide open and we drove into a beautiful quiet road that went a windin" in under the shadows of the tall grand old trees. He did it without askin" my advice or sayin" a word to me. But I wuzn"t sorry. Fur it wuz beautiful in there. It seemed as if we had left small cares and vexations and worryments out there in the road and dust, and took in with us only repose and calmness, and peace, and they wuz a journeyin" along with us on the smooth road under the great trees, a bendin" down on each side on us. And pretty soon we came to a beautiful piece of water crossed by a rustick bridge, and all surrounded by green trees on every side. Then up on the broad road agin, sweepin"
round a curve where we could see a little ways off a great mansion with a wall built high round it as if to shet in the repose and sweet home-life and shet out intrusion, sort a protect it from the too curius glances of a curius generation. Some as I hold my hand up before my face to keep off the too-scorchin" rays of the sun, when I am a lookin" down the western road for my Josiah.
It wuz a good lookin" spot as I ever want to see, sheltered, quiet and lovely. But we left it behind us as we rode onwards, till we came out along another broad piece of the water, and we rode along by the side of it for some time.
Beautiful water with the trees growin" up on every side of it, and their shadows reflected so clearly in the shinin" surface, that they seemed to be trees a growin" downwards, tall grand trees, wavin" branches, goin" down into the water and livin" agin in another world, -- a more beautiful one.
The sun wuz a gettin" low and piles of clouds wuz in the west and all their light wuz reflected in the calm water. And the beautiful soft shadows rested there on that rosy and golden light, some like the shadow of a beautiful and sorrowful memory, a restin" down and reposin" on a divine hope, an infinite sweetness.
XIII.
VISITS TO NOTABLE PLACES.
It is a perfect sight to behold, to set on the piazzas at Saratoga, and see the folks a goin" past.
Now in Jonesville, when there wuz a 4th of July, or campmeetin", or sunthin" of that kind a goin" on, why, I thought I had seen the streets pretty full. Why, I had counted as many as seven teams in the road at one time, and I had thought that wuz pretty lively times. But good land? Good land! You would have gin up in ten minutes time here, that you had never seen a team (as it were).
Why I call my head a pretty sound one, but I declare, it did fairly make my head swim to set there kinder late in the afternoon, and see the drivin" a goin" on. See the carriages a goin" this way, and a goin" that way; horses of all colers, and men and wimmen of all colers, and parasols of all colers, and hats, and bonnets and parasols, and satins, and laces, and ribbins, and b.u.t.tons, and dogs, and flowers, and plumes, and parasols. And horses a turnin" out to go by, and horses havin"
gone by, and horses that hadn"t gone by. And big carriages with folks inside all dressed up in every coler of the rain beaux.
And elligent gentlemen dressed perfectly splendid, a settin" up straight behind. With thin yellow legs, or stripes down the side on "em, and their hats all trimmed off with ornaments and b.u.t.tons up and down their backs.
Haughty creeters they wuz, I make no doubt. They showed it in their looks. But I never loved so much dress in a man. And I would jest as soon have told them so; as to tell you. I hain"t one to say things to a man"s back that I won"t say to his face, whether it be a plain back or b.u.t.toned.
Wall, as I say, it wuz a dizzy sight to set there on them piazzas and see the seemin"ly endless crowd a goin" by; back and forth, back and forth; to and fro, to and fro. I didn"t enjoy it so much as some did, though for a few minutes at a time I looked upon it as a sort of a recreation, some like a circus, only more wilder.
But some folks enjoyed it dretfully. Yes, they set a great deal on piazzas at Saratoga. And when I say set on "em, I mean they set a great store on "em, and they set on "em a great deal. Some folks set on "em so much, that I called them setters. Real likely creeters they are too, some on "em, and handsome; some pious, sober ones, some sort a gay. Some not married at all, and some married a good deal, and when I say a good deal I meen, they have had various companions and lost "em.
Now there wuz one woman that I liked quite well.
She had had 4 husbands countin" in the present one. She wuz a good lookin" woman and had seen trouble. It stands to reeson she had with 4 husbands. Good land!
She showed me one day a ring she wore. She had took the weddin"
rings of her 4 pardners and had "em all run together, and the initials of their first names carved inside on it. Her first husband"s name wuz Franklin, her next two wuz Orville and Obed, and her last and livin" one Lyman. Wall, she meant well, but she never see what would be the end on"t and how it would read till she had got their initials all carved out on it.
She wuz dretfully worked up about it, but I see that it wuz right.