"What wuz it?" sez I, still more coldly; for I can"t bear deceit, and coverin" up.
"Oh, it wuz a house, and a tree, and a barn, and things."
"A great seen to scream about," sez I. "It would probable have stood there till you got back, but you couldn"t seem to wait."
"No, I have noticed that you always wanted to see things to once.
I have noticed it in you."
"I could most probable have waited till you got back, to see a house and a tree." And in still more -- frigid axents, I added, "Or a barn." And I sez, kinder sarkastikly, "You enjoyed your ride, I s"pose."
"Immensely, it wuz perfectly beautiful! So sort a free and soarin" like. It is jest what suits a man."
"You"d better go right over it agin," sez I.
"Yes," sez the man who runs the cars. "You"d better go agin."
"Oh no," sez Josiah.
"Why not?" sez I.
"Why not?" sez the man.
Josiah Allen looked all around the room, and down on the gra.s.s, as if trying to find a good reasonable excuse a layin" round loose somewhere, so"s he could get holt of it.
"You"d better go," sez I, "I love to see you happy, Josiah Allen."
"Yes, you"d better go," sez the man.
"No!" sez Josiah, still a lookin" round for a excuse, up into the heavens and onto the horizon. And at last his face kinder brightenin" up, as if he had found one: "No, it looks so kinder cloudy, I guess I won"t go. I think we shall have rain between now and night." And so we said no more on the subject and sot out homewards.
Ardelia wrote a poem on the occasion, wrote it right there, with rapidity and a lead pencil, and handed it to me, before I left the room. I put it into my pocket and didn"t think on it, for some days afterwards.
That night after we got home from the Roller Coaster, I felt dretful sort a down hearted about Abram Gee, I see in that little incident of the day, that Bial, although I couldn"t like him, yet I see he had his good qualities, I see how truthful he wuz. And although I love truth -- I fairly worship it -- yet I felt that if things wuz as he said they wuz, he would more"n probable get Ardelia Tutt, for I know the power of Ambition in her, and I felt that she would risk the chances of happiness, for the name of bein" a Banker"s Bride.
So I sat there in deep gloom, and a chocolate colored wrapper, till as late as half past nine o"clock P. M. And I felt that the course of Abram"s love wuz not runnin" smooth. No, I felt that it wuz runnin" in a dwindlin" torrent over a rocky bed, and a precipitus one. And I felt that if he wuz with me then and there, if we didn"t mingle our tears together we could our sithes, for I sithed, powerful and frequent.
Poor short-sighted creeter that I wuz, a settin" in the shadow, when the sun wuz jest a gettin" ready to shine out onto Abram and reflect off onto my envious heart. Even at that very time the hand of righteous Retribution had slipped its sure noose over Bial Flamburg"s neck, and wuz a walkin" him away from Ardelia, away from happiness (oritory).
At that very hour, half past nine P. M., Ardelia Tutt and Abram Gee had met agin, and rosy love and happiness wuz even then a stringin" roses on the chain that wuz to bind "em together forever.
The way on"t wuz: It bein" early when Ardelia got here, Bial proposed to take her out for a drive and she consented. He got a livery horse, and buggy, and they say that the livery man knew jest what sort of a creeter the horse wuz, and knew it wuz liable to break the buggy all to pieces and them to, and he let "em have it for goin." But howsumever, whether that is so or not, when they got about five or six milds from Saratoga the horse skeert out of the road, and throwed "em both out.
It wuz a bank of sand that skeert it, a high bank that wuz piled up by a little hovel that stood by the side of the road. The ground all round the hut wuz too poor to raise anything else but sand, and had raised sights of that.
A man and woman, dretful shabby lookin", wuz a standin" by the door of the hut, and the man had a shovel in his hand, and had been a loadin" sand into a awful big wheelbarrow that wuz a standin" by -- seemin"ly ready to carry it acrost the fields, to where some man wuz a mixin" some motar, to lay the foundations of a barn.
Wall, the old man stood a pantin" by the side of the wheelbarrow, as if he had indeed got on too heavy a load. It wuz piled up high. The horse shied, and Ardelia wuz throwed right out onto the bank of sand, Bial by the side of her. And the old man and woman came a runnin" up, and callin" out, "Bial, my son, my son, are you wounded?"
And there it all wuz. Ardelia see the hull on it. The Banker wuz before her, and she wuz a layin" on the bank. And the banker wuz a doin" a heavy business, if anybody doubted it, let "em take holt and cart a load on it acrost the fields.
Wall, Ardelia wuz jarred fearful, in her heart, her ambition, her pride, and her bones. And as the horse wuz a fleein" far away, and no other conveyance could be found to transport her to the next house (Ardelia wouldn"t go into his"n), and night wuz approachin" with rapid strides, the old Banker jest unloaded the load of sand (good old creeter, he would have to load it all over agin), and took Ardelia into the wheelbarrow, and wheeled her over to the next house and unloaded her.
The old Banker told Ardelia that when his neighbor got home he would take her back to Saratoga, which he did. He had been to the village for necessaries, but he turned right round and carried her back to Mr. Pixleyses. And I s"pose Ardelia paid him, mebby as high as 75 cents. As for Bial, he tramped off into the house, and she didn"t see him agin, nor didn"t want to.
Wall, I s"pose it wuz durin" that ride on the wheelbarrow, that Ardelia"s ambition quelled to softer emotions. I s"pose so. She never owned it right up to me, but I s"pose so.
Bial Flamburg hadn"t lied a word to her. In all her agony she realized that. But she had built a high towerin" structure of ambition on what he said, and it had tottered. And as is natural in times of danger, the heart turns instinctively to its true love, she thought of Abram Gee, she wanted him. And as if in answer to her deep and lovin" thought, who should come out to the buggy to help her out at Mr. Pixleyses gate, but Abram Gee? He had come unexpected, and on the eight o"clock train, and wuz there waitin" for her.
If Bial Flamburg had been with her, he wouldn"t have gone a nigh the buggy, but he see it was a old man, and he rushed out.
Ardelia couldn"t walk a step on her feet (owin" to bein shaken up, in bones and feelin"s), and Abram jest took her in his strong lovin" arms and carried her into the house, and she sort a clung round his neck, and seemed tickled enough to see him,
But she wuz dretful shook up and agitated, and it wuzn"t till way along in the night some time, that she wuz able to write a poem called, "a lay on a wheelbarrow; or, the fallen one."
Which I thought when I read it, wuz a good name for it, for truly she had fell, and truly she had lay on it. Howsumever, Ardelia wrote that jest because it wuz second nater to write poetry on every identical thing she ever see or did.
She wuz glad enough to get rid of Bial Flamburg, and glad enough to go back to her old love. Abram wuz too manly and tender to say a word to Ardelia that night on the subject nearest to his heart. No, he see she needed rest. But the next day, when they wuz alone together, I s"pose he put the case all before her. All his warm burnin" love for her, all his jealousy, and his wretchedness while she wuz a waverin" between Banks and Bread, how his heart had been checked by the thought that Bial would vault over him, and in the end hold him at a discount.
Why, I s"pose he talked powerful and melted Ardelia"s soft little heart till it wuz like the softest kind of dough in his hands.
And then he went on tenderly to say, how he needed her, and how she could mould him to her will. I s"pose he talked well, and eloquent, I s"pose so. Anyhow she accepted him right there in full faith and a pink and white cambric dress.
And they came over and told me about it in the afternoon P. M.
And I felt well and happy in my mind, and wished "em joy with a full heart and a willin" mind.
They are both good creeters. And she bein" so soft, and he so kinder hardy and stout-hearted, I believe they will get along firstrate. And when she once let her mind and heart free to think on him, she worships him so openly and unreservedly (though soft), that I don"t, believe there is a happier man in the hull country.
Wall, I lay out to give"em a handsome present when they be married, which will be in the fall. Mother Gee (who has got as well as can be expected) is goin" to live with Susan. And I"m glad on"t. Mother Gee is a good old female no doubt, but it is resky work to take a new husband to live with, and when you take a mother-in-law too it adds to the resk.
But she is goin" to live with Susan; it is her prefference.
And Abram has done so well, that he has bought another five acres onto his place, and is a goin" to fix his house all over splendid before the weddin" day. And Ardelia is to go right from the altar to her home -- it is her own wishes.
She knows enough in her way, Ardelia duz. And she has a wisdom of the heart which sometimes I think, goes fur ahead of the wisdom of the head. And then agin, I think they go well together, wisdom of the head and the heart too. (The times I think this is after readin" her poetry.)
But any way she will make Abram a good soft little wife, lovin"
and affectionate always. And good land! he loves her to that extent that it wouldn"t make no difference to him if she didn"t know enough to come in when it rained. He would fetch her in, drippin" and worship her, damp or dry.
XX.
AN ACCIDENT WITH RESULTS.
Wall, it wuz on the very day before we laid out to leave for home. I wuz a settin" in my room a mendin" up a rip in my pardner"s best coat, previous to packin" in his trunk, when all of a sudden Miss Flamm"s hired girl came in a cryin", and sez I, "What is the matter?"
And sez she, "Ah! Miss Flamm has sent for you and Mr. Allen to come over there right away. There has been a axident."
"A axident!" sez I.