Samantha at the World's Fair

-place. And I gin a deep sithe of relief as the wheel of the carriage grated on the curb-

pozed, from their talk, it wuz reasonable, and wuz better for

ad our place all picked out, and had had for some time, ev

quiet place recommended by our own Methodist Epi

r income, so she took in a few and done well by 'em, so our pasture said, and so we found out. It wuz a splendid-lookin' house a-standin' a-frontin' a park, where a

e for us-and Thomas J. parleyed with Miss Plank about o

l, the children sot off for their hotel, which wuzn't so very fur from ourn, nigh eno

an, I believe, with good principles, and a hair mole on her

appeari

or investments-and don't it beat all how wimmen do git cheated, and every single man she deals with a-tellin' her to confide in him freely, for he hain'

hildren, and kind o' lonesome, and a born housekeeper and cook, her id

r own hand and cooks, jest when she is a mind too. She hain't afraid of the face of man or woman, though she told me, and I bel

t she throwed at me, because I wanted

esoom that she held her with her eye. It

he benefit of her boarders; for better vittles wuz never cooked than Miss Plank furni

an and sweet too, whi

, which I don't know as she could he

ristian he wuz, how devoted to her, and how much

nt hardly enquire into the particulars, not knowin' wh

his industrious and prosperous ways, and tellin' me every single time, "he wuz in salt

lt b

sirname to connect us to the vast past, and to the mysterious future

z, I would find my efforts futile; for all she would say about 'em wuz to tell what Mr. Plank would have done if he had been a-livin', and if

hat covers over most forty

ve built housen that covered a few more acres,

k and keep up a-thinkin' on other subjects all the time. Why, I got so I could have writ p

s, hai

long enough to have children born under the ruff, who had growed up almost as big as their pa's and ma's. There wuz severa

mean to his twin sister; he looked down on her and browbeat her the worst kind, and felt older than she did, and acte

Nony and Neny-which wuz, indeed, a comfort to bystanders. Folks or

cted as if she would have had good sense, and considerable

my south. And I fairly felt chilly on that side sometimes, almost goose pimples, that you

ot b

n't believe in Christopher Columbus-right there to

e discovered the

z so or not-histories made so many mistakes, h

he walked the s

"I never see

e, I couldn't

e wuz too much a-bein' done for

rom Neny back to Rachael and Ruth. He powed at wimmen's

o jest right by them noble societies and the world. But, oh, how light he would speak of them noble b

ry much towards belittlin' a noble army

o say there hain't a woman amongst 'em but what is a

and loved ones, and a-tryin' to destroy 'em-they run towards that serpent, and hai

he, "There hain't near so much done as folks think;

r that in their political rivalin's, they wo

e, "men kno

tiful and noble an appearance she made, in the

as it is with all other wimmen-men have to stand in front

re wuz some truth in it, for I

unted up,

I, "it would be a good thing for lots of wimmen, who have got lots of silver, if it hain't

g up that he believed in, or t

n' widder with false hair and a swelled

nt. With light brown hair, tossed kinder careless back from a broad white forward-deep blue, impetuous-lookin' eyes, but restrained by sense from goin' too fur. A silky mustache the same color of his hair, and both with a

atured wit and fun. But yet with a sort of a sad look underlyin' the fun, some as deep waters look under the frothy sparkle on top, as if they had secrets they might tell if they wuz a mind to-secrets o

the frank openness and pleasantness of them clear

nder the clear blue depths, any fur

all, a-peerin' out sometimes when you didn't look for it, wuz a sunthin' that l

er, there hain't a doubt of th

all see plain that Miss Plank h

uz drafts a-comin' from any pint of the compass, it wuz Miss Plank's desire to not have him blowed on. If any soft zephyr's breath

liked him the best that ever wuz. Even Nony Piddock seemed to sort of onbend a little, and m

alf in fun and half in earnest, answer Nony's weary and bitter remarks, once in a

ldn't call her a clear widder-I guess she wuz a sort

les on Mr. Freeman-awfu

didn't like

dy could see with one eye, or hear with one ear-that is, if they could understand the secrets of sithes; they wuz deep ones a

t she felt drawed to her from the first, and the drawin's

and right, and their children, and Miss Schack and her three children, and a Mr. Bol

said, and had three or four splendid room

to let us know they wuz furnis

ms; so he kep 'em all, and paid high for 'em, so she said, and wuz as much to be depe

, he wuz a millionare-made it in sugar, I believe she said-I know it wuz sunth

could live anywhere he wuz a mind to-in a pa

so long ago for his family. But they had all gone and left him, his mother dead, and his two nieces gone with

hair-cloth sofa in the upper hall, that it

nfidence that it would b

e he wuz a bacheldor and she a widd

time I did; for good land! she wuz o

Not findin' no fault, eatin' hash jest as calm as if h

s the mystery of b

, for he would coax the youngest and most troublesome one away from its

es of children, s

stead of pity, if Miss Schack hadn't been as humbly as humbly could be, and a big wart on the en

really make out from what she said what he wuz a-doin' there, wheth

"bein' on the road," and how much better t

er, and over us too,

ver laid eyes on, for them that had

nd Martin Luther, and li

ious qualities of their namesakes would strike in. But to set and hear Martin Luther swear at John Wesley wuz a sight. And to see John Wesley clench his fists in Martin Luther's hair and kick him wuz enough to horrify any beholder. But Peter Cooper wuz the worst; to see him take every

Mr. Freeman could quell 'em down any time-sometimes by lookin' at 'em and

dn't know what we would have done durin' some hot mea

ein' married happy, I felt free to speak my mind about bacheldors, o

er ways, besides easin' my c

om wuz very small; it wuz the best that Miss Plank could do, so I didn'

s, I felt like compressed meat, or as I mistruste

if I could git a breath of fresh air to recooperate me, Josiah a-pantin' in the rockin

we wuz a-faci

ation that "I wuz jest about melted, and so wuz my Jo

adn't been so sort o' flustrat

ool parlor, and I could see beyend the doors

ome in here and see if it isn't cooler." Sez he, "I feel rather lon

at it wuz the anniversar

mpany. So we thanked him, or I did, and we walked in

, indeed, we did. This room wuz on the cool side of the house, and the still side. A

. Gildin' is her favorite embellishme

d such rugs on it scattered over the floor as I n

colorin' as the most wonderful sunset colors you ever see in the

as hung on the w

ght out into a green field at sunset. There wuz a deep, cool rivulet a-gurglin' a

ttle a-comin'up through the bars to be milked. Why, you could almost hear the girl call, "Co, boss! co, boss!" as sh

ss! co,

swash of the water, as the old brind

iful face of the girl looked dretful familiar to me, though I co

, and some white marble figures, that stood up almost as big as l

prettiest room I had ever looked at

aid right there that we wuz perfectly free t

of his time when he was at home-his writin'-desk wuz in that room.

man do but to put a key in my hand, so Josiah and I

But we thanked him warm, very warm, warmer than th

n in that cool, big room, once in a while, as a change from our dry oven, would be a boon. And I didn't know but it woul

, sincere way, and said, "The more we

off the doors wuz, and the top, and the beautiful head o

irly lonesome waiting to be read, and y

mind what made him act so. Of course, not knowin' at that time that I favored his mother in my looks-his

ay, and I said to my Josiah, a

look to us, Josiah Allen, or else that per

ut," sez he, "you are right about our looks-we are dum good-lookin', both on us.

sort of a ornament to his rooms-kinder set 'em off. And

he, "You'd be quite good-loo

we had so

f our merits that angel look

in your callin' him an ange

; "I never had no o

Loontown, and Zoar. And I spozed by that time that Chicago wuz a-beginnin' to wake up to the truth of how much store we sot by each

goodness-when our dry oven become heated up beyend what we could seem to bear, we went into that cool, delightful room agin, and

tty, by the old bar post, with her orburn hair pushed back from her flushed cheeks, and a look in her deep brown eyes,

or did I ever let Josiah Allen give to them other rooms that opened out of this, nor into

e of myself what made Mr. Freeman so oncommon good to us, till one day he told us sunthin' that made it plainer to us, and Josiah Allen's pride had a fall (which, if his p

a picture of his mother in a lit

; I saw it the fir

ook like me, only mebby-mebby I sa

then I see the secret of his interest

ut 3 or 4. To think that he loved his mother's memory so well as to be so kind fo

n', only jest that look, but it spoke volumes and volumes, and my pardner silently dev

nscience-struck. It hain't in 'em to be mortified for

ht or lit up by gas, every single time the face of that tall slender girl, a-standin' there so calm by th

ave been perfectly ridiculous in me, and the

nd I guess oftener than that, Mr. Freeman's eyes bent on that pretty young face with a look as if he too recognized her, and

n my time, then I will say nobody has. Yes, indeed! I have seen curio

or foe-and I guess it would sound better to say from friend or lover

s, a-lookin' off onto them sunset clouds always rosy and golden, by th

r. Freeman might have the headache, and J

glow of joy and health, and her sweet, deep eyes alw

s big blue eyes kinder stood out from his face some. He was a real estate agent, so Miss Plank sai

of his patronizin' and puffin' up,

ks and got good and rested, and the mornin' follerin' we got up middlin' early, bein' used to keepin' good hours in Jonesville, and on goin' down to the breakfas

active as if he never had be

o once into a conversation concernin' Chicago, Miss Plank and I a-listenin' to 'em some

t partly in a boastin' way-he begun most to once to prove that Chicago w

ve been a good place for it, and it wuz a disapintment to me and

sez he, "in a way of politeness, Chicago is the only place for it. In what other c

per cent of the po

ir as if he had made popula

nothin' about it,

have nine hundred and 14,000 foreigners. That shows in itself that Chicago is

siah, "that i

as well as I do my relations, and if they had thought so mu

d; she couldn't swing right out free, as I could, bein'

to home and set round on butter-tubs in grocery stores, talkin' about hens. No, it is made up of people who dared-who wuz too energetic, progressive

essive thought of the day, that Chicago is made up. It embodies t

osiah, "that

icago is, as is well known, in

e very centre

sez J

hat is what Boston has always thought;" and, sez I, candid

at me, and, sez he,

u, in the very centre of the ear

he place?" se

le Nate Bently's grandfather built the first store there, and helped b

itants has it?"

ed to collect my thoughts, Josiah spoke up-he is alw

bout some things than you do, Josiah. There may

s one million eight hundred thousand population. In ten years the population has increased 108 per

s he would a fly in dog

is right in the centre of the habitable portion of North America. Put your thumb down on Chicago, and then sweep round it in an

d proved it with his thumb and finger, ti

prove. As Chicago is in the very centre of productive North Am

d carry out manufactured products to every part of the country-to say nothing of the great number of lines of water transportations-connecting with all parts of the world. Why, last year Chicago had 50 per cent more arrival

sez I, "I always hearn that it w

hy, just before the great fire we lifted up all the houses, in the best part of the city, on jack-screws for eight feet, and filled the ground under

ept London-it is just about the same as that. Then," sez he, "our climate is perfect; it is so temperate and even that folks don't have to spend all

ver medder in dog days than to fan

nt saving qualities to provide for the winter; and warm enough to k

, "it got bur

see him look down so on a

rs were burnt up, two thousand 100 acres burnt over, right in the heart of a big city, with a loss of two hundred and ninety million dollars, and then to have it s

ldn't dround out his self-c

e proud of her doin's, and I felt it in my heart, on

of dignity, "I guess it is time we are g

y would be best for us to go. A good-na

nk of a errent that had been sent me by Jim M

n Chicago, through the Fair, so's to pay his

enin' for him, and I happened to think, mebby Mr. Bolster, seein' he

re lots of folks here in Chicago that hire help. I spoze

r time, who employ as high as two men by the day, besi

r hundred and fifty hired men, and Philip Armoor

lowered my pride down lower than the Queen of Sheba's ever wuz, by fur. I had no

weakly, "Wall, they hain't a-sufferin' for

I can do for him." And he snatched out a note-book, and writ his name

ny. But I got over it pretty soon. I felt about my usial size as we descended the stairs and stood on the steps, re

he best way to go to get to the corner Miss Plank had directed us to, Mr.

ake you both in, and take you past some of our city sights, and I will l

joy and I with a becomin' dignity, and

looked at, one of 'em 260 feet high, 20 storys-elevators that carry 40,000 passengers-and a garden on the

eople. And then we went by big meetin'-housen, and other big housen, whose ruffs seemed so high that it see

o the heart of the city, where the giant elevators unload their huge traffic. He t

icago, thinks she has done well if she ha

talk, that I got all muddled up, and a ort se

lieve, from what I see afterwards, that he told the truth, for no city, it seems to me, could improve on that long, br

wful big-but I felt that I wuz a-bein' crushed by 'em-I felt that the Practical, the Real wuz a crushin' me down-the weight, and noise, and size of the mighty iron wheel of Progress, that duz roll faster in Chicago than in any other place on eart

Temple dreamed out by a woman and wrought a good deal by faith, some like the walls

that Temple wuz large and noble

God in Humanity-to the help of the Divine as it shows itself half buried and lost in

uties of our Heavenly home, as to build up God's kingdom on earth

looked at it-that tall, noble, majestic pile, and thou

that carry grain up to the top of towerin' buildin's, 10,000 bushels a hour, and then come down its own self and we

hen he praised up their teliphone system, so perfect that nothin' could happen

business qualities and go-ahead-it-ivness

ought for five shillings not so long ago as your little town wa

gh. And, sez he, "While folks all over the world are prayin' for their daily bre

brain reeled, and my mind tottered back, and tried to lean onto old Rugers' Rithmatick-and couldn't, he wuz so totally inadequate

o, and," sez I firmly, "I wuz willin' to have it, for I respect and honor the people who could do such wonders, and keepon a-doin' 'em, to the admiration of the world. But,"

that I wuz not in a situ

ation where we wuz to be left, he cea

te as a person could whose brain lay a wreck in the upper part of her head. T

leave Chicago, which, with its immen

n't hear his last words, and I wuz glad

ld have got 'em into his buggy, and sot 'em up by him on the seat, and could ha