Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition

queer. He would seem lost in thought anon or oftener, an

nder the back stairway and pour over musty old deed

m one day, "What under the sun do you find in t

n' through me to some distant view that interested him dretfu

r chum, with their heads clost together, seemin'ly plottin

ur old Olney's Atlas and he and Uncle Sime would pour over it and whisper, though what it wuz about I

and. And most of all they seemed to be measurin' off solemn like and important the lane from the creek lot up to the house and taki

e spozed I had never hearn of the Louisana Purchase. He said that the minds of females in their leisure hours bein' took up

eams in a blue and white sock I wuz knittin' for him, di

lin' forever in our favor the war for supremacy on this continent between ourselves and England, and givin' us the broad highway o

th between France and Spain and England some as if it wuz a immense atl

of Napoleon Bonaparte who had got possession of it a few years before, and Heaven only knows what ambitious dreams of foundin'

our own Thomas Jefferson, Josiah's child by his first wife. Napoleon, or I spoze it would sound more respectful

zy and wanted to bring down her pride. And we bein' some like Miss Hen in sperit (she had had trouble with Miss Henzy herself, and wuz dretful glad to have Mahala sot up), we wuz more

s, when we have fought the battle and lost, when the ground is covered with slain Hopes, Ambition, Happiness, when the music is stilled, the strin

the mornin' mebby wit

terin' banners and glori

and though we might no

our souls dwell ther

they did before. Sew with tremblin' fingers the rents in the old tattered banners which Hope never carries agin with so high

opposition and ridicule, though some prophetic souls, like Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Livingstone and others, seemed to look forward through the mists of the future and

illed hopes and achievement and progress how he always seemed to set st

lk on its little feet. And some times I would resent it, and some times when I wuz real good natured, for every human bein' no matter how high prin

and more frequent and continuous he acted, till at last the truth oozed out of him like water ou

investigated his own private affairs and had discovered important facts that had mad

. "Seventy-four acres more or less runnin' up to

to me, Josiah Allen, but tell me plai

trunk in his face), I've discovered this remarkable fact that this farm the very year of the Louisana Purchase came into the Allen family by purchase.

ld Hatevil, jest as many as there is States in

paid jest the same amount for this farm that o

aid fifteen millions for this farm. Will you tell me

with the six orts left out. Great-granther Allen paid fift

his continent, Thomas Jefferson wuz a main actor in the Louisana Purchase. He has le

d in my knittin', I wuz jest turnin' the

in, "I ask you, Samantha, who is the

ze he's got the same father now he always had, children d

es are enough to apall a light-minded person. Why, I, even I with my cast iron strength

the name of Allen where it ort to be onto the very top of Fa

here he smote himself

osed these circumstances

y out to name my show

some times that in ord

u may say, I'd mebby

si

ld that he shivered imperceptibly and added hastily

ion calls on me to name myself thus I shall respond,

remember the pa that took his weak-minded child to the ball, an

ord, and finally they begun to scoff at him and told him he wuz a

t you mean by bringin' that

oral on any tighter." But he kep'

l twins, I'm goin' to spend on the Exposition of Josiah Allen jest the amount paid for the other original purchase, and I may, for there is no tel

ner that would tell such a gigantic falsehood, and instinctively I t

Western cyclone that had lifted a house and sot it down in a neighborin' township. The next one said that he wuz knowin' to the circumstances and how the cyclone swep back and brought the sulle

glad he'd had the privelige of hearin' 'em, for their t

ligious meditations. But the old gentleman said their

as come

drummers should stand before Annanias, the Prince of Liars, h

nd onbeknown to myself as I hearn Josiah Allen's remark, it came and went, as thoughts wil

illion d

n and glory of histin' the name of Allen up where it ort to be and will be. But when my blood has quieted down and I took a dispassionate view of the affair I have thought it would be more in

aper at a cost of five cents each, plannin' and figurin'. But he didn't begrech the outlay, he said. He wuz layin' out to have the lower paster used as a tentin' ground for the hull Allen race, and the Gowdeys if he decided they wuz worthy to jine in, he hadn't settled on that yet. The cow paster wuz

to see you and Deacon Gowdey standin' on yo

illin' seens, Ury and others." And then he went on

wanted to know the worst and cope with it as a

her good-natured creeter, he could bring his shoe-making bench and be tappin' boots. He could not only show off but make money at the same time, for he spozed that many a boot would be wore down to the quick walkin' round viewin' the attractions. And Blandi

n' nut-cakes, what a sound it

try to fry nut-cakes in a open

pengous scheme you are entitled to respect. There is where Napoleon, the other great actor in these twin dramas, missed it, he didn't use his wife as he ort to.

to git his mind off, for truly I begun to fairly feel sick to th

n itself will be worth dou

pect to ask

Do they not ask pay a

one. There is my button on the suller door I cut it out of an old boot leg. Who ever hearn of a leather button before, and it works well if you don't want

ever clim the la

o see 'em every day, 'tennyrate paint that coop a

len, I shall mayhap let him appear. And then there is all my farmin' implements and the rest of t

Napoleon wuz the head of the other Purchase, and

knowed such feelin's would have to be brung down

d have made a span, Samantha, if

ught mebby you would want to be one of the attractions of the Pike, Samantha; I lay out to have li

I, coldly, "I don't kno

ustr

day or two and pose as statutes. It would be a new thing and a crackin' good idee, for livin' statu

in the role of life at your request, but I tell you once for all I shall never, never

beautiful ones, and I thought I wouldn't confine myself to the States, b

Huffer's Japan, I jest as lives mine would be blowed up and sunk as not, 'tain't good for much. And if I did have that I would have the Russi

r after the responsibility for good o

o robe, only I've got everything else to do; I could grasp hol

graspin' and growlin' and pawin' onto me, Josiah, i

ter with some claws tied on. And Scotland, the land knows there is thistles enough along the cow path to represent her if they're

y you'd want to represent Britanny scourin' the blue seas, you always thought so much of the Widder Albert. You could enact it in the creek where the

Britanny may need help with her scrubbin' brush. But I shan't ca

are such clost friends and I wanted you to have the foremost character, but I can probable git someo

tension to my sewin' machine wuz drawed too tight-it broke. And my machine wuz strong in comparison to some other things I won't mention out of respect to my pardne

es and brile steak and make yeast emptin's bread perked up on a pedestal or posin' in the creek, and you know, Josiah, that no matter how fu

nto his preposterous idees and found it answered better than reason or ridicule. But