Around the World with Josiah Allen's WifeHolley, Marietta
General
Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife
Holley, Marietta
Women travelers -- Fiction
But to resoom: We all went out for a drive through the streets; Josiah
and I and Arvilly and little Tommy in a little two-wheeled cart
settin' facin' each other drawed by two buffalo cows. Robert and
Dorothy and Miss Meechim occupied another jest ahead on us. The driver
sot on the tongue of the wagon, and would pull their tails instead of
whippin' 'em when he wanted 'em to go faster. The cows' ears wuz all
trimmed off with bells and gay streamers of cotton cloth, and their
tails had big red bows on 'em, and Josiah whispered to me:
"You see, Samantha, if I don't get some ear and tail trimmin' for old
Brindle and Lineback when I git home; our cows are goin' to have some
advantage of our tower if they couldn't travel with us. And," sez he,
"what a show we could make, Samantha, ridin' in to meetin' behind 'em;
bells a-jinglin' and ribbins a-flyin', I dressed in a long silk frock
and you all covered with jewelry."
"Well," sez I (wantin' to break up the idee to once), "if we do that,
I must be buyin' some jewelry right away."
"Oh, Samantha," sez he anxiously, "can't you take a joke? I wouldn't
drive anything but the old mair for love or money. And your cameo pin
is so beautiful and so becoming to you."
We went by a good many Parsees in that drive, and Arvilly sez, "They
look so rich somehow, I believe I shall try to canvass some on 'em."
And that afternoon about sundown she seein' one on 'em goin' into a
little garden she follered him in; he wuz dressed in such a gorgeous
way that she wuz almost sure of a customer, but jest as she wuz
gettin' the "Twin Crimes" out of her work-bag, he took off his outer
frock, lain it down on the ground and knelt down, facin' the sunset,
and sprinkled his head, breast and hands three times from a little
dish he had with him, and then begun to pray and kep' up his devotions
for half an hour, and Arvilly of course not wantin' to break up a
meetin' put her book into her work-bag and went away. I kinder like
the idee of their worshippin' under the blue dome of heaven, though of
course I didn't like their idee of worshippin' the created instead of
the Creator. In travellin' through these countries more and more every
day did I feel to thank the Lord that I wuz a member of the M. E.
meetin' house in Jonesville, U. S., a humble follower of him who went
about doing good, but I didn't feel like goin' on as Miss Meechim did.
How she did look down on the Parsees and compared 'em to the Piscopals
to their immense disadvantage.
But Arvilly, the iconoclast, sez, "These Parsees boast that there is
not a pauper or woman of bad character in the hull of their sect, and
I wonder if any other religious sect in America could say as much as
that, Miss Meechim?"
Miss Meechim turned her head away and sniffed some; she hates to enter
into a argument with Arvilly, but she wuz gittin' real worked up and I
don't know how it would have ended, but I spoke right up and quoted
some Bible to 'em, thinkin' mebby that it might avert a storm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account