Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by two
fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down we
could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in
shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age and
two beautiful little boys.
"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad Sally's
gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and again we waited
as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once done before for
grandma.
At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl were
descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, ejaculating,
"Oh, my--mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an inkling of what was to
follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have seen," said she, folding
up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the pink calico. "There's
carpeting enough to cover every crack and crevice--all pure bristles,
too!"
Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she guessed
she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied grarmar."
"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what else?"
"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess the
names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and marble
fixin's--and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace curtains and silk
damson ones--"
A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally continued.
"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told 'em,
his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew no more
how bread was made than a child two years old."
"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna asked
if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her daughter.
"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, for the
minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, which Mr.
Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, proud-lookin' thing
they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you don't catch me puttin' on
the miss. I called her Adaline, and you had orto seen how her big eyes
looked at me. Says she, at last, 'Are you one of pa's new servants?"
"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of your
nighest neighbors.'
"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the house
with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; and then
with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if 'they wore
glass beads and went barefoot.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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