Sister Blanker wuz about the only one who come out hull, and she had
plenty of time to set down and mourn over a lack of opportunities to do
good, and to talk a sight about the lukewarmness of members of the
meetin'-house in good works. And there they wuz to home a-sufferin', and
it wuz her own self who had brung it all on.
You see, as I have said more formally, in our efforts to march forwards
to do good it is highly neccessary to see that we hain't a-tromplin' on
anybody; and in order to help sinners in Africa it hain't neccessary to
knock down Christians in New Jersey and Rhode Island, or to stomp onto
professors in Maine.
Howsumever, that is some folkses ways.
Wall, I'd a been a-lookin' at the panorama with one half of my mind and
admirin' the beauty round me with the other half.
But at this minute--and it wuz lucky my eppisode had come to an end, for
if there is anything I hate it is to be broke up in eppisodin'--my
Josiah returned.
In front of Horticultural Hall is a flower terrace for out-door exhibits
of loveliness, and then in front of that is the beautiful, cool water,
and down in the centre of that, below the terrace, and its beauty, and
vases, is a boat-landin'. The water did look dretful good to me after
lookin' at so many gorgeous colors--more than any rainbow ever boasted
of, enough sight--it did seem good to me to look down into them cool
waters; and I sez to my pardner--
"The water does look dretful good and sort o' satisfyin', don't it,
Josiah?"
A bystander a-standin' by sez, "I guess if you would go into the south
pavilion here and look at the display of wine you wouldn't talk about
lookin' at water; why," sez he, "to say nothin' of the display of our
own country, the exhibit of wine from France, Italy, Spain, and Germany
is enough to set a man half crazy to look at."
I looked at him coldly--his nose wuz as red as fire--and I sez, "I
hain't got no call to look at wine.
[Illustration: His nose wuz as red as fire.]
"I wouldn't give a cent a barrel for the best there is there, if I had
got to consoom it myself.
"Though," sez I, reasonably, "I wouldn't object to havin' a pint bottle
on't to keep in the house in case of sickness, or to make jell, or
sunthin'.
"But I will not go and encourage the makin' of such quantities as there
is there, I will not encourage 'em in makin' that show."
He looked mad, and sez he, "I guess they won't stop their show because
you won't go and see it."
"Probable not," sez I; but sez I, real eloquent, "I will hold up my
banner afoot or on horseback."
And then I sez to my husband, with quite a good deal of dignity--
"Less proceed to the Wooded Island, Josiah Allen."
But alas! for Josiah's hope of seein' sunthin' plain and simple. When we
got there, that seemed to be the very central garden of the earth for
flowers, and beauty, and bloom, and there it wuz that we see the most
gorgeous rainbow--all made of pansies--glow and dazzlement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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