Tirzah Ann's summer trip, and other sketches — John Shaqi
Tirzah Ann's summer trip, and other sketchesHolley, Marietta
General
Tirzah Ann's summer trip, and other sketches
Holley, Marietta
American fiction -- 19th century
I didn’t contend with him. Thinks I, we are makin’ fools of ourselves, by
goin’ at all, and if he wants to make a little bigger fool of himself by
wearin’ them white pantaloons, I won’t stand in his light. And then I had
got some machine oil onto ’em, so I felt that I had got to wash ’em any
way, before Thomas J. took ’em to school. So he put ’em on.
I had good vittles, and a sight of ’em. The basket wouldn’t hold ’em.
So Josiah had to put a bottle of raspberry jell into the pocket of his
dress coat, and lots of other little things, such as spoons, and knives,
and forks, in his pantaloons, and breast pockets. He looked like Captain
Kidd, armed up to the teeth, and I told him so. But good land! he would
have carried a knife in his mouth, if I had asked him to, he felt so neat
about goin’, and boasted so, on what a splendid exertion it was goin’ to
be.
We got to the lake about eight o’clock, for the old mare went slow. We
was about the first ones there, but they kep’ a comin’, and before 10
o’clock we all got there. There was about 20 old fools of us, when we all
got collected together. And about 10 o’clock we set sail for the island.
I had made up my mind from the first on’t to face trouble, and so it
didn’t put me out so much when Deacon Dobbins in getting into the boat
stept onto my new lawn dress, and tore a hole in it as big as my two
hands, and ripped it half offen the waist. But Josiah havin’ felt so
animated and tickled about the exertion, it worked him up awfully when,
jest after we had got well out onto the lake, the wind took his hat off
and blew it away out onto the lake. He had made up his mind to look so
pretty that day, and be so dressed up, that it worked him up awfully.
And then the sun beat down onto him; and if he had had any hair onto his
head it would have seemed more shady. But I did the best I could by him,
I stood by him, and pinned on his red bandanna handkerchief onto his
head. But as I was a fixin’ it on, I see there was something more than
mortification that ailed him. The lake was rough, and the boat rocked,
and I see he was beginning to be awful sick. He looked deathly. Pretty
soon I felt bad too. Oh! the wretchedness of that time. I have enjoyed
poor health considerable in my life, but never did I enjoy so much
sickness, in so short a time, as I did on that pleasure exertion to the
island. I suppose our bein’ up all night a most, made it worse. When we
reached the island we was both weak as cats.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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