Samantha at Saratoga [87]
tarven. She wuz a standin' up in the parlor, with a tall man a standin' up in front of her a talkin'. He seemed to be biddin' of her good-bye, for he had holt of her hand, and be wuz a sayin' as we went by 'em, sez he, "I am sorry not to see more of you." "Good land!" thinkses I, "what can the man be a thinkin' on? the mean, miserable creeter! If there wuz ever a deadly insult gin to a woman, then wuz the time it wuz gin. Good land! good land!" I don't know whether Miss Flamm resented it, or not, for I hurried Josiah along. I didn't want to expose him to no sich sights, good, innocent old creeter. So I kep' him up on a pretty good jog till I got him home.
XVII. A TRIP TO SCHUYLERVILLE.
It wuz a lovely mornin' when my companion and me sot out to visit Schuylerville to see the monument that is stood up there in honor of the Battle of Saratoga, one of 7 great decisive battles of the world. Wall, the cars rolled on peacefully, though screechin' occasionally, for, as the poet says, "It is their nater to," and rolled us away from Saratoga. And at first there wuzn't nothin' particularly insperin' in the looks of the landscape, or ruther woodscape. It wuz mostly woods and rather hombly woods too, kinder flat lookin'. But pretty soon the scenery became beautiful and impressive. The rollin' hills rolled down and up in great billowy masses of green and pale blue, accordin' as they wuz fur or near, and we went by shinin' water, and a glowin' landscape, and pretty houses, and fields of grain and corn, etc., etc. And anon we reached a place where "Victory Mills" wuz printed up high, in big letters. When Josiah see this, he sez, "Haint that neighborly and friendly in Victory to come over here and put up a mill? That shows, Samantha," sez he, "that the old hardness of the Revolution is entirely done away with." He wuz jest full of Revolutionary thoughts that mornin', Josiah Allen wuz. And so wuz I too, but my strength of mind is such, that I reined 'em in and didn't let 'em run away with me. And I told him that it didn't mean that. Sez I, "The Widder Albert wouldn't come over here and go to millin', she nor none of her family." "But," sez he, "the name must mean sunthin'. Do you s'pose it is where folks get the victory over things? If it is, I'd give a dollar bill to get a grist ground out here, and," sez he, in a sort of a coaxin' tone, "le's stop and get some victory, Samantha." And I told him, that I guessed when he got a victory over the world, the flesh, or the -- David, he would have to work for it, he wouldn't get it ground out for him. But anon, he cast his eyes on sunthin' else and so forgot to muse on this any further. It wuz a fair seen. Anon, a big manufactory, as big as the hull side of Jonesville almost, loomed up by the side of us. And anon, the fair, the beautiful country spread itself out before our vision. While fur, fur away the pale blue mountains peeked up over the green ones, to see if they too could see the monument riz up to our National Liberty. It belonged to them, jest as much as to the hill it wuz a standin' on, it belongs to the hull liberty-lovin' world. Wall, the cars stopped in a pretty little village, a clean, pleasant little place as I ever see, or want to see. And Josiah and me wended our way up the broad roomy street, up to where the monument seemed to sort a beegon to us to come. And when we got up to it; we see it wuz a sight, a sight to behold. The curius thing on't wuz, it kep a growin' bigger and bigger all the time we wuz approachin' it, till, as we stood at its base, it seemed to tower up into the very skies. There wuz some flights of stun steps a leadin' up to some doors in the side on't. And we went inside on't after we had gin a good look at the outside. But it took us some time to get through gazin' at the outside on't. Way up over our heads wuz some sort a recesses, some like the recess in my spare bed-room, only higher and narrower, and kinder nobler lookin'. And standin' up in the first one, a lookin' stiddy through storm and shine at the North star, stood
XVII. A TRIP TO SCHUYLERVILLE.
It wuz a lovely mornin' when my companion and me sot out to visit Schuylerville to see the monument that is stood up there in honor of the Battle of Saratoga, one of 7 great decisive battles of the world. Wall, the cars rolled on peacefully, though screechin' occasionally, for, as the poet says, "It is their nater to," and rolled us away from Saratoga. And at first there wuzn't nothin' particularly insperin' in the looks of the landscape, or ruther woodscape. It wuz mostly woods and rather hombly woods too, kinder flat lookin'. But pretty soon the scenery became beautiful and impressive. The rollin' hills rolled down and up in great billowy masses of green and pale blue, accordin' as they wuz fur or near, and we went by shinin' water, and a glowin' landscape, and pretty houses, and fields of grain and corn, etc., etc. And anon we reached a place where "Victory Mills" wuz printed up high, in big letters. When Josiah see this, he sez, "Haint that neighborly and friendly in Victory to come over here and put up a mill? That shows, Samantha," sez he, "that the old hardness of the Revolution is entirely done away with." He wuz jest full of Revolutionary thoughts that mornin', Josiah Allen wuz. And so wuz I too, but my strength of mind is such, that I reined 'em in and didn't let 'em run away with me. And I told him that it didn't mean that. Sez I, "The Widder Albert wouldn't come over here and go to millin', she nor none of her family." "But," sez he, "the name must mean sunthin'. Do you s'pose it is where folks get the victory over things? If it is, I'd give a dollar bill to get a grist ground out here, and," sez he, in a sort of a coaxin' tone, "le's stop and get some victory, Samantha." And I told him, that I guessed when he got a victory over the world, the flesh, or the -- David, he would have to work for it, he wouldn't get it ground out for him. But anon, he cast his eyes on sunthin' else and so forgot to muse on this any further. It wuz a fair seen. Anon, a big manufactory, as big as the hull side of Jonesville almost, loomed up by the side of us. And anon, the fair, the beautiful country spread itself out before our vision. While fur, fur away the pale blue mountains peeked up over the green ones, to see if they too could see the monument riz up to our National Liberty. It belonged to them, jest as much as to the hill it wuz a standin' on, it belongs to the hull liberty-lovin' world. Wall, the cars stopped in a pretty little village, a clean, pleasant little place as I ever see, or want to see. And Josiah and me wended our way up the broad roomy street, up to where the monument seemed to sort a beegon to us to come. And when we got up to it; we see it wuz a sight, a sight to behold. The curius thing on't wuz, it kep a growin' bigger and bigger all the time we wuz approachin' it, till, as we stood at its base, it seemed to tower up into the very skies. There wuz some flights of stun steps a leadin' up to some doors in the side on't. And we went inside on't after we had gin a good look at the outside. But it took us some time to get through gazin' at the outside on't. Way up over our heads wuz some sort a recesses, some like the recess in my spare bed-room, only higher and narrower, and kinder nobler lookin'. And standin' up in the first one, a lookin' stiddy through storm and shine at the North star, stood