[Samantha at the World’s Fair by Marietta Holley]@TWC D-Link bookSamantha at the World’s Fair CHAPTER XVIII 13/14
The wind bloweth where it listeth," sez I. "Oh, bring up the Bible," sez he; "there is a time for all things." He acted real pudgiky. But I at last got him to understand what a vista wuz, and I told him that Mr.Burnham and the others who had charge of buildin' this marvellous city took no end of pains to design these marvellous picters--more lovely than wuz ever painted on canvas sence the world begun. And sez I, as I looked round me once more, some as Moses did on Pisga's height, "and viewed the landscape o'er"-- Sez I, "I _must_ thank the head one here--I _must_ thank Director-General Davis in my own name, and in the name of Jonesville, and the world, for gittin' up this incomparable spectacle, the like of which will never be seen agin by livin' eyes." And if you'll believe it, I hadn't hardly finished speakin' when who should come towards us but General Davis himself.
I knew him in a minute, for his picter had been printed in papers as many as two or three times since the Fair begun--it wuz a real good-lookin' face, anyway, in a paper or out of it. And I gathered up the folds of my cotton umbrell more gracefully in my left hand, and kinder shook out the drapery of my alpaca skirt, and wuz jest advancin' to accost him, when Josiah laid holt of my arm and whispered in a sharp axent-- "I won't have it.
You hain't a-goin' to stop and visit with that man." I faced him with dignity and with some madness in my liniment, and sez I, "Why ?" Sez he, "Do you ask why ?" "Yes," sez I, with that same noble, riz-up look on my eyebrow--"why ?" "Wall," sez he, a-lookin' kinder meachin', "I want sunthin' to eat, and you'd probable talk a hour with him by the way you've praised up his doin's here." By this time General Davis wuz fur away. And I sithed, when I thought on't, what he'd lost by not receivin' my eloquent and heartfelt thanks, and what I'd lost in not givin' 'em. I d'no as Josiah was jealous--mebby he wuzn't.
But General Davis is considerable handsome, and Josiah can't bear to have me praise up any man, livin' or dead.
Sometimes I have almost mistrusted that he didn't like to have me praise up St.Paul too much, or David, or Job--or he don't seem to care so much about Job.
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