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wheat put up there that never wuz growed only in the minds of the gamblers. Why,ā€ sez Arvilly, warminā€™ up with her subject, ā€œwe are a nation of gamblers from Wall Street, where gamblinā€™ is done in the name of greed, down to meetinā€™ houses, where bed-quilts and tidies are gambled for in the name of religion. From millionaires who play the game for fortunes down to poor backwoodsmen who raffle for turkeys and hens, and children who toss pennies for marbles.ā€

Sez Miss Meechim, ā€œI guess I will take a little quinine and lay down a spell.ā€ Arvilly tosted her head quite a little after she retired and then she went out to canvass a clerk in the office. Arvilly is dantless in carriage, but she is too hash. I feel bad about it.

173 CHAPTER XV

Arvilly and I went out for a walk, takinā€™ Tommy with us. We thought we would buy some sooveneers of the place. Sez Arvilly, ā€œI want to prove to the Jonesvillians that Iā€™ve been to China, and I want to buy some little presents for Waitstill Webb, that I can send her in a letter.ā€

And I thought I would buy some little things for the children, mebby a ivory croshay hook for Tirzah Ann and a paper cutter for Thomas J., and sunthinā€™ else for Maggie and Whitfield. It beats all what exquisite ivory things we did see, and in silver, gold, shell, horn and bamboo, every article you can think on and lots you never did think on, all wrought in the finest carvinā€™ and filigree work. Embroideries in silk and satin and cloth of gold and silver, every beautiful thing that wuz ever made youā€™d see in these shops.

I wuz jest hesitatinā€™ between a ivory bodkin with a butterfly head and a ivory hook with a posy on the handle, when I hearn the voice of my pardner, seeminā€™ly makinā€™ a trade with somebody, and I turned a little corner and there I see him stand tryinā€™ to beat down a man from Tibet, or so a bystander told me he wuz, a queer lookinā€™ creeter, but he understood a few English words, and Josiah wuz buyinā€™ sunthinā€™ as I could see, but looked dretful meachin and tried to conceal his purchase as he ketched my eye. I see he wuz doinā€™ sunthinā€™ he ort not to do, meachinness and guilt wuz writ down on his liniment. But my axent and mean wuz such that he produced the object and tried hard to explain and apologize.

It wuz a little prayer-wheel designed for written prayers to be put in and turned with a crank, or it could be hitched 174 to water power or a wind-mill or anything, and the owner could truly pray without ceasing. Oh how I felt as he explained! I felt that indeed the last straw wuz beinā€™ packed onto my back, but Josiah kepā€™ on with his apoligizinā€™.

ā€œYou neednā€™t look like that, Samantha; I can tell you I hainā€™t gin up religion or thought onā€™t. I want you to know that I am still a strong, active member of the M. E. meetinā€™ house, but at the same time,ā€ sez he, ā€œif Iā€“ā€“if thereā€“ā€“spozeinā€™ there wuz, as it were, some modifications and conveniences that would help a Christian perfessor along, I donā€™t know as I would be to blame to avail myself of ā€™em.ā€

Sez I, ā€œIf youā€™re guiltless what makes you look so meachin?ā€

ā€œWell, I most knew you wouldnā€™t approve on it, but,ā€ sez he, ā€œI can tell you in a few short words what it will do. You can write your prayers all out when you have time and put ā€™em into this wheel and turn it, or you can have it go by water, you can hitch it to the windmill and have it a-prayinā€™ while you water the cattle in the morninā€™, and I thought, Samantha, that in hayinā€™ time or harvestinā€™ when I am as busy as the old Harry I could use it that way, or I could be a turninā€™ it on my way to the barn to do the chores, or I could hitch it onto the grinā€™stone and Ury and I could pray for the whole family whilst we wuz whettinā€™ the scythes.ā€

ā€œNot for me,ā€ sez I, groaninā€™ aloud, ā€œnot for me.ā€

ā€œYou neednā€™t look like that, Samantha; I tell you agin I wuznā€™t goinā€™ to use it only when I wuz driv to death with work. And I tell you it would be handy for you when you expected a houseful of company, and Philury wuz away.ā€

ā€œNo, indeed!ā€ sez I; ā€œno such wicked, wicked work will be connected with my prayers.ā€

ā€œWell,ā€ sez Arvilly, ā€œI dā€™no as it would be much wickeder than some prayers Iā€™ve hearn when folks wuz in a hurry; they would run their thanksgivinā€™s into their petitions and them into their amens, and gallop through ā€™em so there wuznā€™t a mite of sense in ā€™em. Or take so much 175 pains to inform the Lord about things. I hearn one man say,ā€ sez Arvilly:

ā€œā€˜O Lord, thou knowest by the morning papers, so and so.ā€™ I dā€™no as a prayer turned off by a wheel would look much worse or be much less acceptable.ā€

Josiah looked encouraged, and sez he to me, soty vosey, ā€œArvilly always did have good horse sense.ā€

Sez I, ā€œThey wuznā€™t run by machineryā€“ā€“wicked, wicked way. A boughten machine!ā€ sez I, shettinā€™ up my eyes and groaninā€™ agin.

ā€œNo,ā€ sez Josiah eagerly, ā€œI wuz agoinā€™ to tell you; Iā€™ve got a wheel to home and a cylinder that come offen that old furnace regulator that didnā€™t work, and I thought that with a little of Uryā€™s help I could fix one up jest as good as this, and I could sell this for twice what I gin for it to Deacon Henzy or old Shelmadine, or rent it through hayinā€™ and harvestinā€™ to the brethren, orā€“ā€“ā€“ā€

Sez I, ā€œYou would disseminate these wicked practices, would you, in dear Christian Jonesville? No, indeed.ā€

ā€œI tell you agin I wuznā€™t a-goinā€™ to use it only in the most hurryinā€™ timesā€“ā€“Iā€“ā€“ā€“ā€

But I sez, ā€œI will hear no more; give it back to the man and come with your pardner!ā€

And I linked my arm in hisen and motioned to the man to move off with his wheels. And my looks wuz that dignified and lofty that I spoze it skairt him and he started off almost immegiately and to once.

And I hainā€™t hern no more about it, but donā€™t know how much more trouble I may have with it. No knowinā€™ what that man may take it into his head to do in Jonesville or China. But prayer-wheels! little did I think when I stood at the altar with Josiah Allen that I should have to dicker with them.

It only took six hours to sail from Hongkong up to Canton. The scenery along the Pearl River is not very interesting except the rice fields, banana groves with pagodas 176 risinā€™ amongst ā€™em anon or oftener, and the strange tropical foliage, cactuses that we raise in little jars riz up here like trees.

The native villages along the ruther flat shore looked kinder dilapidated and run down, but yet they looked so different from Jonesville houses that they wuz interestinā€™ in a way. The forts that we passed occasionally looked as if they would stand quite a strain. But the queerest sight wuz the floatinā€™ houses that we had to sail through to land. Two hundred thousand folks live on them boats, are born on ā€™em, grow up, marry, raise a family and die, all right there on the water, just as other folks live on the land.

If a young man courts a girl he takes her and her setting out, which is mebby a extra night gown, or I donā€™t know what they do call ā€™emā€“ā€“their dresses look like night gowns. Well, she will take that and a rice kettle and go into his junk and mebby never leave it through her life only to visit her friends. The children swarmed on them boats like ants on a ant-hill, and they say that if they git too thick they kinder let ā€™em fall overboard, not push ā€™em off, but kinder let ā€™em go accidental like, specially girls, they kinder encourage girls fallinā€™ off. And the Chinese think that it is wrong to save life. If any one is drowninā€™, for instance, they think that it is the will of the higher Power and let ā€™em go. But they look down on girls dretfully. If you ask a Chinaman how many children he has got he will say ā€œTwo children and two piecee girl.ā€ Jest as if boys was only worthy to be called children, and girls a piece of a child. Miss Meechim wuz indignant when that way of theirs wuz mentioned; she considers herself as good if not better than one man and a half. Sez she: ā€œThe idee of calling a boy a child, and a girl a piece of a child, or words that mean that.ā€

But Arvilly sez, ā€œWell, how much better is it in the United Statesā€“ā€“or most of ā€™em? Girls donā€™t even have the comfort of thinkinā€™ that theyā€™re a piece of a person; theyā€™re just nothinā€™ at all in the eyes of the lawā€“ā€“unless the law 177 wants to tax ā€™em to raise money.ā€ Sez she, ā€œI would be thankful ā€™lection day if I wuz a piece of a woman, so that five or six of us would make a hull citizen.ā€ Miss Meechim had never thought onā€™t before, she said she hadnā€™t, but nobody could git her to say a word aginst American customs no more than they could aginst herself. She thinks that she and America are perfect, but puts herself first. Well, America is the best land under the sun; Iā€™ve always said so. But I feel towards it as I do towards Josiah: what faults it has I want to talk it out of, so that it will stand up perfect among nations as Josiah could amongst men if he would hear to me. Arvilly likes to stir Miss Meechim up; I believe she sez things a purpose sometimes to set Miss Meechim off; but then Arvilly talks from principle, too, and she is real cute.

There wuz all sorts of boats, theatre junks and concert junks and plain junks, and Josiah wuz dretful took with this floatinā€™ city, and sez to once that he should build a house boat as soon as he got homeā€“ā€“he and Ury. He said that he could use the old hay-rack to start itā€“ā€“that and the old corn-house would most make it.

ā€œWhere will you put it?ā€ sez I.

ā€œOh, on the creek or the canal,ā€ sez he. ā€œIt will be so uneek for us to dwell when we want to, on the briny deep.ā€

ā€œI guess there hainā€™t much brine in the creek or the canal,ā€ Josiah.

ā€œWell, I said that for poetical purposes. But you know that it would be very stylish to live in a boat, and any time we wanted to, when onexpected company wuz cominā€™, or the tax collector or book agent, jest hist the sail and move off, it would be dretful handy as well as stylish.ā€

ā€œWell, well,ā€ sez I, ā€œyou canā€™t build it till you git home.ā€ I felt that he would forgit it before then. Arvilly looked thoughtfully at ā€™em and wondered how she wuz goinā€™ to canvass ā€™em, and if they would do as Josiah intimated if they see her cominā€™. Miss Meechim wondered if they could 178 git to meetinā€™ in time, they seemed to move so slow, and Robert Strong said to Dorothy:

ā€œWell, a poor man can feel that he owns the site his home stands on, as well as the rich man can, and that would be a hopeless attempt for him in our large American cities, and he canā€™t be turned out of his home by some one who claims the land.ā€

And Tommy wondered how the little boys could play ball, and if they didnā€™t want to slide down hill, or climb trees, or pick berries, and so on and so on. And every one on us see what wuz for us to see in the movinā€™ panoramy.

Canton is a real queer city. The streets are so narrer that you can almost reach out your hands and touch the houses on both sides, they are not more than seven or eight feet wide. There are no horses in Canton, and you have to git about on ā€œshanksā€™s horses,ā€ as Josiah calls it, your own limbs you know, or else sedan chairs, and the streets are so narrer, some on ā€™em, that once when we met some big Chinese man, a Mandarin I believe they called him, we had to hurry into one of the shops till he got by, and

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