Samantha at the World's Fair by Marietta Holley (classic literature list txt) 📗

tooth of St. Patrick. Mebbe it wuz his tooth; I can't dispute it, never havin' seen his gooms.

Then there wuz a Latin book of the eighth century, containin' the four gospels; and in another wuz St. Peter's cross, they said. Mebby it wuz Peter's!

And every kind of silk fabric that wuz ever made—raw silk, jest as the worm left it when she sot up as a butterfly, and jest what man has done to it after that—spinnin', weavin', dyein'—up to the time when it appears in the finest ribbon, and glossiest silk, and crapes, and gauzes, and velvets, and knit goods of every kind, and etc., and so forth.

And every kind of cloth, and felt, and woollen, and carpets enough to carpet a path clear from Chicago to Jonesville for me and Josiah to go home in a triumphal procession, if they had felt like it.

In front of the French section I see another statute of the Republic.

She wuz a-settin' down. Poor creeter, she wuz tired; and then agin she had seen trouble—lots of it.

Her left arm was a-restin' firm on a kind of a square block, with "The Rights of Man" carved on it, and half[Pg 326] hidin' them words wuz a sword, which she also held in her left hand.

The rights of Man and a sword wuz held in one hand, jest as they always have been.

But, poor creeter! her right arm wuz gone—her good right hand wuz nowhere to be seen.

I don't like to talk too glib about the judgments of Providence. The bad boys don't always git drownded when they go fishin' Sundays—they often git home with long strings of trout, and lick the good boys on their way home from Sunday-school. Such is real life, too oft.

But I couldn't help sayin' to Josiah—

"Mebby if they had put onto that little monument she holds, 'The Rights of Man and Woman'—mebby she wouldn't had her arm took off."

But anyway, judgment or not, anybody could see with one eye how one-sided, and onhandy, and cramped, and maimed, and everything a Republic is who has the use of only one of her arms. Them that run could read the great lesson—

"Male and female created He them."

Both arms are needed to clasp round the old world, and hold it firm—Justice on one side, Love on the other.

I felt sorry for the Republic—sorry as a dog.

[Pg 327]

But that wuz the first time I see her. The next time she had had her arm put on.

I guess Uncle Sam done it. That old man is a-gittin' waked up, and Eternal Right is a-hunchin' him in the sides.

She wuz a-holdin' that right arm up towards the Heavens; the fingers wuz curved a little—they seemed to be begenin' to sunthin' up in the sky to come down and bless the world.

Mebby it wuz Justice she wuz a-callin' on to come down and watch over the rights of wimmen. Anyway, she looked as well agin with both arms on her.

Amongst the wonders of beauty in the French exhibit we see that vase of Gustave Dore's. That attracted crowds of admirers the hull time; it stood up fifteen feet high, and every inch of it wuz beautiful enough for the very finest handkerchief pin!

There wuz hundreds of figgers from the animal and vegetable kingdom, and Mythology—cupids, nymphs, birds, and butterflies disportin' themselves in the most graceful way, and such beautiful female figgers!—Venuses as beautiful as dreams, and over all, and through all, wuz a-trailin' the rich clusters of the vine.

The figgers seemed at first sight to kind o' encourage wine-makin' and wine-drink[Pg 328]in'. But look clost, and you'd see on one side, workin' his stiddy way up through the fairy landscape, up through the gay revellers, a venemous serpent wuz a-creepin'.

He wuz bound to be there, and Venus or Nymph, or any of 'em that touched that foamin' wine, had to be stung by his deadly venoms. Mr. Dore made that plain.

Wall, we tried to the best of our ability to not slight a single country, but I'm afraid we did; I tried to act the part of a lady and pay attention to the hull on 'em, but I'm afraid that fifty or sixty countries had reason to feel that we slighted 'em; but I hope that this will explain matters to 'em.

I felt that I hadn't done justice to our own country and our Ma Country, not at all; but when you jest think how big the United States is, and how many firms try to show off in every county of every State—why, it tires anybody jest to think on't; and Great Britain too; for, as I thought, what good duz visitors do when their brain is a-reelin' under their head-dresses, and stove-pipe hats! And truly that wuz our condition before we fairly begun to go through the countries.

Beautiful works of art—marvellous exhibits to the right of us, to the left of[Pg 329] us, and before us and behind us—forty-five acres on 'em. What wuz two small pair of eyes and four ears to set up aginst this colossial and imeasureable show!

We went till we wuz ready to drop down, and then Josiah sez, "Less take the rest of the grandeur for granted, and less go somewhere and git a cup of tea, and a nip of sunthin' to eat."

I said sunthin' about hurtin' the different countries feelin's by not payin' attention to 'em.

And he sez, "Dum it all, I don't know as it would make 'em any happier to have two old folks die on their hands; and I feel, Samantha, that the end is a-drawin' near," sez he.

He did look real bad. So we went to the nearest place and got a cup of tea, and rested a spell, and when we come back we kinder left the Manafactures part, and tackled the Liberal part, and I declare that wuz the best of all by fur.

That wuz enough to lift up anybody's morals, and prop 'em up strong, to see how much attention is paid to education and trainin' right from the nursery up—devolipin' the mind and the body.

It wuz some as if the Manafactures part tended to the house and clothin', and this part tended to the livin' soul that inhabited it.

[Pg 330]

It wuz dretful interestin' to see everything about devolipin' the strength and muscle in gymnasiums, skatin', rowin', boatin', and every other way. Food supply and its distribution, school kitchens. How to make buildin's the best way for health and comfort for workin'men, school-housen, churches, and etc. How to heat and ventilate housen, how to keep the sewers and drains all right, and how neccessary that is! Some folkses back doors are a abomination when their front doors are full of ornament.

All kinds of instruction in infant schools, kindergartens; domestic and industrial trainin' for girls, models for teachin' and cookery, housework, dressmakin', etc.; how neccessary this is to turn out girls for real life, so much better than to have 'em know Greek, but not know a potatoe from a turnip; to understand geology, but not recognize a shirt gusset from a baby's bib!

Books, literature, examples of printin' paper, bindin', religion, natural sciences, fine arts, school-books, newspapers, library apparatus, publications by Goverment, etc.

And wuzn't it a queer coincidence? that right where books wuz all round me, right while my eyes wuz sot on 'em—

[Pg 331]

I hearn a voice I recognized. It wuz a-givin' utterance to the words I had heard so often—

"Two dollars and a half for cloth—three for sheep, and four for morocco."

I turned, and there she wuz; there stood Arvilly Lanfear. She wuz in front of a good, meek-lookin' freckled woman, a-canvassin' her.

Or, that is, she wuzn't exactly applyin' the canvas to her, but she wuz a-preparin' her for it.

It seemed that she had been introduced to her, and wuz a-goin' to call on her the next day with the book.

Sez I, advancin' onto her, "Arvilly Lanfear, did you really git here alive and well?"

"Wall," sez she, "I shouldn't have got here, most likely, if I wuzn't alive, and I never wuz so well in my life, in body and in sperits. Hain't it glorious here?" sez she.

"Yes," sez I; and, sez I, "Arvilly, did you walk afoot all the way here?"

And then she went on and related her experience.

She said that she wuz five weeks on her way, and made money all the way over and above her expenses. She walked the most of the way.

She wuz now a-boardin' with a old acquaintance at five dollars a week, and she canvassed three days in th[Pg 332]e week, and come three days to the Fair, and more'n paid her way now.

Sez I, "Arvilly, you look better than I ever knew you to look; you look ten years younger, and I don't know but 'leven."

Sez I, "Your face has got a good color, and your eyes are bright." Sez I, "You hain't enjoyin' sech poor health as you did sometimes in Jonesville, be you?"

Sez she, "I never wuz so well before in my life!"

Sez I, "You've somehow got a different look onto you, Arvilly." Sez I, "Somehow, you look more meller and happy."

"I be happy!" sez she.

Sez I, "I spoze you are still a-sellin' the same old book, the 'Wild, Wicked, and Warlike Deeds of Man'?"

She kinder blushed, and, sez she, "No; I have took up a new work."

"What is it?" sez I, for she seemed to kinder hang back from tellin', but finally she sez, "It is the 'Peaceful, Prosperous, and Precious Performances of Man.'"

"Wall," sez I, "I'm glad on't. Men should be walked round and painted on all sides to do justice to 'em.

[Pg 333]

"'Im real glad that you're a-goin' to canvas on his better side, Arvilly."

"Yes," sez she, "men are amiable and noble creeters when you git to understand 'em."

The change in her mean and her sentiments almost made my brain reel under my slate-colored straw bunnet, and my knees fairly trembled under my frame.

And, sez I, "Arvilly, explain to a old and true friend the change that has come onto you."

So we withdrew our two selves to a sheltered nook, and there the story wuz onfolded to me in perfect confidence, and it must be kep. I will tell it in my own words, for she rambles a good deal in her talk, and that is, indeed, a fault in female wimmen.

Thank Heaven! I hain't got it.

It seems that when she sot out for the World's Fair with the "Wild, Wicked, and Warlike Deeds of Man," she had only a dollar in her pocket, but hoards and hoards of pluck and patience.

She canvassed along, a-walkin' afoot—some days a-makin' nothin' and bein' clear discouraged, and anon makin' a little sunthin', and then agin makin' first rate for a day or two, as the way of agents is.

Till one day about sundown—she hadn't seen a house for milds back—she co[Pg 334]me to a little house a-standin' back on the edge of a pleasant strip of woods. A herd of sleek cows and some horses and some sheep wuz in pastures alongside of it, and a little creek of sparklin' water run before it, and she went over a rustic bridge, up through a pretty front yard, into a little vine-shaded porch, and rapped at the door.

Nobody come; she rapped agin; nobody made a appearance.

But anon she hearn a low groanin' and cryin' inside.

So, bein' at the bottom one of the kindest-hearted creeters in the world, but embittered by strugglin' along alone, Arvilly opened the door and went in. She went through a little parlor into the back room, and wuzn't that a sight that met her eyes?

A good-lookin' man of about Arvilly's age laid there all covered with blood and fainted entirely away, and on his breast wuz throwed the form of a little lame girl all covered with blood, and a-cryin' and a-groanin' as if her heart would break.

She thought her Pa wuz dead.

It seemed that he had cut his head dretfully with a tree branch a-fallin' onto it, and had jest made out to git to the house before he fainted; and his little girl, havin' neve[Pg 335]r seen a faint, thought it wuz death; and it is its first cousin.

Wall, here wuz a place for Arvilly's patience, and pluck, and faculty, to soar round in.

The first thing, she took up the little lame girl in her arms—a sweet little creeter of five summers—and sot her in a chair, and comforted her by tellin' her that her Pa would be all right in a few minutes.

And she then, (and I don't spoze that