Samantha at Saratoga by Marietta Holley (e book reader pc .TXT) š
- Author: Marietta Holley
Book online Ā«Samantha at Saratoga by Marietta Holley (e book reader pc .TXT) šĀ». Author Marietta Holley
Tough old Experience gives us many a hard flogginā, before we learn the dayās lessons. And we find the benches hard, long before sundown. And it makes our hearts ache to see the mates we love droop their too tired heads in sleep, all round us before school is out. But we grind on at our lessons, as best we may. Learninā a little maybe. Havinā to onlearn a sight, as the pinters move on towards four. Clasping hands with fellow toilers and (hard task) onclaspinā āem, as they go up above us, or down nearer the foot. Havinā little āintermissionsā of enjoyment, soon over. But we plod on, on, and bimebyāand sometimes we think we do not care how soonāthe teacher will say to us, that we can be ādismissed.ā And then we shall drop out of the rank of learners, and the school will go without us, jest as busily, jest as cheerfully, jest as laboriously, jest as sadly. Poor learners at the hard lessons of life. Learninā out of a book that is held out to us from the shadows by an onseen, inexorable hand. Settinā on hard benches that may fall out from under us at any time. Poor ignerent creeters that we are, would it not be a too arrant folly for us to judge each other hardly, we, all on us, so deplorably ignerent, so weakly helpless?ā
Sez Josiah, in earnest axcents, āLeās walk a little faster.ā
And, in lookinā up, I see that he wuz readinā a advertisement. I ketched sight of a picture ornamentinā of it. It wuz Lydia Pinkham. And as I see that benine face, I found and recovered myself. Truly, I had been a soarinā up, up, fur above Saratoga, Patent Medicines, Josiah Allen, etc., etc.
But when I found myself by the side of Josiah Allen once more, I moved onwards in silence, and soon we found ourselves right by the haven where I desired to be,āour own tried and true boardinā house.
Truly eloquence is tuckerinā, very, especially when you are a soarinā and a walkinā at the same time.
ST. CHRISTINAāS HOME.
Wall, it wuz that very afternoon, almost immegetly after dinner, that Josiah Allen invited me warmly to go with him to the Roller Coaster. And I compromised the matter by his goinā with us first to St. Christinaās Home, and then, I told him, I would proceed with him to the place where he would be. They wuz both on one road, nigh to each other, and he consented after some words.
I felt dretfully interested in this Home, for it is a place where poor little sick children are took to, out of their miserable, stiflinā, dirty garrets, and cellars, and kepā and made well and happy in their pleasant, home-like surroundinās. And I thought to myself, as I looked ont on the big grounds surroundinā it, and walked through the clean wide rooms, that the change to these children, brought out of their narrow dark homes of want and woe, into this great sunshiny Home with its clean fresh rooms, its good food, its cheery Christian atmosphere, its broad sunshiny playgrounds, must seem like enterinā Paradise to āem.
And I thought to myself how thankful I wuz that this pleasant House Beautiful, wuz prepared for the rest and refreshment of the poor little pilgrims, worn out so early in the march of life. And I further thinkses I, āHeaven bless the kind heart that first thought onāt, and carried out the heavenly idee.ā
The childrenās faces all looked, so happy, and bright, it wuz a treat to see āem. And the face of the sister who showed us round the rooms looked as calm, and peaceful, and happy, as if her face wuz the sun from which their little lights wuz reflected.
Up amongst the rooms overhead, every one on āem clean as a pin and sweet and orderly, wuz one room that specially attracted my attention. It wuz a small chapel where the little ones wuz took to learn their prayers and say āem. It wuznāt a big, barren barn of a room, such as I have often seen in similar places, and which I have always thought must impress the children with a awful sense of the immensity and lonesomeness of space, and the intangebility, and distance of the Great Spirit who inhabiteth Eternity. No, it wuz small, and cozy, and cheerful, like a home. And the stained glass window held a beautiful picture of love and charity, which might well touch the childrenās hearts, sweetly and unconsciously, with the divine worth of love, and beauty, and goodness.
And I could fancy the dear, little ones kneelinā here, and prayinā āOur Father, who art in Heaven,ā and feelinā that He wuz indeed their Father, and not a stranger, and that Heaven wuz not fur off from āem.
And I thought to myself āNever! never! through all their life will they get entirely away from the pure, sweet lessons they learn here.ā
I enjoyed the hour I spent here with a deep, heart enjoyment, and so did Josiah. Or, that is, I guess he did, though he whispered to me from time to time, or even oftener, as we went through the buildinā, that we wuz a devourinā time that we might be spendinā at the Roller Coaster.
Wall, at last, greatly to my pardnerās satisfaction, we sot out for the place where he fain would be. On our way there we roamed through another Indian Encampment, a smaller one than that where we had the fearful incident of the Mermaid and Sarah.
No, it wuznāt so big, but it had many innocent diversions and a photograph gallery, and other things for its comfert. And a standinā up a leaninā aginst a tree, by one of the little houses stood a Injun. He wuz one of the last left of his tribe. He seemed to be a lookinā pensively onāand seeinā how the land that had belonged to āem, the happy huntinā-grounds, the springs they believed the Great Spirit had gin to āem, had all passed away into the bands of another race.
I wuz sorry for that Injun, real sorry. And thinkses I to myself, we feel considerable pert now, and lively, but who knows in another three or four hundred years, but what one of the last of our race, may be a leaninā up aginst some new tree, right in the same spot, a watchinā the old places passed away into other hands, mebby black hands, or some other colored ones; mebby yellow ones, who knows? I donāt, nor Josiah donāt. But my pardner wuz a hurryinā me on, so I dropped my revery and my umberell in my haste to foller on after his footsteps.
Josiah picked up my umberell, but he couldnāt pick up my soarinā emotions for me. No, he haint never been able, to get holt of āem. But suffice it to say, that soon, preceded by my companion, I found myself a mountinā the nearly precipitus stairs, that led to the Roller Coaster.
And havinā reached the spot, who should we find there but Ardelia Tutt and Bial Flamburg. They had been on the Roller Coaster seven times in succession, and the car. And they wuz now a sittinā down to recooperate their energies, and collect their scattered wits together. The Roller Coaster is very scatterinā to wits that are not collected firm and sound, and cemented by strong common sense.
The reason why the Roller Coaster donāt scatter such folkses wits is supposed to be because, they donāt go on to it. Ardelia looked as if her idees wuz scattered to the four pints of the compass. As for Bial, it seemed to me, as if he never had none to scatter. But he spoke out to once, and said, he didnāt care to ride on āem. (Bial Flamburgās strong pint, is his truthfulness, I canāt deny that.)
Ardelia wouldnāt own up but what she enjoyed it dretfully. You know folks are most always so. If they partake of a pleasure and recreation that is doubtful in its effects, they will always say, what a high extreme of enjoyment they enjoyed a partakinā of it. Curius, haint it? Wall, Josiah had been anticipatinā so much enjoyment from the exercise, that I didnāt make no move to prevent him from embarkinā on itāthough it looked hazardous and dangerous in the extreme.
I looked down on the long valleys, and precipitous heights of the assents and desents, in which my pardner wuz so soon to be assentinā and desentinā and I trembled, and wuz jest about to urge him to forego his diversion, for the sake of his pardnerās happiness, but as I turned to expostulate with him, I see the beautiful, joyous, hopeful look on his liniment, and the words fell almost dead on my tongue. I felt that I had ruther suffer in silence than to say one word to mar that bliss.
Such is the love of pardners, and such is some of the agonies they suffer silently to save from woundinā the more opposite one. No, I said not a word; but silently sat, and see him makinā his preparations to embark. He see the expression onto my face, and he too wuz touched by it. He never said one word to me about embarkinā too, which I laid to two reasons. One wuz my immovable determination not to embark on the voyage, which I had confided to him before.
And the other wuz, the added expenses of the journey if he took his companion with him.
No, I felt that he thought it wuz better we should part temporarily than that the expenditure should be doubled. But as the time drew near for him to leave me, I see by his meen that he felt bad about leavinā me. He realized what a companion I had been to him. He realized the safety and repose he had always found at my side and the unknown dangers he wuz a rushinā into.
And he got up and silently shook hands with me. He would have kissed me, I make no doubt, if folks hadnāt been a standinā by. He then embarked, and with lightninā speed wuz bore away from me, as he dissapeared down the desent, his few gray hairs waved back, and as he went over the last precipitus hill, I heard him cry out in agonizinā axents, āSamantha! Samantha!ā
And I rushed forwards to his rescue but so lightninā quick wuz their movements that I met my companion a cominā back, and I sez, the first thing, āI heard your cry, Josiah! I rushed to save you, my dear pardner.ā
āYes,ā sez he, āI spoke out to you, to call your attention to the landscape, over the woods there!ā
I looked at him in a curious, still sort of a way, and didnāt say nothinā only just that look. Why, that man looked all trembly and broke up, but he kepā on.
āYes, it wuz beautiful and inspirinā, and I knew you wuz such a case for landscapes, I thought I would call your attention to it.ā
Sez I, coldly, āYou wuz skairt, Josiah Allen, and you know it.ā
āSkairt! the idee of me beinā skairt. I wuz callinā your attention to the beauty of the view, over in the woods.ā
āWhat wuz it?ā sez I, still more coldly; for I canāt bear deceit, and coverinā up.
āOh, it wuz a house, and a tree, and a barn, and things.ā
āA great seen to scream about,ā sez I. āIt would probable have stood there till you got back, but you couldnāt seem to wait.ā
āNo, I have noticed that you always wanted to see things to once. I have noticed it in you.ā
āI could most probable have waited till you got back, to see a house and a tree.ā And in still moreāfrigid axents, I added, āOr a barn.ā And I sez, kinder sarkastikly, āYou enjoyed your ride, I sāpose.ā
āImmensely, it wuz perfectly beautiful! So sort a free and soarinā like. It is jest what suits a man.ā
āYouād better go right over it agin,ā sez I.
āYes,ā sez the man who runs the cars. āYouād better go agin.ā
āOh no,ā sez Josiah.
āWhy not?ā sez I.
āWhy not?ā sez the man.
Josiah Allen looked all around the room, and down on the grass, as if trying to find a good reasonable excuse a layinā round loose somewhere, soās he could
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