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 interestin’ in a way. The forts that we passed occasionally looked as if they would stand quite a strain. But the queerest sight wuz the floatin’ houses that we had to sail through to land. Two hundred thousand folks live on them boats, are born on ’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 don’t know what they do call ’em––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 ’em fall overboard, not push ’em off, but kinder let ’em go accidental like, specially girls, they kinder encourage girls fallin’ off. And the Chinese think that it is wrong to save life. If any one is drownin’, for instance, they think that it is the will of the higher Power and let ’em go. But they look down on girls dretfully. If you ask a Chinaman how many children he has got he will say “Two children and two piecee girl.” 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: “The idee of calling a boy a child, and a girl a piece of a child, or words that mean that.”
But Arvilly sez, “Well, how much better is it in the United States––or most of ’em? Girls don’t even have the comfort of thinkin’ that they’re a piece of a person; they’re just nothin’ at all in the eyes of the law––unless the law 177 wants to tax ’em to raise money.” Sez she, “I would be thankful ’lection day if I wuz a piece of a woman, so that five or six of us would make a hull citizen.” Miss Meechim had never thought on’t before, she said she hadn’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; I’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 floatin’ city, and sez to once that he should build a house boat as soon as he got home––he and Ury. He said that he could use the old hay-rack to start it––that and the old corn-house would most make it.
“Where will you put it?” sez I.
“Oh, on the creek or the canal,” sez he. “It will be so uneek for us to dwell when we want to, on the briny deep.”
“I guess there hain’t much brine in the creek or the canal,” Josiah.
“Well, 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 comin’, or the tax collector or book agent, jest hist the sail and move off, it would be dretful handy as well as stylish.”
“Well, well,” sez I, “you can’t build it till you git home.” I felt that he would forgit it before then. Arvilly looked thoughtfully at ’em and wondered how she wuz goin’ to canvass ’em, and if they would do as Josiah intimated if they see her comin’. Miss Meechim wondered if they could 178 git to meetin’ in time, they seemed to move so slow, and Robert Strong said to Dorothy:
“Well, 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 can’t be turned out of his home by some one who claims the land.”