He flopped his wings, when I let him go, and crowed nobly. I fixed the feathers in and we set out. But I was more scairt than hurt in the line of scoffs. As we went into Jonesville not a scoff did I see—not a single scoff. No! they all smiled as they looked at us, they see the power of principle, and they was proud of us. Some of ’em laughed, they admired us so.
VISIT TO JONESVILLE.
We drove up to the store and I went in with my butter and eggs, Josiah havin’ business to the blacksmiths. The clerk looked at me, and he smiled, and says he,
“I see you are for Horace Greeley.” He almost snickered but he checked himself, looked meachin’, as he see my keen gray eye fixed onto his hat which he had on, it was a kind of a mice coler, no principle shone on it of any kind.
“Yes,” says I, “I am for Horace,” and agin I looked keenly and searchin’ly at that hat, and says I “Be you on either side or be you on the fence?”
“Wall,” says he “I am kinder on the fence at the present time. But I didn’t get up there because I am a coward, I got up there through policy; when you are on the fence, you haint a steppin’ on the feet of either party, it is a safe place, and it is a sightly place, you can see better than you can on the ground.”
“When do you calculate to get off?” says I.