Men heap up more riches than they can enjoy and then groan and rithe under the taxes, the charity given, the envy, the noteriety, the glare, and the glitter, the crowd of fortune-hunters and greedy hangers-on, and the care and anxiety. They orniment the high front of their houses with the paint, the gildin’, the fashion, and the show of enormous wealth, and while the crowd of fashion-seekers and fortune-hunters pour in and out of the lofty doorway they set out on the back stoop a groanin’ and a sithin’ at the cares and sleepless anxietes of their big wealth, and then they git up and go down street and try their best to heap up more treasure to groan over.
And wimmen now, when wuz there ever a woman who could resist a good bargain? Her upper beauro draws may be a runnin’ over with laces and ribbons, but let her see a great bargain sold for nothin’ almost, and where is the female woman that can resist addin’ to that already too filled up beauro draw.
A baby, be he a male, or be he a female child, when he has got a appel in both hands, will try to lay holt of another, if you hold it out to him. It is human nater. Josiah must not be considered as one alone in layin’ up more riches than he needed. He suffered, and I also, for sech is the divine law of love, that if one member of the family suffers, the other members suffer also, specially when the sufferin’ member is impatient and voyalent is his distress, and talks loud and angry at them who truly are not to blame.
Now I didn’t make the springs nor I wuzn’t to blame for their bein’ discovered in the first place. But Josiah laid it to me. And though I tried to make him know that it wuz a Injun that discovered ’em first, he wouldn’t gin in and seemed to think they wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for me.
I hated to hear him go on so. And in the cause of Duty, I brung up Sir William Johnson and others. But he lay there on the lounge, and kep’ his face turned resolute towards the wall, in a dretful oncomfertable position (sech wuz his temper of mind), and said, he never had heard of them, nor the springs nuther, and shouldn’t if it hadn’t been for me.
Why, sez I, “A Injun brought Sir William Johnson here on his back.”
“Wall,” sez he, cross as a bear, “that is the way you’ll have to take me back, if you go on in this way much longer.”
“In what way, Josiah?” sez I.
“Why a findin’ springs and draggin’ a man off to ’em, and makin’ him drink.”
“Why, Josiah Allen,” sez I, “I told you not to drink - don’t you remember?”