“Felt too big to go with us,” sez Josiah, bitterly, as we went down the steps. “They won’t associate with me.”
“Wall, I wouldn’t care if I wuz in your place, Josiah Allen,” sez I, “you are jest as good as they be, and I know it.”
“You couldn’t make ’em think so, dumb ’em,” sez he.
I liked the looks of it down there. It seems sometimes as if Happiness gets kinder homesick, in the big dusty fashionable places, and so goes back to the wild, green wood, and kinder wanders off, and loafs round, amongst the pine trees, and cool sparklin’ brooks and wild flowers and long shinin’ grasses and slate stuns, and etc., etc.
I don’t believe she likes it half so well up in the big hotel gardens or Courtin’ yards, as she does down there. You see it seems as if Happiness would have to be more dressed up, up there, and girted down, and stiff actin’, and on her good behavior, and afraid of actin’ or lookin’ onfashionable. But down here by the side of the quiet little brook, amongst the cool, green grasses, fur away from diamonds, and satins, and big words, and dogs, and parasols, and so many, many that are a chasin’ of her and a follerin’ of her up, it seemed more as if she loved to get away from it all, and get where she could take her crown off, lay down her septer, onhook her corset, and put on a long loose gown, and lounge round and enjoy herself (metafor).
We had a happy time there. We went over the little rustick bridges which would have been spilte in my eyes if they had been rounded off on the edges, or a mite of paint on ’em. Truly, I felt that I had seen enough of paint and gildin’ to last me through a long life, and it did seem such a treat to me to see a board ag’in, jest a plain rough bass-wood board, and some stuns a lyin’ in the road, and some deep tall grass that you had to sort a wade through.
Miss Flamm seemed to enjoy it some down there, though she spoke of the dog, which she had left up with her relatives.
“3 big-feelin’ ones together,” I whispered to Josiah.
And he sez, “Yes, that dog is a big-feelin’ little cuss-tomer. And if I wuz a chipmunk he couldn’t bark at me no more than he duz.”
And I looked severe at Josiah and sez I, “If you don’t jine your syllables closer together you will see trouble, Josiah Allen. You’ll find yourself swearin’ before you know it.”