I gin Ardelia that night 2 yards of lute-string ribbon, a light pink, and didn’t begrech it. But I have never dast, not in his most placid and serene moments - I have never dast, to say the word “Mermaid’ to him.
Truly there is something that the boldest female pardner dassent do. Mermaids is one of the things I don’ dast to bring up. No! no, fur be it from me to say “Mermaid” to Josiah Allen.
Chapter XII.
A DRIVE TO SARATOGA LAKE.
Josiah and me took a short drive this afternoon, he hirin’ a buggy for the occasion. He called it “goin’ in his own conveniance,” and I didn’t say nothin’ aginst his callin’ it so. I didn’t break it up for this reasun, thinkses I it is a conveniance for us to ride in it, for us 2 tried and true souls to get off for a minute by ourselves.
Wall, Josiah wuz dretful good behaved this afternoon. He helped me in a good deal politer than usual and tucked the bright lap-robe almost tenderly round my form.
Men do have sech spells. They are dretful good actin’ at times. Why they act better and more subdueder and mellerer at sometimes than at others, is a deep subject which we mortals cannot as yet fully understand. Also visey versey, their cross, up headeder times, over bearin’ and actin’. It is a deep subject and one freighted with a great deal of freight.
But Josiah’s goodness on this afternoon almost reached the Scripteral and he sez, when we first sot out, and I see that the horse’s head wuz turned towards the Lake. Sez he, “I guess we’ll go to the Lake, but where do you want to go, Samantha? I will go anywhere you want to go.”
And he still drove almost recklessly on lakewards. And sez he, “We had better go straight on, but say the word, and you can go jest where you want to.” And he urged the horse on to still greater speed. And he sez agin, “Do you want to go any particular place, Samantha?”
“Yes,” sez I, “I had jest as leves go there as not.”