“Time of night,” sez I; “well said, Josiah Allen. Do you realize it is after twelve P. M.? We can’t git home till after half-past one if we start this minute.”
He recognized the wisdom of my remark, but still hankered, I could see, for some more vittles. And knowin’ the needecessity of the case, I sez, “It won’t take me but a minute to bile the teakettle; I will git supper after we git home; I have got everything baked up.” At this remark he yielded, and we walked along arm in arm, for I still felt there wuz danger of his breakin’ away from me and goin’ back into that place of temptation, and as we went by a good-sized tent, standin’ a little to one side, I heard the voice as of one elocutin’, and I immegiately sez to Josiah, “Less go in here a minute, I dearly love eloquence.”
“Yes,” sez he, “I can go in and hear ‘Curfew Must Not Ring To-Night,’ it will be a dretful treat!” and he added bitterly, “there hain’t a dog in Jonesville but what knows that, and will run from it; but I can tell you, Samantha Allen, Curfew will git tired of ringin’ for us if we don’t start some time.”
Sez I mildly, “I love to see folks act with some evenness. I couldn’t git you started from bodily food a few minutes ago, and now I want to feed my mind hunger a little you are in a dretful tew to start.”
“Well, come on then,” he sez. “I may as well starve here as on the road!” and he hurried me into the tent. But it wuzn’t “Curfew Musn’t Ring To-Night,” it wuz another piece, a sort of a tragedy, and spoke real good; the young woman did first rate.
Then the band played another piece, and then there wuz a great buzz of talkin’ and laughin’ goin’ on, but pretty soon Miss Greene Smythe, who had come in on one side of the tent with her Danglers danglin’ and her Lords in Waitin’ a-waitin’ and her Maids of Honor honerin’, etc., etc., she stepped forward a little and sort o’ shooed down the biggest noise about her, and when it wuz kinder still she said:
“We are going to have a great treat; we are going to have some b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l music.”
At that a girl minced forward with kinder nippy steps and planted herself on the little raised platform and begun to yell and scream at the very top of her voice with her face lookin’ like a trout havin’ a fit, you know what immense mouths they’ve got. Well, if yellin’ wuz a treat we got it. That female jest yelled herself red as blood in the face, and on the very topmost notes lifted herself up on her toes and shook herself as if she wuz goin’ into a spazzum, and finally stepped back fairly exhausted and pantin’. Miss Greene Smythe advanced and shook hands with her and told her what a sweet treat they had had, and how splendidly in voice she wuz to-night. And so she wuz if a car whistle or gong is ever in voice when it is rippin’ out its loudest, ear-pan-crushinest notes.
But I wuz wonderin’ all the time when the music that Miss Greene Smythe had spoke about wuz goin’ to commence, and I turned and accosted a female woman who stood right by the side of me, and who seemed to be guardin’ a brood of girls, she seemed to be watchin’ ’em as clost as any old hen ever watched a brood of ducks she’d hatched, but kinder mistrusted, not knowin’ what move they might make.