Now, Josiah Allen had been happy as a king ever sence he had come South to our son’s beautiful home.
He had seemed to enjoy the change of scene, the balmy climate, and the freedom from care and labor.
But that very freedom from toil, that very onbroken repose wuz what give him and me a sore trial, as you can see by the incident I will tell and recapitulate to you.
You see, Josiah Allen, not havin’ any of his usual work to do, and not bein’ any hand to sew on fine sewin’, or knit tattin’, or embroider tidies and splashers, etc., he read a sight—read from mornin’ till night almost.
And with his ardent, enthusiastic nater he got led off “by many windy doctrines,” as the text reads.
He would be rampant as rampant could be on first one thing and then another—on the tariff, the silver bill, and silo’s, and air ships, etc., etc.
And he would air all his new doctrines onto me, jest as a doctor would try all his new medicines on his wife to see if they wuz dangerous or not. Wall, I spoze it wuz right, bein’ the pardner who took him for worse as well as better.
And for family reasons I ever preferred that he should ventilate his views in my indulgent ear before he let ’em loose onto society.
And one mornin’, havin’ read late the night before and bein’ asleep when I come to bed, he begun promulgatin’ a new idee to me as he stood by the washstand a washin’ him in the early mornin’ sunshine.