Page:Samantha on Children's Rights.djvu/255

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comfort. And in front of all is the clear, blue waters of the lake, with boathousen and little boats floatin' on the surface jest like a flock of white geese down to our pond.

As we driv onto the grounds on a broad gravel walk with brilliant posy beds on each side on't, I see closter to the house a hull lot of men fixin' a big tent with flags on't and puttin' out rows of little lanterns on strings leadin' from one tree to another and standin' out a hull lot of evergreen trees round the big tent and a lot of smaller ones.

The mair sort o' pricked up its ears at the sight of so many strange things, but kep' right along on the path like the well principled mair she is. But the colt bein' younger and not so way-wised, and I don't believe havin' the good principle her Ma has, or ever will have, though Josiah sez she is likelier fur than her Ma wuz at her age. But, 'tennyrate she made a dash into the thickest of the crowd, and it wuzn't till three waiters had been upsot, by bein' taken in their back onexpected, that my pardner succeeded in catchin' it. By this time the colt bein' tangled in the line of lanterns and one foot ketched in the rope of evergreens, he stood still whinnerin'. And the waiters cussin' and swearin' fearful, and my pardner goin' as fur that way as he dast with his professions and religion. He did say "dum" repeatedly, and "gracious Heavens!" and "gracious Peter!" and all these milder terms a deacon can use and not call it swearin'. And I, holdin' the mair, some excited but keepin' my conscientiousness pretty well, when a man come runnin' out from the hotel that seemed to be in authority and he quickly loosed the bands of that colt, and sent the cussin' waiters about their bizness and ad-