Page:Six months in Kansas.djvu/81

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IN KANSAS.
77


so pleasant, of not being alone; of having another me, beside this most disagreeable intractable me, who sometimes comes to my help, so that I may lay up some treasures, pleasant to overhaul when the mind is in repose and solitude.

The carriage arrived almost as soon as myself; and Mr. —— followed close upon it, to offer any assistance. The cabin, after all, did not look so very badly. It was swept up clean, and had a sort of cleaned-up aspect, notwithstanding the cotton-wood floor; which you must know is very much like the downy side of cotton-flannel, and when experimented on with Kansas soil, becomes quite a peculiar color to neat housekeepers, who have had but one idea hitherto of floors, viz: that they should be washed occasionally.

Mr. C —— is a slight-built person, delicate complexion, sandy hair, fine forehead, gentle, manly manner, and about twenty-seven years of age. Is a native of Charleston, South Carolina, has a wife and three children, and a most devoted mother; all now living in Baltimore. I take the place of his mother at once. I help him off with his extra clothes and his belt