Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife Part 6

"The United States of America, guilty of murder in the first degree."

Dretful murder, to take the life of the one that loved it and wuz tryin' to save it.

Well, Arvilly's last thing to love wuz taken from her cruelly, and when she got strong enough she sot off for Jonesville in her soldier clothes, for she thought she would wear 'em till she got away, but she wuz brung back as a deserter and Waitstill stood by her durin' her trial, and after Alan's death she too wuz smit down, like a posy in a cyclone. Arvilly, in her own clothes now, tended her like a mother, and as soon as she wuz able to travel took her back to Jonesville, where they make their home together, two widders, indeed, though the weddin' ring don't show on one of their hands.

Waitstill goes about doin' good, waitin' kinder still, some like her name, till the Lord sends her relief by the angel that shall stand one day in all our homes. She don't talk much.

But Arvilly's grief is different. She told me one day when I wuz tellin' her to chirk up and be more cheerful and comfortable:

"I don't want to be comfortable; I don't want to feel any different."

"Whyee, Arvilly!" sez I, "don't you want to see any happiness agin?"

"No, I don't," sez she, "I don't want to take a minute's comfort and ease while things are in the state they be." Sez she, "Would you want to set down happy, and rock, and eat peanuts, if you knew that your husband and children wuz drowndin' out in the ca.n.a.l?"

"No," sez I, "no, indeed! I should rush out there bareheaded, and if I couldn't save 'em, would feel like dyin' with 'em."

"Well," sez she, short as pie crust, "that's jest how I feel."

I believe and so Josiah duz that Arvilly would walk right up to a loaded cannon and argy with it if she thought it would help destroy the Saloon, and after she had convinced the cannon she would be perfectly willin' to be blowed up by it if the Saloon wuz blowed up too.

Well, I sot thinkin' of all this till Tommy waked up and we all went out into the dining car and had a good meal. We wuz a little over two days goin' from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, and durin' that time I calculated that I eat enough dirt, that bitter alkali sand, to last lawful all my life. I believe one peck of dirt is all the law allows one person to consume durin' their life. It seems as if I eat more than enough to meet legal requirements for me and Josiah, and I seemed to have a thick coatin' of it on my hull person. And poor little Tommy! I tried to keep his face clean and that wuz all I could do.

But as we drew nearer to California the weather became so balmy and delightful that it condoned for much that wuz onpleasant, and I sez to myself, the lovely views I have seen between Chicago and California I shall never forgit as long as memory sets up in her high chair.

What a panorama it wuz--beautiful, grand, delightful, majestic, sublime--no words of mine can do it justice. No. I can never describe the views that opened on our admirin' and almost awe-struck vision as the cars advanced through natural openin's in the mountains and anon artificial ones.

Why, I had thought that the hill in front of old Grout Nickelson's wuz steep, and the road a skittish one that wound around it above the creek. But imagine goin' along a road where you could look down thousands of feet into running water, and right up on the other side of you mountains thousands of feet high. And you between, poor specks of clay with only a breath of steam to keep you agoin' and prevent your das.h.i.+n' down into that enormous abyss.

But Grandeur sot on them mountain tops, Glory wuz enthroned on them sublime heights and depths, too beautiful for words to describe, too grand for human speech to reproduce agin, the soul felt it and must leave it to other souls to see and feel.

On, on through mountain, valley, gorge and summit, waves of green foliage, rocks all the beautiful colors of the rainbow, majestic shapes, seemin'ly fas.h.i.+oned for a home for the G.o.ds; white peaks--sun-glorified, thousands of feet high with blue sky above; ravines thousands of feet deep with a glint of blue water in the depths, seemin' to mirror to us the truth that G.o.d's love and care wuz over and under us. And so on and on; valleys, mountains, clear lakes, forests and broad green fields, tree sheltered farms, and anon the broad prairie. It wuz all a panorama I never tired of lookin' at, and lasted all the way to California.

As our stay wuz to be so short in San Francisco, Miss Meechim and Dorothy thought it would be best to go to a hotel instead of openin'

Dorothy's grand house; so we all went to the tarven Miss Meechim picked out, the beautifullest tarven that ever I sot eyes on, it seemed to me, and the biggest one. Havin' felt the swayin', jiggerin'

motion of the cars so long, it wuz indeed a blessin' to set my foot on solid ground once more, and Tommy and I wuz soon ensconced in a cozy room, nigh Miss Meechim's sweet rooms. For she still insisted on callin' their rooms sweet, and I wouldn't argy with her, for I spoze they did seem sweet to her.

Tommy wuz tired out and I had to take him in my arms and rock him, after we'd had our supper, a good meal which Miss Meechim had brung up into their settin'-room, though I insisted on payin' my part on't (she's a good creater, though weak in some ways). Well I rocked Tommy and sung to him:

"Sweet fields beyend the swellin' flood."

And them sweet fields in my mind wuz our own orchard and paster, and the swellin' flood I thought on wuzn't death's billers, but the waters that rolled between California and Jonesville.

Not one word had I hearn from my pardner sence leavin' New York.

"Oh, dear Josiah! When shall I see thee agin?" So sung my heart, or ruther chanted, a deep solemn chant. "Where art thou, Josiah, and when shall we meet agin? And why, why do I not hear from thee?"

The next mornin' after we arrived at San Francisco, Robert Strong appeared at the hotel bright and early, and I don't know when I've ever seen anybody I liked so well. Miss Meechim invited me into her settin'-room to see him.

Havin' hearn so much about his deep, earnest nater and deathless desire to do all the good he could whilst on his earthly pilgrimage, I expected to see a grave, quiet man with lines of care and conflict engraved deep on his sober, solemn visage.

But I wuz never more surprised to see a bright, laughin', happy face that smiled back into mine as Albina Meechim proudly introduced her nephew to me.

Why, thinkses I to myself, where can such strength of character, such n.o.ble purpose, such original and successful business habits be hidden in that handsome, smilin' face and them graceful, winnin' ways, as he laughed and talked with his aunt and Dorothy.

But anon at some chance word of blame and criticism from Miss Meechim, makin' light of his City of Justice and its inhabitants, a light blazed up in his eyes and lit up his face, some as a fire in our open fireplace lights up the spare-room, and I see stand out for a minute on the background of his fair handsome face a picture of heroism, love, endeavor that fairly stunted me for a time. And I never felt afterwards anything but perfect confidence in him; no matter how light and trifling wuz his talk with Dorothy, or how gay and boyishly happy wuz his clear laughter.

He had worked well and faithful, givin' his hull mind and heart to his endeavor to do all the good he could, and now he wuz bound to play well, and git all the good and rest he could out of his play spell.

And I hadn't been with 'em more'n several hours before I thought that I had seen further into his heart and hopes and intentions than Miss Meechim had in all her born days.

Robert Strong, before he went away, invited us all to go and see his City of Justice, and we agreed with considerable satisfaction to do so, or at least I did and I spoze the rest did. Miss Meechim would be happy in any place where her nephew wuz, that you could see plain, as much as she disapproved of his methods. Dorothy, I couldn't see so plain what she did think, she bein' one that didn't always let her lips say everything her heart felt, but she used Robert real polite, and we all had a real agreeable visit.

Robert got a big carriage and took us all out driving that afternoon, Miss Meechim and I settin' on the back seat, and Robert and Dorothy facing us, and Tommy perched on Robert's knee; Tommy jest took to him, and visey-versey. Robert thought he wuz just about the brightest little boy he had ever seen, and Tommy sot there, a little pale but happy, and wonnered about things, and Robert answered all his "wonners" so fur as he could.

We drove through beautiful streets lined with elegant houses, and the dooryards wuz a sight. Think of my little scraggly geraniums and oleanders and cactuses I've carried round in my hands all winter and been proud on. And then think of geranium and oleander trees just as common as our maples and loaded with flowers. And palm and bananna trees, little things we brood over in our houses in the winter, and roses that will look spindlin' with me, do the best I can, in December, all growin' out-doors fillin' the air with fragrance.

Robert Strong said we must go to the Cliff House, and Tommy wanted to see the seals.

Poor things! I felt bad to see 'em and to think there wuz a war of extermination tryin' to be waged aginst 'em, because they interfered with the rights of a few. One of the most interesting animals on the Western continent! It seems too bad they're tryin' to wipe 'em out of existence because the fishermen say they eat a sammon now and then.

Why shouldn't they who more than half belong to the water-world once in a great while have a little taste of the good things of that world as well as to have 'em all devoured by the inhabitants of dry land?

And they say that the seals eat sharks too--I should think that that paid for all the good fish they eat. But to resoom. Tommy didn't think of the rights or the wrongs of the seals, he had no disquietin'

thoughts to mar his antic.i.p.ations, but he wonnered if he could put his hands through 'em like he could his ma's seal m.u.f.f. He thought that they wuz m.u.f.fs, silk lined--the idee! And he "wonnered" a sight when he see the great peaceable lookin' creeters down in the water and on the rocks, havin' a good time, so fur as we could see, in their own world, and mindin' their own bizness; not tryin' to git ash.o.r.e and kill off the fishermen, because they ketched so many sammons. And Tommy had to feed the seals and do everything he could do, Robert Strong helpin' him in everything he undertook, and he "wonnered" if they would ever be changed into m.u.f.fs, and he "wonnered" if they would like to be with "ribbon bows on."

At my request we went through Lone Mountain Cemetery, a low mountain rising from the sandy beach full of graves shaded by beautiful trees and myriads of flowers bending over the silent sleepers, the resistless sea was.h.i.+ng its base on one side--just as the sea of Death is was.h.i.+ng up aginst one side of Life--no matter how gay and happy it is.

We rode home through a magnificent park of two thousand acres. Money had turned the sandy beach into a wealth of green lawns, beautiful trees and myriads of flowers. I had always sposed that them Eastern Genis in the "Arabian Nights" had palaces and things about as grand and luxurious as they make, but them old Genis could have got lots of pinters in luxury and grand surroundin's if they'd seen the homes of these nabobs in the environins of San Francisco. No tongue can tell the luxury and elegance of them abodes, and so I hain't a goin' to git out of patience with my tongue if it falters and gins out in the task.

CHAPTER VI

The next mornin' while Miss Meechim and Dorothy wuz to the lawyers, tendin' to that bizness of hern and gittin' ready for their long tower, Robert Strong took me through one of them palaces. It stood only a little distance from the city and wuz occupied by one old gentleman, the rest of the family havin' died off and married, leavin'

him alone in his glory. Well said, for glory surrounded the hull spot.

There wuz three hundred acres, all gardens and lawns and a drivin'

park and a park full of magestick old live oaks, and acres and acres of the most beautiful flowers and all the choicest fruit you could think of.

The great stately mansion was a sight to go through--halls, libraries, gilded saloons, picture galleries, reception halls lined with mirrors, billiard rooms, bowling alleys, whatever that may be, dining rooms, with mirrors extending from the floor to the lofty ceilin's.

I wondered if the lonely old occupant ever see reflected in them tall mirrors the faces of them who had gone from him as he sot there at that table, like some Solomon on his throne. But all he had to do wuz to press his old foot on a electric bell under the table, and forty servants would enter. But I'dno as he'd want 'em all--I shouldn't--it would take away my appet.i.te, I believe. Twenty carriages of all kinds and thirty blooded horses wuz in his stables, them stables bein'

enough sight nicer than any dwellin' house in Jonesville.

But what did that feeble old man want of twenty carriages? To save his life he couldn't be in more than one to a time; and I am that afraid of horses, I felt that I wouldn't swap the old mair for the hull on 'em.

At my strong request we made a tower one day to see Stanford University, that immense schoolhouse that is doin' so much good in the world; why, good land! it is larger than you have any idee on; why, take all the schoolhouses in Jonesville and Loontown and Zoar and put 'em all together, and then add to them all the meetin' houses in all them places and then it wouldn't be half nor a quarter so big as this n.o.ble schoolhouse.

And the grounds about it are beautiful, beautiful! We wuz shown through the buildin', seein' all the helps to learning of all kinds and the best there is in the world. And how proud I felt to think what one of my own sect had done in that great werk. How the cross of agony laid on her shoulders had turned to light that will help guide over life's tempestenus ten millions yet onborn. And I sez: "How happy young Leeland must be to know his death has done such grand work, and to see it go on."