Volume IV Part 19 (1/2)
Amongst other things, Josiah had bought a barrel of salt, and the piano feller that had stuck to Josiah so tight that day, offered to help him on with it. And the organ man--not goin' to be outdone by the other--he offered too. Josiah kinder winked to me, and then he held the old mare, and let 'em lift. They wasn't used to such kind of work, and it fell back on 'em once or twice, and most squashed 'em; but they nipped to, and lifted again, and finally got it on; but they was completely tuckered out.
And then Josiah got in, and thanked 'em for the liftin'; and the organ man, a wipin' the sweat offen his face--that had started out in his hard labor--said he should be down to-morrow mornin'; and the piano man, a pantin' for breath, told Josiah not to make up his mind till _he_ came; he should be down that night if he got rested enough.
And then Josiah told 'em that he should be glad to see 'em down a visitin' any time, but he had jest bought a organ.
I don't know but what they would have laid holt of Josiah, if they hadn't been so tuckered out; but as it was, they was too beat out to look anything but sneakin'; and so we drove off.
The manty maker had told me that day, that there was two or three new agents with new kinds of sewin' machines jest come to Jonesville, and I was tellin' Josiah on it, when we met a middle-aged man, and he looked at us pretty close, and finally he asked us as he pa.s.sed by, if we could tell him where Josiah Allen lived.
Says Josiah, ”I'm livin' at present in a Democrat.”
Says I, ”In this one-horse wagon, you know.”
Says he, ”You are thinkin' of buyin' a sewin' machine, haint you?”
Says Josiah, ”I am a turnin' my mind that way.”
At that, the man turned his horse round, and follered us, and I see he had a sewin' machine in front of his wagon. We had the old mare and the colt, and seein' a strange horse come up so close behind us, the colt started off full run towards Jonesville, and then run down a cross-road and into a lot.
Says the man behind us, ”I am a little younger than you be, Mr. Allen; if you will hold my horse I will go after the colt with pleasure.”
Josiah was glad enough, and so he got into the feller's wagon; but before he started off, the man, says he:
”You can look at that machine in front of you while I am gone. I tell you frankly, that there haint another machine equal to it in America; it requires no strength at all; infants can run it for days at a time; or idiots; if anybody knows enough to set and whistle, they can run this machine; and it's especially adapted to the blind--blind people can run it jest as well as them that can see. A blind woman last year, in one day, made 43 dollars a makin' leather ap.r.o.ns; st.i.tched them all round the age two rows. She made two dozen of 'em, and then she made four dozen gauze veils the same day, without changin' the needle. That is one of the beauties of the machine, its goin' from leather to lace, and back again, without changin' the needle. It is so tryin' for wimmen, every time they want to go from leather to gauze and book muslin, to have to change the needle; but you can see for yourself that it haint got its equal in North America.”
He heerd the colt whinner, and Josiah stood up in the wagon, and looked after it. So he started off down the cross road.
And we sot there, feelin' considerable like a procession; Josiah holdin'
the stranger's horse, and I the old mare; and as we sot there, up driv another slick lookin' chap, and I bein' ahead, he spoke to me, and says he:
”Can you direct me, mom, to Josiah Allen's house?”
”It is about a mile from here,” and I added in a friendly tone, ”Josiah is my husband.”
”Is he?” says he, in a genteel tone.
”Yes,” says I, ”we have been to Jonesville, and our colt run down that cross road, and--”
”I see,” says he interruptin' of me, ”I see how it is.” And then he went on in a lower tone, ”If you think of buyin' a sewin' machine, don't git one of that feller in the wagon behind you--I know him well; he is one of the most worthless shacks in the country, as you can plainly see by the looks of his countenance. If I ever see a face in which knave and villain is wrote down, it is on hisen. Any one with half an eye can see that he would cheat his grandmother out of her snuff handkerchief, if he got a chance.”
He talked so fast that I couldn't git a chance to put in a word age ways for Josiah.
”His sewin' machines are utterly worthless; he haint never sold one yet; he cant. His character has got out--folks know him. There was a lady tellin' me the other day that her machine she bought of him, all fell to pieces in less than twenty-four hours after she bought it; fell onto her infant, a sweet little babe, and crippled it for life. I see your husband is havin' a hard time of it with that colt. I will jest hitch my horse here to the fence, and go down and help him; I want to have a little talk with him before he comes back here.” So he started off on the run.
I told Josiah what he said about him, for it madded me, but Josiah took it cool. He seemed to love to set there and see them two men run. I never _did_ see a colt act as that one did; they didn't have time to pa.s.s a word with each other, to find out their mistake, it kep' 'em so on a keen run. They would git it headed towards us, and then it would kick up its heels, and run into some lot, and canter round in a circle with its head up in the air, and then bring up short ag'inst the fence; and then they would leap over the fence. The first one had white pantaloons on, but he didn't mind 'em; over he would go, right into sikuta or elderbushes, and they would wave their hats at it, and holler, and whistle, and bark like dogs, and the colt would whinner and start off again right the wrong way, and them two men would go a pantin' after it. They had been a runnin' nigh onto half an hour, when a good lookin'
young feller come along, and seein' me a settin' still and holdin' the old mare, he up and says:
”Are you in any trouble that I can a.s.sist you?”
Says I, ”We are goin' home from Jonesville, Josiah and me, and our colt got away and--”