The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-07-31

step out of that bed that night. But L
argued with him pretty sharp, while
was THROWN on my clothes, and 1 final
ly got him started up. 1 hain't deceit
full, but / thought if L got my clothes
all on, before they came in, 4 wouldn't
tell 'em that had been to bed that time
of day. And / did get dressed up, even
to my handkerchief pin. And guess
they had been there as much AS ten
minutes before 1 thought that | hadn't
took my night-cap off, They looked
dretful curious at me. and l felt awful
meachin. But / Jest ketched it off, and
never said nothin'. But when Josiah
came out of the bedroom, with what
little hair he has got standin' out in
every direction, no hairs a layin the
same way, and one of his galluses a
hangin' most 10 the floor under his best
coat, I up and told 'em. L thought
mebby they wouldn't stay long. But
Deacon Dobbins' folks seemed to be all
walked up on the subject of religion,
and they proposed we should turn it in
to kind of conference meetin', so
they never went home till after 10
o'clock.
1t was most IL o'clock when Josiah
and me got to bed agin. And then jest
as l was gettin into browse L heard
the cat i'll the buttery, and got up to
let her out. And that rousted Josiah
up, and he thought he heard the cattle
in the garden, and he got up and went
out. And there we was marchin'
round most all night. And if we would
! get into n nap, Josiah would think it
was mornin', and he would start up and
go out to look at the clock. He seemed
so afraid we would be belated, and not
get to that exertion in time. And
there we was on our feet most all night
| lost myself once, for | dreampt that
Josiah was droundin' and Deacon
Dobbins was on the shore a prayin' for
him. III started nae so that L Jest
ketched hold of Josiah and hollered.
1t skairt him awfully, and says he,
"What does all you, Samantha l
hain't been asleep before tonight, and
now you have reused me up for good.
/ wonder what time it is ?" And then
he got out of bed again and went out
and looked 1t was half past /, and he
said, che didn't believe we had better
go to sleep again, for fear we would be
late for the exertion, and he wouldn't
miss that for nothin'."
"Exertion," says /, in an awful cold
tone. 81 should think we had had
exertion enough for one spell"
But got up at o'clock and made a
cup of tea, as strong as l could, for we
both felt beat out, worse than if we
had watched in sickness.
But as bad and wore out as Josiah
| falt hnI,1v ba uoc oil onir,ofa n, hi
mind about what good time he was
goin' to have. He acted foolish, and
/ told him so. L wanted to wear my
brown and black bingham and a shaker,
but Josiah insisted that | should wear
a W lawn dress that he had brought
me home as present, and L had got
just made up. So jest to please him i
put it on, and my best bonnet. And
that man, all could do and say, would
wear a pair of pantaloons | had been a
maxim for Thomas Jefferson. They
was gettin' up a military company to
Thomas j. school, and these panta-
looms was white with blue stripe
down the sides, kind of uniform.
Josiah took a awful fancy to EN-. And
says he
Il will wear 'em, Samantha, they
look so dressy."
Says ], "They haint hardly done. ]
was 9oin' TO stitch that blue stripe on
the left leg on again. They hain't fin.
ished as they ought to be, and | would
not wear EN-. 1t looks vain in you.
Says he, "I will wear 'em, Samantha.
will be dressed for once"
L didn't contend with him. Thinks
l, we are maxim fools of ourselves, by
goin' at all, and if he wants to make a
little bigger fool of himself by wearin
them white pantaloons, won't stand
in his light And then I had got some
machine oil onto 'em, so / felt that j
had got to wash EN- anyway before
Thomas j. took 'em to, school. So he
put 'em on.
had good vittles, and sight of 'em.
The basket wouldn't hold 'em all. So
Josiah had to put bottle of red rasp-
berry jell into the pocket of his dress
coat, and lots of other little things,
such as spoons, and knives, and forks,
in his pantaloons and breast pockets.
He looked like Captain Kidd, armed to
the teeth, and told him so. But good
land, he would have carried knife in
his mouth, if / had asked him to, he
felt so neat about goin', and boosted SO
on what splendid exertion it was goin
to be.
We got to the lake about 8 o'clock,
for the old mare went slow. We was
about the first ones there, but they
kept comm, and before 10 o'clock we
all got there. There was about twenty
old fools of us when we got collected
together, and about 10 o'clock we sot
sail for the island.
had made up my mind from the
first ont to face trouble, and so it didn't
put me out so much when Deacon Dob
bins, in gettin into the boat, stepped
onto my new lawn dress and tore II hole
in it as big as my two hands, and
ripped it half off the waist. But Josiah
havin felt so animated and tickled
about the exer'ion, it worked him up
awfully, when jest after we had got
well out onto the lake, the wind took
his hat off and blew it ont into the lake.
He had made up his mind to look so
pretty that day, and be so dressed up,
that il worked him up awfully. And
then the sun beat down onto him: and
if he had had any hair onto mis- head it