Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-14
CHAPTER III.
A SHIP OF THE PRAIRIE.

Paris journey, the conversation turned
most often to what sort of woman Mrs
Titcomb was most likely to be. To this un
General Thomas and the girls returned TIVE
or three times day, while the preparation
went forward.
"But, Aunt Huldah," said the laughing
Sarah, as she laid out in the sun pile o.
clothing which she was marking, "you die
not wonder half so much what sort of mar
the mate of Roberts ship was to be. Nov
Robert was to be under the mate for thre'
years, but I shall only be under Mrs
Titcomb for three months-or Madam Tit
comb; perhaps she is Madam Titcomb, ths
girl added, with mock courtesy.
you will not be under her minute and
half" replied her admiring aunt, with 8
fond look upon the girl, which meant, "you
were never under anybody in your life, and
are not apt to be. But tell you, it is one
thing to sleep at one end of a ship"
"In comfortable forecastle," laughed
the girl.
''To sleep in one end Of the ship, whether
it is comfortable or uncomfortable, thus
persisted Aunt Huldah, land to know that
the mate is sleeping at the other end. Now
that is one thing. Halt the time you do
not see your first mate, and half the time
you forget there is any. But your Mrs.
Titcomb-you see her every minute, and
like enough hear her. when you get up and
when you lie down, as the Scripture says,
when you go out and when you come in."
"And you will hear her," groaned elegant
Mrs. General Thomas, with her 4 be- and
I vum,' and BE ye goin' to, do this, Sa-
rey? and BE ye goin' to do that?'"
ALI of them laughed, but the irrepressi-
BILE Sarah laughed most of all. Mrs.
Titcomb should not be abused in advance,
she said. She did not doubt that she was a
French lady, q maid of honor of Marie
Antoinette. She knew all the ways of
court. Probably Mr.. Titcomb had carried
a load of Goldfish to Versailles and sold it,
and Miss Adele had fallen in love with
him and eloped with him. ''She shall
teach me French, dear Aunt Huldah, and
will teach her pure Yankee, with the true
Essex county accent"
Such rattle as this gave special inter
est to the fatal moment at Andover, when
the elegans eertege which accompanied
Sarah Paris on her first stage from Salem
arrived there. General Thomas took the
girl in his own chaise. Other carriages fol-
lowed, in which were the various boxes,
bags and other luggage which, as was
hoped, Mr.. and Mrs. Ttcomb would re-
ceive in their wagon. More than one of the
girls who had danced in the Valentines
Day party had come to say goodbye. And
as they stood by the side door of the great
stage house in Andover, and Sarah bade
one and another goodbye, it was clear that
they would have made of themselves q very
pretty colony ifonly they would all perse-
we're to the new home.
At last Silas Gilman cams running on to
that the wagons were in sight.
And sure enough, train of four or five
"ships of the prairie" as
they were afterward called, filed by on the
main road below them. One of these de-
tached itself from the caravan and came
slowly up the hill.
Two spirited boys, each on horseback,
rode up in advance. They swung them
selves off their horses, and, a little shyly,
approached the curious group who stood on
The piazza. These were Moses Titcomb and
MS younger brother Cephas, with whom, as
the year went on, Sarah Paris had much
10 do. The elder boy introduced himself to
General Thomas, who stood little in ad-
vance, and explained that it was his fathers
wagon which was coming up the hill. A
minute more and General Thomas was as
listing Mrs. Titcomb to alight, with the,
,ame courtesy, as Sarah could not but OBJ
ierve, even in that critical moment, with
which he would have given his hand to the
Queen of France, who was at that moment
he idol of all Young America. And then,
/ little confused, good Mrs. Titcomb
urned and looked around among the
oevy of girls to see which was
10 be her partner for the next three months.
For there had been quite as much discus
lion in the Titcomb camp as there had been
n that of the house of Paris. Sarah
tepped forward, and the sensible, good
latured, shy, motherly woman took the girl
% her arms at once. She looked at her with
Ldmiration, and then, as if she broke the
,onds of her native reserve, kissed her eag-
,rly. my dear GIRL" she said, 81 shall
lot be afraid of you minute now" And
hey both laughed heartily, and the critical
was over. Aunt Huldah came
onward, and shook hands heartily with
Mrs. Titcomb, and with her husband, who
lad now appeared from the heads Of his
lorses. Then began the negotiations as to
where Sarah's baskets and boxes could be
wung and packed away-this one beneath
N axlettee which had been reserved for it,
hat one from crossbar in the top of the
wagon, this and that parcel under the feet
f Miriam and of Polly, and so on, and so
n. Clearly enough Sarah had friend at
ourt in Mrs. Titcomb, and she would not
ear-no, not of a pin being left behind.
jarah had in her mind divided her luggage,
s skillful travellers will, into the must-be
nd tho maybe sections; but with good
Iother Titcomb everything was must-be.
And she said that if they left behind them
he bag of beans for the horses, everything
I Sarah's should go till the last inch OF the
ourney. This was good beginning, and !
was beginning which was not too bright |
dawn for the 80 days which followed.
Readers of this degenerate age, if they are
asst of the Alleghenies, have, am afraid, !
ever seen "ship of the prairie" If they |
ave the good luck to live west of the Mis- |
ouri river, they know what was the vessel |
q which our pretty heroine was embarked. 1
t was strongly built wagon, not very diff |
erent from any other large four-wheeled car
, its "hull," /" but attracting the notice of |
II eyes by its long, broad, white canvas |
over, which was indeed tent stretched on |
srge ash hoops, fastened to the sides of the |
agon. The country butchers wagon of our
ay is a miniature emigrant's wagon, but |
lat the top should swell out on each side,
nd project over the drivers seat in front, /
nd far back beyond the rear Of the cart it
If 1t viii easily be seen that such pro-
ctions gave additional shelter from the
In and from the rain. Under the seats of
lis roopy wagon every sort of store was
.0Wdad There muat he son, u,athiuO from