[Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Marietta Holley]@TWC D-Link book
Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition

CHAPTER IV
9/16

And I had made up my mind that I wouldn't take a note or act as a Observer at all till Monday mornin'.

So I faced the crowd and the Fair ground as not seein' 'em as it were, carryin' out my firm idee to begin' the job as Observer and Delineator the first day of the week.
The Inside Inn we found wuz a buildin' as big as the hull of our neighborhood and I d'no but part of Loontown and Zoar, it wuz immense.
And everywhere you'd look you would see this sign pasted up: "Pay In Advance! Pay In Advance!" Josiah acted real puggicky about it, he said he believed they had hearn we wuz comin' and got them signs printed for fear we would cheat 'em out of their pay or wuzn't able to pay.

And he sez, "I'll let 'em know I am a solid man and have got money!" And he took out his little leather bag where he keeps the most of his money and showed 'em in a careless way, as much as fifteen dollars in cash.
I told him it wuz venturesome to show off so much money, but he said he wuzn't goin' to have 'em insinuatin' in this mean underhanded way that we couldn't pay our bills.
Blandina would pay her own bills, but then she's got plenty and Josiah said, "Let her pay for herself if she wants to." And I said: "Well, I spoze it will make her feel better to pay her way." "Yes," he sez, "and it makes me feel better too." A young chap took our satchel bags and went to show us our room, and we went through one long hall after another, and walked and walked and walked, till I thought we should drop down.

And finally Josiah stopped in his tracks and faced the feller, and sez he: "Look here, young man, what do you take us for?
We hain't runnin' for mail carriers, and we hain't niggers trainin' for a cake walk.

We'd love to git a room and set down some time to-day!" "Yes, sir," sez the man, "we are most to your rooms." And he turned and begun to go down stairs, and we follered him down two flights and started for a third one, and then Josiah faced him agin: "What in Tunket ails you, anyway?
Because we come from the country we don't propose to be put down suller amongst your cabbages and turnips! I want you to take us to some good rooms; I've paid in advance, dum you! and I'm goin' to stand for my rights." "Yes, sir," sez the man, "they're good rooms." And I knowin' we wuz three to one and if he wuz leadin' us off into a trap to git Josiah's money we could overpower him, I wunked for Josiah to keep still, but he wouldn't, but kep' on mutterin' whilst the man led us down two more flights, and into some quite good rooms, only if you'll believe it there wuz a tree growin' right up through our room as big as Josiah's waist.
And that made Josiah as mad as a hen agin, and he told the man, "We've been imposed upon ever since we entered this house.


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