sed to go and see the live stock, and Miss Plank
said dreamily that she would like to go to a certain restaurant at the
fur end of the grounds to see the cookin' of a certain chef; she had
heard it went ahead of anything in America.

"Chef"--I didn't want to act green, but I did wonder what "chef" wuz. I
thought mebby it wuz chaff she meant, and I spozed they had got up some
new way to cook chaff.

I would liked to seen it and tasted of it, but Duty begened to me, and I
followed her blindly, and I sez, as I planted my umbrell firm down on
the ground, sez I--

"Here I take my stand; I don't often stand out and try to have my way--"

Here Josiah gin a deep groan out to one side, but he no need to--I spoke
truth, or pretty near the truth, anyway.

Sez I, "Here I take my stand!" and I brung down my good cotton umbrell
agin firmly, as if to punctuate my remarks, and add weight to it, and I
wuz so earnest that before I knew it I fell into a fervid
eloquence--catched from my old revolutionary 4 fathers, I spoze--and,
sez I--

"I care not what course others may take--"

"But," sez Miss Plank, "we will hang together in such a crowd as this."

"Yes," sez Josiah; "you mustn't go wanderin' off by yourself, Samantha;
it hain't safe."

I wuz brung down some, but I kep on with considerable eloquence, though
it wuz kinder drizzlin' away onbeknown to me, such is the power of
environment.

Sez I, "I care not what course others may take, I will go first to the
place my proud heart has dwelt on ever sence the Fair wuz opened--

"I will go first to the Woman's Buildin', home of my sect, and my proud
ambition and love."

Miss Plank demurred, and said "that it wuz some distance off;" but I
held firm--Josiah see that I wuz firm--and he finally gin in quite
graciously, and, sez he--

"I don't spoze it will take long, anyway, to see all that wimmen has
brung here--and I spoze the buildin' will be a sight--all trimmed off
with ornaments, and flowers, and tattin'; mebby they will have lace all
festooned on the outside."

Sez he, "I always did want to see a house trimmed with bobinet lace on
the outside, and tattin' and ribbin streamers."

I wouldn't dain a reply; he did it to lower my emotions about wimmen.

But it wuz impossible. So we turned our bodies round and set off north
by northwest.

Agin Miss Plank mentioned the distance, and agin my Josiah spoke
longin'ly of the live stock.

And I sez with a calm dignity, "Josiah