hasty; she hain't got the perfect calmness, the firm onmovable sense
of right and wrong, the patience and long sufferin' that we men have;
she flies off too sudden one way or t'other; govermunt well fears she
would be a dangerous element in the body politick."

Jest as Josiah finished this remark Arvilly read out a thrillin'
editorial about the war between Russia and Japan; the editor commented
on the wickedness of men plungin' two great empires into warfare,
slaughterin' thousands and thousands of men, bringin' ontold
wretchedness, distress, pestilence and destitution just to gratify
ambition or angry passion. For it wuz this, he said, in the first
place, whatever it became afterward.

A war of defence, of course, argued an aggressor, and he talked
eloquent about Courts of Arbitration which would do away with the
wholesale butchery and horror of war. And he called eloquent on Peace
to fly down on her white wings bearing the olive branch, to come and
stop this unutterable woe and crime of war.

(Arvilly left off readin' to remind Josiah that Peace wuz always
depictered as a female, and then resoomed her readin'.)

In conclusion, the editor lamented the fact that in the annals of our
nation men so often forgot the Golden Rule and gin vent to voylent
passions and onbecomin' behavior.

Sez Josiah, "I guess I will take Tommy and go out for a little walk,
Samantha, I feel kinder mauger."

"I should think you would!" sez Arvilly, lookin' hull reams of by-laws
and statutes at him.

And I sez, "Whilst you're walkin', dear Josiah, you might meditate on
the danger to the govermunt from wimmen's emotional nature, and the
patience and long sufferin' of men voters." I said it real tender and
good, but he snapped me up real snappish.

Sez he, "I shall meditate on what I'm a minter. Come, Tommy," and they
went out.

CHAPTER XVII

And the next day we started for Yokohama. I had felt kinder dubersome
about goin' through countries that wuz plunged in a great war, but we
got along all right, nobody shot at us or made any move to, and we
didn't see anybody hurt. But knowed that the warfare wuz ragin' away
somewhere out of our sight.

Death wuz marchin' along on his pale horse in front of the army, and
hearts wuz breakin' and the light of the sun and of life darkened in
thousands and thousands of grand and humble homes.

I felt dretful when I thought on't, but hain't goin' to harrow up the
reader's feelin's talkin'