ut I kep' in and didn't speak my
mistrustin'. I dast as soon die as gin vent to any such idee before
Albina Meechim.

We went one day to see the Pantheon, built by Mr. Agrippa, 27 B.C. It
is a dretful big buildin'; I guess about the biggest ancient buildin'
in the world. It has had its ups and downs, shown out in brilliant
beauty, been stole from and blackened by the hand of Time, but it is
still beautiful.

It wuz dedicated to Jupiter at first, and afterwards to the Virgin and
the Christian martyrs, afterwards it was dedicated to all the saints.

In speakin' on this subject, Josiah said: "What a lot of saints they
do have in these furren countries," and says he to me, _soto vosy_,
"I'd kinder like, Samantha, to get that name; Saint Josiah would sound
well and uneek in Jonesville."

But I scorfed at the idee, though knowin' that he wuz jest as worthy
to be called saint as a good many who wuz called by that name.

But Josiah is dretful ambitious. When we wuz lookin' at the different
pictures of the popes in their high hats, sez he:

"How becomin' such a hat would be to me. I believe I shall be took in
one when I get home; I could take Father Allen's and Father Smith's
old stove-pipe hats and set my best one on top, and then cut out a
wooden cross on top; how uneek it would be."

But I spoze he will forgit it before he gits home--I hope so
'tennyrate.

CHAPTER XXX

The Vatican where the Pope keeps house is the biggest house in the
world; its dimensions are one thousand one hundred and fifty-one feet,
by seven hundred and sixty-seven feet. And if you want to realize the
size of such a buildin', you jest try to frame it and you'd find out.
Why, as I told Josiah, Joel Gowdey is called our best carpenter in
Jonesville, but if he should try to plan that buildin', where would he
be? He is a great case to scratch his head in difficulties, Joel is,
and I guess he'd be pretty bald before he got through studyin' on it,
much less doin' the work. It has twenty courts, two hundred
staircases, and 'leven thousand rooms. Josiah worried some about it,
and sez:

"What duz one old man want of 'leven thousand rooms? He can't be in
more'n one to time, and if he tried to go round and see if his hired
help kep' 'em swep' up and mopped and the winders cleaned, it would
keep him on the go the hull time and be too much for him."

But I told Josiah that Mr. Pope didn't make use of the hull buildin'
his own self, but there wu