Samantha at the St Louis Exposition Author:Marietta Holley Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Pike, Samantha; I lay out to have livin' statutes adornin' the Bide of the lane leadin' up from the beaver medder to the horse trough." " Livin' statutes! " s... more »ez I, coldly, " I don't know what you mean by them." " Why, I thought for a few cents I could git a lot of children and old folks to be white-washed for a day or two and pose as statutes. It would be a new thing and a crackin' good idee, for livin' statutes that can wink, and bow, and talk, and walk round some, I don't believe wuz ever hearn on before." " No indeed," sez I, " but I can tell you, Josiah Allen, I've played many strange parts in the role of life at your request, but I tell you once for all I shall never, never be whitewashed and set up for a statute, you can set your mind to rest on that to once." " Mebby you'd ruther be a Historical Tabloo, Samantha; I lay out to have beautiful ones, and I thought I wouldn't confine myself to the States, but would branch out and have the foreign nations represented figuratively. " A naval battle between Russia and Japan would 'draw; if I could fix some floats on the creek my stun boat could represent Russia, and Deacon Buffer's Japan, I jest as lives mine would be blowed up and sunk as not, 'tain't good for much. And if I did have that I would have the Russian Bear set on the shore growlin', and the Powers furder back lookin' pleasantly on. You might be a Power, Samantha, if you wuzn't a female." " No, thank you, Josiah, I don't hanker after the responsibility for good or evil that ort to hang onto a Power." " I'd be the Russian Bear myself, Samantha, with our old buffalo robe, only I've got everything else to do; I could grasp holt of things and squeeze 'em tight and growl and paw first rate." " I wouldn't try to take that Russian Bear's job of grasp...« less