Sez I, “Josiah, you mean the Antipodes.”

“I mean what I say!” he snapped out, “and les’s be movin’ on, no use standin’ here all day.”

He don’t love to be corrected.  But truly that immense and strangely assorted crowd constantly comin’, constantly goin’ and changin’ all the time wuz a sight well worth comin’ from Jonesville to see, even if we didn’t see a thing more.  But, oh, what didn’t we see! what a glorious sight as our eyes left the crowd and looked ’round us.  Why the wonder and beauty on’t fairly struck you in the face some like a flash of lightnin’ only more meller and happifyin’.

There you are in the beautiful Court of St. Louis.  And right in the centre sets Saint Louis himself on a prancin’ horse, holdin’ up a cross, I wuz glad to see that cross held up as if in benediction over all the immense crowd below, it seemed as if it begun the Fair right, jest as it begins the week right to go to meetin’ Sunday.

I always sot store by Saint Louis.  Leadin’ them Crusades of hisen to protect Christians and free the Holy Land from lawless invaders.  How much I thought on him for it.  Though I could advised him for his good in lots of things if I’d been ’round.

Now his marryin’ a girl twelve years old who ort to been in pantalettes and high aprons, I should tried to break it up, I should told him plain and square that I wouldn’t have heard for a minute to his marryin’ our Tirzah Ann at that age.  She shouldn’t married him if he’d been King Louis twenty or thirty instead of nine.  But I wuzn’t there and he went on and had his way, as men will.

But he acted noble in lots of things, made a wise ruler and a generous one, lived and died like a hero.  And I was glad to see him riz up in such a sightly place, holdin’ up the cross he wuz willin’ to give his life for.

He looked first rate, he wore a sort of a helmet and had a cloak on, shaped some like my long circle cape, only it didn’t set so good, and I wuz sorry they didn’t have my pattern to cut it by.  Hisen kinder curled up at the back, they ort to cut it ketterin’.  Two noble statutes stood on each side on him, kinder guardin’ him as it were, though he didn’t need it as long as he clung to the cross.  Scattered all along by the side of the broad paths wuz little green oasises, on which the splendor-tired and people-tired eyes could rest and recooperate a little.

In front of you quite a little ways off on each side stood immense snow-white palaces each one on ’em seemin’ more beautiful than the last one you looked at, full of sculptured beauty and with long, long rows of pearl white collumns and ornaments of all kinds.  Beyond, but still as it were in the foreground, as it ort to, high up on a lofty pedestal stood the statute of Peace.

My pardner, who for reasons named, wuz inclined to pick flaws in this glorious Exposition, sez to me: 

“What’s the use of sculpin’ Peace up on so high a monument and showin’ her off as if she wuz safe and sound, and then histin’ cannons up right by her throwin’ balls that will travel twenty milds and then knock her sky high.”