But after I got quite a considerable distance off, I instinctively turned and looked up to the face of that noble creeter, the Republic.

And I see that she didn’t care what wuz said about her.

Her face wuz sot towards the free, fresh air of the future—­the past wuz behind her.  The winds of Heaven wuz fannin’ her noble fore-top, her eyes wuz lookin’ off into the fur depths of space, her lips wuz wreathed with smiles caught from the sun and the dew, and the fire of the golden dawn.

She wuz riz up above the blame or praise—­the belittlin’, foolish, personal babblin’ of contemporary criticism.

Her head wuz lifted towards the stars.

But to resoom, and continue on.

CHAPTER XII.

After we reluctantly left off contemplatin’ that statute of Woman, we wended along to the buildin’ of Manafactures and Liberal Arts, that colossial structure that dwarfs all the other giants of the Exposition.

This is the largest buildin’ ever constructed by any exposition whatsoever.

It covers with its galleries forty acres of land—­it is as big as the hull of Elam Bobbet’s farm—­and Elam gets a good livin’ offen that farm for him and Amanda and eight children, and he raises all kinds of crops on it, besides cows, and colts, and hens, grass land and pasture, and a creek goes a-runnin’ through it, besides a piece of wood lot.

And then, think to have one buildin’ cover a place as large as Elam’s farm!  Why, jest the idee on’t would, I believe, stunt Amanda Bobbet, or else throw her into spazzums.

For she has always felt dretful proud of their farm, and the size of it; she has always said that it come hard on Elam to do all the work himself on such a big farm.  She has acted haughty.

And then, if I could have took Amanda by the hand, and sez—­

“Here, Amanda, is one house that covers as much ground as your hull farm!”

I believe she would have fell right down in a coniption fit.

But Amanda wuzn’t there; I had only my faithful pardner to share my emotions, as I went into one of its four great entrances, under its triumphal arches, each one bein’ 40 feet wide and 80 feet high—­as long as from our house to the back pasture.

The idee! the idee!

Why, to change my metafor a little about the bigness of this buildin’, so’s to let foreign nations git a little clearer idee of the size on’t, I will state—­

This one house is bigger than all those of Jonesville, and Loontown, and Shackville, and Zoar.  It is the biggest house on this planet.  Whether they have got any bigger ones in Mars, or Jupiter, or Saturn, I don’t know; but I will say this—­if they have, and the Marites, and Jupiterians, and Satens, are made up as we be, and calculate to go through the buildin’s, I am sorry for their legs.

It faces the lake, in plain view of all admirin’ mariners, the long row of arches, and columns; is ornamented beyend anything that Jonesville ever drempt of, or Zoar, and a gallery fifty feet wide runs all round the buildin’; and from this gallery runs eighty-six smaller galleries, so nothin’ hinders folks from lookin’ down into the big hall below, and seein’ the gorgeous seen of the Exposition, and the immense throng of people admirin’ it.