He hadn’t thought of that, and he gin up the idee.

Then the ideal figger of the Japanese wimmen is narrer shoulders and big waist.

And though I hailed the big waist joyfully, I drawed the line at the narrer shoulders.

They have long poles about their housen, with holes bored in ’em, through which the wind blows with a mournful sort of a voice, and they think that that noise skairs away evil sperits.

When they come here each of their little verandas had a cage with a sacred bird in it to coax the good sperits; they all died off, and now they’ve got some pigens for ’em, and made ’em think that they wuz sacred birds.

And Josiah, as he see ’em, instinctively sez, “Dum ’em, I’d ruther have the evil sperits themselves round than them pigens, any time.”

He hates ’em, and I spoze they do pull up seeds considerable.

Them Japanese wimmen are dretful cheerful-lookin’, and Josiah and I talked about it considerable.

Sez Josiah, “It’s queer when, accordin’ to their belief, a man’s horse can go to Heaven, but their wives can’t; but the minute they leave this world another celestial wife meets him, and he and his earth wife parts forever.  It is queer,” sez he, “how under them circumstances that the wimmen can look so happy.”

And I sez, “It can’t be that they hail anhialation as a welcome rest from married life, can it?”

Josiah acted mad, and sez he, “I’d be a fool if I wuz in your place!”

And bein’ kinder mad, he snapped out, “Them wimmen don’t look as if they knew much more than monkeys; compared to American wimmen, it’s a sight.”

But I sez, “You can’t always tell by looks, Josiah Allen.”  Sez I, “As small as they be, they’ve showed some of the greatest qualities since they’ve been here—­Constancy, Fidelity, Love.”

Now one of them females lost a baby while she wuz here.  Did she act as some of our fashionable American wimmen do?  No.  They own twenty Saritoga trunks, and wear their entire contents, but they do, as is well known, commit crime to evade the cares of motherhood.

But this little woman right here in Chicago, she jest laid down broken-hearted and died because her baby died.  Her true heart broke.

Little and humbly, no doubt, and not many clothes on, but from a upper view I wonder if her soul don’t look better than the civilized, fashionably dressed murderess?

There wuz theatres here with dancin’ girls goin’ as fur ahead, they said, of Louie Fuller and Carmenciti as them two go ahead of Josiah and Deacon Sypher as skirt-dancers.

I guess that Josiah Allen would have gone in, regardless of price, to see this sight, so onbecomin’ to a deacon and a grandfather, but I broke it up at the first hint he gin.  Sez I, “What would your pasture say to your ondertakin’ such a enterprise?  What would be the opinion of Jonesville?”

“Dum it all,” sez he; “David danced before the Ark.”