limpse of my pardner in the dense crowd below.

And if you'll believe it, as I wuz walkin' upstairs as peaceful as our
old brindle cow goin' up the south hill paster, my skirts begun to
billow out till they got as big as a hogsit. I didn't care about its
bein' fashion to not bulge out round the bottom of your skirts but
hobble in; but I see the folks below wuz laughin' at me, and it madded
me some when I hadn't done a thing, only jest walk upstairs peaceable.
And I don't know to this day what made my clothes billow out so.

But I went on and acrost to a balcony, and after I went in, a gate
snapped shet behind me and I couldn't git back. And when I got to the
other side there wuzn't any steps, and if I got down at all I had to
slide down. I didn't like to make the venter, but had to, so I tried
to forgit my specs and gray hair and fancy I wuz ten years old, in a
pig-tail braid, and pantalettes tied on with my stockin's, and sot
off. As I went down with lightnin' speed I hadn't time to think much,
but I ricollect this thought come into my harassed brain:

Be pardners worth all the trouble I'm havin' and the dretful
experiences I'm goin' through? Wouldn't it been better to let him go
his length, than to suffer what I'm sufferin'? I reached the floor
with such a jolt that my mind didn't answer the question; it didn't
have time.

All to once, another wind sprung up from nowhere seemin'ly, and tried
its best to blow off my bunnet. But thank Heaven, my good green braize
veil tied round it with strong lutestring ribbon, held it on, and I
see I still had holt of my trusty cotton umbrell, though the wind had
blowed it open, but I shet it and grasped it firmly, thinkin' it wuz
my only protector and safeguard now Josiah wuz lost, and I hastened
away from that crazy spot.

[Illustration: "_As I went down with lightnin' speed I had'nt time to
think much._" (_See page 258_)]

As I passed on I see a hull lot of long ropes danglin' down. On top of
'em wuz a trolley, and folks would hang onto the handle and slide
hundreds of feet through the air. But I didn't venter. Disinclination
and rumatiz both made me waive off overtures to try it.

Pretty soon I come to a huge turn-table, big as our barn floor. It wuz
still and harmless lookin' when I first see it, and a lot of folks got
onto it, thinkin' I spoze it looked so shiny and good they'd like to
patronize it. But pretty soon it begun to move, and then to turn
faster and faster til