r in my head, but I thought I'd go. Well, it
wuz a sight to see, acres and acres of sand dotted with men, wimmen,
and children. And beyond, the melancholy ocean, also dotted with
swimming heads, with bodies attached, so I spozed. Well might Atlantic
be melancholy to see such sights, hundreds of folks comin' out of the
water, hundreds goin' in, and other hundreds walkin' or rollin' in the
sand or throwin' it at each other or half covered up with it.

And as for the clothes they had on, I thought no wonder the Ocean and
I sithed to see it, no money would tempt me to wear 'em to mill or
meetin', or to let Josiah wear 'em. They didn't look decent. Either
they wuz scrimped for cloth, or they wanted to look so; whichever way
it wuz, I pitied 'em.

[Illustration: _"It wuz a sight to see, acres and acres of sand dotted
with men, wimmen, and children." (See page 286)_]

But where wuz Josiah? On every side wuz folks settin' and walkin', and
mounds of sand with sometimes a head stickin' out, or a foot, or a
arm, or a nose. I had hard work to keep from treadin' on 'em. There
would be little hillocks of sand with mebby a child's head or foot
stickin' out.

Anon a mound over a fat man or a woman big as a hay stack. I walked
along for some time keepin' a clost watch on every side, but no Josiah
did I see nor no mound I felt wuz hisen, till jest as I wuz ready to
drop down with fatigue with my arjous work to keep from treadin' on
folks, I ketched sight of a nose stickin' out of a small mound that I
thought sure I reconized. My heart bounded at the sight. My first look
wuz to see if any girl mound wuz nigh him. But there wuzn't nothin'
but some children's heads and feet stickin' about, and I hastened to
that nose and poked the sand from it with my umbrell cryin':

"Dear Josiah! Is this indeed your nose? Have I found you at last?"

When to my horrow a fierce red whiskered face rared itself up from the
sand, and jabbored at me in a onknown tongue; onknown the words, but
the language of anger can be read in any tongue. Hisen betokened the
most intense madness, and I spoze that in my agitation I might have
jabbed him some with my umbrell, and I hastened away, tromplin' as I
did so in my haste on various heads and arms, and follered by loud
busts of what I most know wuz blood curdlin' profanity, though not
Jonesville swearin'.

Well, I wuz tired out and discouraged. No Josiah, no pardner! I felt
some like a grass widder, or I guess i