nd we'd go over and get it. It was an awful
ways, eighteen miles at least, and we'd have to start by six o'clock in
order to get there and get back, and take a lunch to eat on the way. I
suppose I had heard as much about Bobtown as any place in the world, but
never seen it. It was just in a straight line from the porch at
grandpa's, past Spotty Milt Stith's place, and just in the place between
the woods and where the sky came down beyond. So the next mornin' we was
off--grandpa and ma settin' in the front seat of the carriage; and me,
grandma and Myrtle in the back seat. And ma began right away to talk
about Petersburg, they agreed about hard drink and a lot of things.

But grandpa said that he'd been in the war and had seen two, and he'd
like to see war abolished with slavery and hard drink. He was in the
Black Hawk War, but that wasn't much; but the Mexican War was bad and
warn't necessary, and was unjust, even Linkern thought so, and had
stirred up a lot of hate. And he said the Civil War had left things bad.
It had killed off a lot of fine young men, and herded toughs into places
like Petersburg and stirred up all kinds of hate and bad feelin's, and
made people dishonest and tricky and careless and lazy--and we'd have to
stand the consequences for years to come in politics and everything. And
he said the way to avoid war was the same as a man would avoid fightin'
or killin' another man--you could do it mostly by usin' your mind and
bein' a civilized being and not standin' too much on your pride and all
that. But if you couldn't avoid it, then fight and fight hard.

It was pretty near eleven o'clock and we came in sight of a white
steeple and white houses, right amongst green trees--and sure enough it
was Bobtown. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. And I said: "It's
a downright shame that Mitch ain't here. He never saw Bobtown, and he's
there in Petersburg waitin' for me, and here I am havin' this wonderful
trip." We were just in a little grove, and grandpa stopped and unreined
the horses and fed 'em and said, "We'll have our lunch here." "Oh," says
I, "let's go on to Bobtown first." Grandpa laughed, for he knew I was
wild to go on. But he said, "By and by." So we spread the tablecloth on
the grass and had the lunch--and it was wonderful, fried chicken and
blackberry pie and about everything. Then we drove into Bobtown. Here
was a drug store, and a post-office and a billiard parlor, and a saloon
kept by Porky