gle me in that utterance, _lied_. No, Sir; let me tell you it's a
great world; glorious--magnificent; a world that can't be beat! Talk of
the stars and a better world, but don't invite me there yet. Make my
regrets, my apology to Death, but say that I can't come; 'positive
engagement; happy some other time, but not now.' Oh, no; this morning is
quite too beautiful to leave; and beside, I would rather stay, if only to
thank GOD a little longer for this glorious light, this pure air that can
echo back my loudest hurrah. And then, my boy----But haven't I told you?
Why Sir, I've got a boy!--_a boy_--ha, ha! I shout it out to you--A BOY;
fourteen pounds, and the mother a great deal _better_ than could be
expected! And I say, Mr. EDITOR, it's _mine!_ hurrah and hallelujah
forever! Oh, Sir! such legs, and such arms, and such a head!--and Oh my
GOD! _he has his mother's lips!_ I can kiss them forever! And then, Sir,
look at his feet, his hands, his chin, his eyes, his every thing, in
fact--so '_perfectly O. K.!_' Give me joy, Sir; no you needn't either. I
am full now; I run over; and they say that I ran over a number of old
women, half killed the mother, pulled the doctor by the nose, and upset a
'pothecary-shop in the corner; and then didn't I ring the tea-bell? Didn't
I blow the horn? Didn't I dance, shout, laugh, and cry altogether? The
women say they had to tie me up. I don't believe _that_; but who is going
to shut his mouth when he has a live baby? You should have heard his
lungs, Sir, at the first mouthful of fresh air--such a burst! A little
tone in his voice, but not pain; excess of joy, Sir, from too great
sensation. The air-bath was so sudden, you know. Think of all his
beautiful machinery starting off at once in full motion; all his thousand
outside feelers answering to the touch of the cool air; the flutter and
crash at the ear; and that curious contrivance the eye, looking out
wonderingly and bewildered upon the great world, so glorious and dazzling
to his unworn perceptions; his net-work of nerves, his wheels and pulleys,
his air-pumps and valves, his engines and reservoirs; and within all, that
beautiful fountain, with its jets and running streams dashing and coursing
through the whole length and breadth, without stint, or pause--making
altogether, Sir, exactly fourteen pounds!

'Did I ever talk brown to you, Sir, or blue, or any other of the devil's
colors? You say I have. Beg your pardon, Sir, but you--are mista