a beautiful spah."

And I sez warmly, "It aint no such thing, it is a village, for I
have seen a peddler who went right through it, and watered his
horses there, and he sez it is a waterin' place, and a village."

"Yes," sez he, "it is a beautiful village, a modest retiren city,
and at the same time it is the most noted spah on this continent."

I wouldn't contend with him for it wuz on the stoop of the meetin'
house, and I believe in bein' reverent. But I knew it wuzn't no
"spah," -- that had a dreadful flat sound to me. And any way I
knew I should face its realities soon and know all about it. Lots
of wimen said that for anybody who lived right on the side of a
canal, and had two good, cisterns on the place, and a well, they
didn't see why I should feel in a sufferin' condition for any more
water; and if I did, why didn't I ketch rain water?

Such wuz some of the deep arguments they brung up aginst my
embarkin' on this enterprise, they talked about it sights and
sights; -- why, it lasted the neighbors for a stiddy conversation,
till along about the middle of the winter. Then the Minister's
wife bought a new alpacky dress -- unbeknown to the church till it
wuz made up -- and that kind o' drawed their minds off o' me for a
spell.

Aunt Polly Pixley wuz the only one who received the intelligence
gladly. And she thought she would go too. She had been kinder
run down and most bed rid for years. And she had a idee the water
might help her. And I encouraged Aunt Polly in the idee, for she