sunthin', and most fell down. Instinctively (such is the power of
love) I put out my hand and clutched at the arm of my pardner.
But he too wuz nearly fallin' at the same time. It wuz a narrow
chance that we wuz a runnin' from having our prostrate forms a
layin' there outstretched on the highway.

Instinctively I sez, "Good land!" and Josiah sez -- wall, it is
fur from me to tell what he said, but it ended up with these
words, "Dumb them dumb sidewalks anyway;" and sez he, "I should
think it would pay to have a little less gilt paint and spangles
and orniments overhead and a few more solid bricks unless they
want more funerals here, dumb 'em!"

Sez I,"Be calm! who be you a talkin' about? who do you want to
bring down your fearful curses on, Josiah Allen?"

"Why, onto the dumb bricks," sez he.

He wuz agitated and I said no more. But four times in that first
walk, did I descend almost precipitously into declivities amongst
the bricks, risin' simultaneously on similar elevations.

It wuz a fearful ordeel and I felt it so, but upheld by principle
and Josiah, I moved onwards, through what seemed to be 5 great
throngs and masses of people, 3 on the ground and 2 hinted up
above us on tall pillows.

Them immense places overhead long as the streets, wuz kinder
scalloped out and trimmed off handsum with railin's, etc. And on
it -- oh! what a vast congregation of heads of all sorts and sizes