could not conceive how she ever was to stop; imagining, at the moment,
that Nature had made her, as the old showman had made his puppets, for
no earthly purpose but to dance jigs. The Indian bellowed forth a
succession of most hideous outcries, somewhat affrighting us, till we
interpreted them as the warsong, with which, in imitation of his
ancestors, he was prefacing the assault on Stamford. The conjurer,
meanwhile, sat demurely in a corner, extracting a sly enjoyment from
the whole scene, and, like the facetious Merry Andrew, directing his
queer glance particularly at me.

As for myself, with great exhilaration of fancy, I began to arrange
and color the incidents of a tale, wherewith I proposed to amuse an
audience that very evening; for I saw that my associates were a little
ashamed of me, and that no time was to be lost in obtaining a public
acknowledgment of my abilities.

"Come, fellow-laborers," at last said the old showman, whom we had
elected President; "the shower is over, and we must be doing our duty
by these poor souls at Stamford."

"We'll come among them in procession, with music and dancing," cried
the merry damsel.

Accordingly--for it must be understood that our pilgrimage was to be
performed on foot--we sallied joyously out of the wagon, each of us,
even the old gentleman in his white-top boots, giving a great skip as
we came down the ladder. Above our heads there was such a glory of
sunshine and splendor of clouds, and such brightness of verdure below,
that, as I modestly remarked at the time, Nature seemed to have washed
her face, and put on the best of her jewelry and a fresh green gown,