232 AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



in her innocent prattle ; it seemed like a land of fa- 

 ble all had a remote mythological air, and I 

 pressed my iniquiries as if I was hearing of this 

 strange land for the first time. She had an uncle 

 still living in the " States of Hoio," but exactly where 

 her father had lived was not so clear. In The States 

 somewhere, and in " Ogden's Valley." There was a 

 lake there that had salt in it, and not far off was the 

 sea. " In America," she said, and she gave such a 

 sweet and novel twang to her words, " we had a cow 

 of our own, and two horses and a wagon and a dog." 

 " Yes," joined in her little brother, " and nice chick- 

 ens and a goose." " But," continued the sister, " we 

 owns none o' them here." "In America 'most every- 

 body owned their houses, and we could a' owned a 

 house if we had stayid." 



" What made you leave America ? " I inquired. 



" 'Cause me father wanted to see his friends." 



" Did your mother want to come back ? " 



" No, me mother wanted to stay in America." 



" Is food as plenty here do you have as much to 

 eat as in The States ? " 



" Oh, yes, and more. The first year we were in 

 America we could not get enough to eat." 



" But you do not get meat very often here, do 

 you ? " 



" Quite often," not so confidently. 



" How often ? " 



AVell, sometimes we has pig's liver in the week 

 time, and we allers has meat of a Sunday ; we likes 

 meat." 



