206 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



at the " husking " ; but the pretty girl was quite another 

 matter. That bait took, and I went. The house was 

 a lone farm-house in Ohio, in one of the oldest settled 

 parts of the States. The owner was well to do, and had 

 plenty of rich neighbours. There were more than a 

 hundred persons present; and I noticed that the fun 

 of the husking was left to the young unmarried people, 

 few of the elders joining in : these, for the most part, 

 keeping aloof and occupying themselves with the more 

 sedate amusements provided. The hostess was one of 

 the liveliest American ladies that I ever met; and, I 

 may add, the freest from the humbug of prudery ; but 

 I was scarcely prepared, considering a recent experience 

 — that of my unfortunate reference to the naked legs 

 and feet of the German fraus — for the amount of licence 

 which was given to the guests on this occasion, or taken 

 by them. It was the time of the "Indian summer," 

 a well-known, and most delightful season in North 

 America, always eagerly looked for; and the husking 

 took place in the open air. It frequently is performed 

 in barns in the winter months; but there is no fixed 

 time for this " frolic," as it is most generally termed — 

 the word " bee " being more in use among the lower 

 classes, as I should call them; but, in my early time 

 at least, one had better have set a match to a barrel 

 of gunpowder than have spoken of lower classes in America. 

 Yet there is no country in the world where there is a 

 class held in greater contempt than the class that is 

 dollarless in the States. There are snobs enough in 

 England; but the man, however poor, who makes a 

 struggle for existence, is treated with some respect : 

 in the States he is a " mean white," until he has made 

 a pile ; then there is little inquiry as to his past, unless 

 that past has been notorious, which will probably redound 

 greatly to his credit in the eyes of mammon. The 

 Yankee is a notoriety worshipper, and he likes the noto- 

 riety, as an Englishman likes his game — a bit tainted. 



