FROM LONDON TO NEW YORK. 2 II 



even the name of my own country in her innocent prat- 

 tle ; it seemed like a land of fable — all had a remote 

 mythological air, and I pressed my inquiries 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 chickens and a goose." "But," 

 continued the sister, " we owns none o' them here." 

 " In America 'most everybody ow r ned 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 ? " 



"Well, sometimes we has pig's liver in the week 

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

 meat." 



