"'Of by-gone larks,' said I.
"'Hush, Sam,' she said, 'don't talk so loud, that's a dear soul. Oh,
if anybody had come in just then, and caught us.'
("Us," thinks I to myself, "I thought you had no objection to it, and
only struggled enough for modesty-like; and I did think you would have
said, caught you.")
"'I would have been ruinated for ever and ever, and amen, and the
college broke up, and my position in the literary, scientific, and
intellectual world scorched, withered, and blasted for ever. Ain't my
cheek all burning, Sam? it feels as if it was all a-fire;' and she put
it near enough for me to see, and feel tempted beyond my strength.
'Don't it look horrid inflamed, dear?' And she danced out of the room,
as if she was skipping a rope.
"Well, well," sais I, when she took herself off. "What a world this
is! This is evangelical learning; girls are taught in one room to
faint or scream if they see a man, as if he was an incarnation of sin;
and yet they are all educated and trained to think the sole object of
life is to win, not convert, but win one of these sinners. In the next
room propriety, dignity, and decorum, romp with a man in a way to make
even his sallow face blush. Teach a child there is harm in everything,
however innocent, and so soon as it discovers the cheat, it won't see
no sin in anything. That's the reason deacons' sons seldom turn out
well, and preachers' daughters are married through a window.
Pages:
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339