Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/355

Rh of the interior, and fell into discourse with two of the good women of the houses. They were, as I had imagined, the dwellings of artisans who had work in the town. There was no luxury in these small habitations, but everything was so neat and trim and ornamental, and there was such a holiday calm over everything, from the mistress of the family down to the smallest article of furniture, that it did one good to see it. It was also Sunday evening, and the peace of the Sabbath rested within the home as well as over the country.

When I returned to my herberg in the town it was quite dusk; but it had in the meantime been noised abroad that some sort of Scandinavian animal was to be seen at the inn; and it was now requested to come down and show itself.

I went down accordingly into the large saloon, and found a great number of people there, principally of the male sex, who increased more and more until there was a regular throng, and I had to shake hands with many most extraordinary figures. But one often sees such here in the west. The men work hard, and are careless regarding their toilette; they do not give themselves time to attend to it: but their unkempt outsides are no type of that which is within, as I frequently observed this evening. I also made a somewhat closer acquaintance, to my real pleasure, with a little company of more refined people; I say refined intentionally, not better, because those phrases, better and worse, are always indefinite and less suitable in this country than in any other; I mean well-bred and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, the aristocracy of Keokuk. Not being myself of a reserved disposition, I like the American open, frank, and friendly manner. It is easy to become acquainted, and it is very soon evident whether there is reciprocity of feeling or not.

We went on board between ten and eleven at night,