a-bastin

Updated: May 1, 2025

The next mornin' Josiah Allen met me all riz up with a new idee. He had been out to buy a new pair of suspenders, his havin' gin out the day before; and he come to our room, where I wuz calmly settin' a-bastin' in some clean cotton lace into the sleeves of my alpaca dress. And sez he right out abrup, with no preamble, "Samantha, less go down to the Fair Ground in a whale."

Marietta Holley - Samantha at the World's Fair