I never will go to New Connecticut with a _Deacon_ again, for we put up
at every byeplace in the country to _save expence_- It is very grating
to my pride to go into a tavern & furnish & cook my own provision- to
ride in a wagon &c &c- but that I can possibly get along with- but to be
oblig'd to pass the night in such a place as we are now in, just because
it is a little cheaper, is more than I am willing to do- I should even
rather drink clear rum out of the wooden bottle after the deacon has
drank & wip'd it over with his band, than to stay here another night--
The house is very small & very dirty- it serves for a tavern, a store, &
I should imagine hog's pen stable & every thing else- The air is so
impure I have scarcely been able to swallow since I enter'd the house-
The landlady is a fat, dirty, ugly looking creature, yet I must confess
very obliging- She has a very suspicious countenance & I am very afraid
of her- She seems to be master, as well as mistress & storekeeper, &
from the great noise she has been making directly under me for this half
hour, I suspect she has been "stoning the raisins & watering the rum"-
All the evening there has been a store full of noisy drunken fellows,
yet M^r Wolcott could not be persuaded to bring in but a small part of
the baggage, & has left it in the waggon before the door, as handy as
possible- Miss W's trunk is in the bar-room unlock'd the key being
broken today- it contains a bag of money of her father's, yet she could
not persuade him to bring it up stairs-- I feel so uneasy I cannot sleep
& had therefore rather write than not this hour- some one has just gone
below stairs after being as I suppos'd in bed this some time- for what
purpose I know not-unless to go to our trunks or waggon- the old woman,
(for it was her who went down,) tells me I must put out my candle so
good night---- Tuesday Morn--I went to bed last night with fear &
trembling, & feel truly glad to wake up & find myself alive & well- if
our property is all safe, we shall have double cause to be thankful--
The old woman kept walking about after I was in bed, & I then heard her
in close confab with her husband a long time-- Our room is just large
enough to contain a bed a chair & a very small stand- our bed has one
brown sheet & one pillow- the sheet however appear'd to be clean, which
was more than we got at Nash's- there we were all oblig'd to sleep in
the same room without curtains or any other screen- & our sheets there
were so dirty I felt afraid to sleep in them- We were not much in favor
at our first arrival there; but before we left them, they appear'd quite
to like us- & I don't know why they should not, for we were all very
clever, notwithstanding we rode in a waggon-- M^rs Nash said she should
reckon on't to see us again (Miss W & me) so I told her that in 3 years
she might expect to see me- She said I should never come back alone,
that I would certainly be married in a little while- but I am now more
than ever determin'd not to oblige myself to spend my days there, by
marrying should I even have an opport^y-- I am oblig'd to write every
way so you must not wonder at the badness of the writing- I am now in
bed & writing in my lap- Susan has gone to see if our baggage is in
order-- I hear the old woman's voice talking to the good deacon- & an "I
beg your pardon" comes out at every breath almost--Oh I cannot bear to
see her again she is such a disgusting object-- The men have been
swearing & laughing in the store under me this hour- & the air of my
room is so intolerable, that I must quit my writing to go in search of
some that is _breathable_- I don't know how far I shall be oblig'd to go
for it- but there is none very near I am certain-- Having a few moments
more to spare before we set out, with my book still in my lap, I hasten
to tell you we found everything perfectly safe, & I believe I wrong'd
them all by suspicions--The house by day light looks worse then ever-
every kind of thing in the room where they live- a chicken half pick'd
hangs over the door- & pots, kettles, dirty dishes, potatoe barrels- &
every thing else- & the old woman- it is beyond my power to describe
her- but she & her husband & both very kind & obliging- it is as much as
a body's life is worth to go near them-- The air has already had a
medicinal effect upon me-- I feel as if I had taken an emetic- & should
stay till night I most certainly should be oblig'd to take my bed, &
that would be certain death-- I did not think I could eat in the house-
but I did not dare refuse- the good deacon nor his wife did not mind it,
so I thought I must not-- The old creature sits by eating, & we are just
going to my great joy so good bye, good bye till to-night----