Excerpt from Old Economy: The Harmony Society

We climb the steep ascent from the station, stop ping at the top for a look at the old blanket and cloth mill just in front of us, see, the bit of Frederick Rapp shown in the laurel wreath carved on the lintel around the date 1828, exclaim as you must, over the beauty of the river view, and then we trudge on, carrying our own packages, there being no porters here, past the wall of the Great House, and along the church square, greeting any brother or sister we may meet shuffling along in capacious shoes, or cautiously closing one of the picket gates that guard each door-yard. That hole beside the post is for the chickens or pussy at will. Sometimes there are two holes, one for the cat the other for the kittens. Just ahead of us is the Economy hotel, with Andy, the hostler, sitting on the bench outside the door. He looks much like a featherless parrot dressed in Economy clothes, and is a trifle short tempered, but we call Morgen, and step through the door almost into Joseph's arms. And what a greeting, and what questions! How are the Gormlys, and the Kings, and the widow Hays? And his white curls shine in the sunlight, and then a fat Iittle figure dashes at us and actually puts his arm around us. He looks exactly like a very' fat Cupid grown aged and bald, and is David the waiter, who almost cries with joy to see us. A door opens at one side of the long entry and before us stands Melena, dressed in the workaday costume of the sisters, blue Wolsey, faint Iy striped with red, short waisted, high shouldered, full skirted, a bewitching attempt at surplice neck, is decorously filled in with exquisitely pleated linen ruf fles and bounded in by a gayly bordered blue silk 'ker chief. Along black apron falls to her comfortably shod, very large feet, while the clearest old face, wrink led, yet rosy, with soft blue eyes, beams on us from a frame of high crowned blue cap. Her greeting brings Semira, stately enough for an empress, from her house keeping, and then Rosie, grotesquely plain, (she looks just like a red earthen-ware crock, ) and the helpers all come in and make us welcome, and we go up the stairs into a rather stuffy room, but hurry back so as to do some sight-seeing before dinner, Joseph gravely warning us not to be late, as we waits for nobody.

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