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Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851

"Oak Openings"

All this sympathy excited our
interest, and we had some curiosity to see this old man, long ere it
was time to retire. As for the females, no name was mentioned among
them but that of a Mrs. Osborne, who was once or twice alluded to in
full. It was "grandma," and "ma," and "Dolly," and "sis." We should
have liked it better had it been "mother," and "grandmother," and
that the "sis" had been called Betsey or Molly; but we do not wish
to be understood as exhibiting these amiable and good-looking
strangers as models of refinement. "Ma" and "sis" did well enough,
all things considered, though "mamma" would have been better if they
were not sufficiently polished to say "mother."
We had a pleasant night of it, and all the passengers appeared next
morning with smiling faces. It often blows heavily on that lake, but
light airs off the land were all the breezes we encountered. We were
among the first to turn out, and on the upper deck forward, a place
where the passengers are fond of collecting, as it enables them to
look ahead, we found a single individual who immediately drew all of
our attention to himself. It was an aged man, with hair already as
white as snow.


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