havin' got all through upstairs, I went down and went to sweepin' out the parlor, and jest as quick as I got that done, I went to gittin' dinner (at Josiah's request, who said he hadn't eat much breakfast, though I didn't know it and told him so). But he built a fire in the kitchen for that purpose, and I got an excellent dinner, nice tender steak, and stewed tomatoes, and smashed potatoes, and apple dumplin's that would melt in your mouth, and lemon sauce to eat on 'em, and delicious coffee.
Josiah wuz happy in his mind, though some in pain owin' to the last four dumplin's. And that wuz the last I ever hearn of any anger on his part about the world's burnin' up. Well, they come after Delight that very night, and we both hated to have her go, it wuz awful lonesome without her. Though it wuz a great comfort to know that she wuz comin' up a week from the next Saturday to stay over Sunday with us. We looked forward to it.
The very next day after Delight went home I wuz in the settin' room mendin' my Josiah's best galluses, the buckles had come off, and I wuz settin' there as cool as the buckles (which wuz nickle) and as collected together as the galluses after I had got 'em mended, when all of a sudden the door bust open with a bang, and in come my companion Josiah from the barn, with a splinter under his thumb nail, jest as mad as a hornet, as a man always is when he gits hurt, and he danced and jumped over the floor like a lunatick and hollered out, "It is all your dumb doin's, Samantha! if it hadn't been for you the board wouldn't been there!"
Sez I calmly, for frequent seens like this had gin me knowledge, "I didn't put it there, Josiah."
"No, but if you had any eyes in your head you would
