“Can we get them at once?”
No downward inflections from her.
“Well,”—the wife looked at the husband; he nodded,—“well, we’ll take it.”
“Yes?” responded the landlady; “well?” leaning against a bedpost and smiling with infantile diffidence, “you dunt want no ref’ence?”
“No,” said John, generously, “oh, no; we can trust each other that far, eh?”
“Oh, yes?” replied the sweet creature; then suddenly changing countenance, as though she remembered something. “But daz de troub’—de room not goin’ be vacate for t’ree mont’.”
She stretched forth her open palms and smiled, with one arm still around the bedpost.
“Why,” exclaimed Mrs. Richling, the very statue of astonishment, “you said just now we could have it at once!”
“Dis room? Oh, no; nod dis room.”