“Well, I may be kinda deaf; but I ain’t so bad as he is.”
After a protracted struggle with the pencil, the boy produced:
“She says she’ll give you cane.”
“A gold-headed cane. Just what I wanted! ’Pears to me Aunt Mary’s getting ready to admit she was wrong. You tell her I knew she’d smart for it!”
The boy went faithfully back across the room and screamed the message, which she understood to be:
“He knew you’re awful smart!”
There was no question about the pleasure this gave her, but when was any woman of spirit easily won? She could not give way so quickly.
“You just tell him to keep his soft soap for washing days!”
The boy again did his best, but the old man only heard “soap” and “days,” and happily, imagination came to his aid and framed:
“I hope for happy days!”