"She was surgeon, physician, apothecary, and nurse to all the poor people for many miles round, and neither white man nor Indian ever appealed to her in vain. But it was not only to the body that she ministered. Many a sorrowful soul had been comforted by her, many an ignorant one enlightened, many a wanderer led into the way of peace. There was not a man, woman, or child in Westmoreland that did not love and revere Madam Dean, or that would not have done her any service in their power."
"My uncle's business as member of the Assembly and Indian Agent took him often to Albany, New York, and Philadelphia. On one occasion, as he was going down to New York, he proposed to his wife that, as their new house was completed and they could well afford the expense, he should purchase a carpet for the parlor and bring it home with him."
"'Well,' said my aunt, 'I should be very glad to have one. A carpet does more towards furnishing a parlor than anything else one can put into it, so far as comfort is concerned. It will make our room seem much more cosy and homelike when cold weather comes.'"
"My aunt glanced round with some complacency at the neatly finished and well-furnished apartment, and in her mind's eye saw the white boards already covered with a warm-colored carpet."
"It was thus settled that my uncle should bring home a carpet, and the color and quality were agreed upon. My uncle considered the matter as disposed of, but the next night, as they were seated by the fire (for it was at a time of year when a bright blaze was comfortable in the evening), my aunt adverted to the carpet again."
"'Mr. Dean,' said she, laying down her knitting for a moment, 'I have been thinking about that carpet again.'"
"'Well,' said my uncle, rather absently, and without looking up, for he had got hold of his favorite newspaper, only ten days old, and was absorbed in its perusal."
"'And I rather think I have changed my mind about it,' continued Madam Dean, altering a little the position of her knitting sheath."
"'Indeed!' said her husband, looking a little surprised, for my aunt was not apt to change her mind upon slight grounds. 'But perhaps you would prefer something else than the carpet?'"
"'I do not care anything about a carpet as a matter of display,' said my aunt, resuming her work. 'It is only as a matter of comfort that I want one at all.'"