My tone was as solemn as solemn could be a most, but good land! she didn’t sense it a mite; it seemed as if she follered us round with a mop closer than ever, and the minute she got her work done up she went right to her ruffles again; she didn’t take time to change her dress or comb her hair or anything. Her dress was clean enough, but it was faded and considerable ragged, and not a sign of a collar or cuff; and her hair, which was wavy and crinkly naturally, and would have been glad to curl, was tucked up tight in a little wad at the back side of her head, to save work a combin’ it. I didn’t see much of Philander, for he stayed to the barn the most of the time, though he seemed to have a desire to use us well, and every little while he would come in and visit a few words with us; but he acted awful uneasy, and low spirited, and meachin’, and I was most glad every time when he’d git started for the barn, and she’d set her mop down, for she’d scold him about flies and exhort him about dust, and foller him round with a mop most every moment. She had in the neighborhood of a bushel of ruffles a layin’ by her, and she said she must stitch ’em, and pucker ’em all that day, and her face looked so care-worn and haggard as she said it, that I almost pitted her; and I says to her in tones about half pity, and half rebuke:
“What makes you lay so to ruffles Mahala, it is a wearin’ on you and I can see it is.”
“Oh,” says she, and she nipped-to, harder than ever as she said it: “I do it because other folks do. They wear ruffles a sight now.”
But I says in calm tones: “Have you got to be a fool Mahala, because they be?”
She didn’t answer me a word, only kep’ right on her ruffles as if they was cases of life and death, and I continued on in reasonable axents.
“I am considerable dressy myself, and in the name of principle I believe it is every woman’s duty to look as well and agreeable as she can, especially if she has got a companion to show off before.”
As I said this, she give as scornful and humiliatin’ a look onto my overskirt as I ever see looked. It was my new grey dress, all trimmed off on the age of the overskirt with a plain piece cut ketrin’ ways of the cloth, and stitched on. It looked well, but I see she despised it, because it wasn’t ruffled; she showed it plain in her face, how fearfully she felt above the biasin’ piece and me; she despised us both, and acted so hauty towards us, that I was determined to give her a piece of my mind, and says I again firmly:
“I believe it is every woman’s duty especially if she has got a pardner, to put her best foot forred and look pleasant and agreeable from day to day, and from hour to hour. But in my mind a woman don’t add to her good looks by settin’ down lookin’ like fury for nineteen days, a workin’ too hard to speak a pleasant word to her family, or give ’em a pleasant look, for the sake of flauntin’ out on the twentieth for a few hours, to show off before a lot of folks she don’t care a cent for, nor they for her.” Says I, “A middlin’ plain dress for instance, one made with a plain strip set on the bias round the overskirt, or sunthin’ of that sort,” says I, “such a dress with a bright healthy, happy face, looks better to me than the height of fashion wore with a face that is almost completely worn out with the work a makin’ of it, drawn down by care, and crossness, and hard work into more puckers than there is on the ruffles;” says I, “if a woman is able and willin’ to hire her clothes made, that’s a different thing; in them cases let wimmen ruffle themselves off to their heart’s content, and the more work the better for the sewin’ wimmen.”
I don’t think Mahala sensed my talk much of any, for she was nippin’-to, sewin’ on her ruffles, and I heerd her say seeminly to herself:
“Lemme see; nine yards for the bottom ruffle, and a little over. Three times nine is twenty-seven, and that leaves fourteen yards of trimmin’ for the poleynay, and up and down the back will be seventeen more—lemme see!” And she was a measurin’ it off with her hands. Finally she seemed to sense where she was for a minute, and turned to me with a still more haggard look onto her face.