Says I, “Speakin’ as a investigator, what are you settin’ there all in a row for? Why haint you out a playin’ in the yard this nice day?”
As I mentioned the idee of playin’, their faces, as long as they was before, lengthened out awfully, and the two youngest ones kicked right out.
TOO MANY RUFFLES.
“Mother wont let us play;” says the oldest one in bitter axents. “She says we should muss up our ruffles, and rip off the knife pleatin’s.”
“Get our shoes dusty,” says the next one in vicious tones.
“Tear our overskirts,” says the four year old in loud angry axents, and again she kicked right out, and every one of ’em looked bitterly mad, and morbid; a morbider lot of faces I never laid eyes on. I didn’t say nothin’ more, but I looked at Josiah, and Josiah looked at me; we felt curious. But anon, or pretty near that time, I found and recovered myself and so did Josiah, and we walked up to the door and knocked.
“Come in,” says a voice in a kind of a sharp tone, as if the owner of the voice was awful busy and care-worn. So I and my companion walked in. It was as comfortable a room as wood-houses generally be, but of course there wasn’t much grandeur to it. There was about a dozen clean boards laid along one side for a floor and on it a cook stove was sot, and right by it was a sewin’ machine, and Mahala set by it a sewin’. But I’ll be hanged if I could see in that minute, one of Mahala Spicer’ses old looks; she looked so thin and care-worn and haggard. And if she is one of the relations on Josiah side, I’ll say, and I’ll stick to it that she looked as cross as a bear. I shouldn’t have had no idee who she was, if I hadn’t seen her there. She knew Josiah and me in a minute for—though I do say it that shouldn’t—folks say that my companion Josiah, and myself do hold our looks wonderful. And bein’ (sometimes) so affectionate towards each other in our demeanor, we have several times been took for a young married couple.
I should judge there was from half a bushel to three pecks of ruffles and knife pleatin’s that lay round her sewin’ machine and in her lap; but she got up and shook hands with us and invited us to take our things off. And then she said, bein’ as we was such near relations, (all in the family as it were,) she would ask us to set right down where we was; it bein’ fly time, she had got the rest of the house all shet up tight; had jest got it cleaned out from top to bottom, and she wanted to keep it clean.
I didn’t say nothin’, bein’ one that is pretty close mouthed naturally; but I kep’ up considerable of a thinkin’ in my mind. After we sot down, she give a kind of a anxious look onto the floor, and she see a little speck of dirt that had fell off of Josiah’s boots, and first we knew she was a wipin’ it up with a mop. Josiah felt as cheap as the dirt, I know he did, and cheaper; but he didn’t say nothin’, nor I nuther.