Finally he sez, sort o’ dreamily,—
“’Most all great inventions and discoveries look strange at first.”
And I sez, almost mechanically, “Yes, that is so, Josiah.”
And he spoke out ag’in, “Napoleon Boneparte wuz a small man, but what a generel he wuz! What a leader! How fiery he wuz!”
And I sez, “Yes,” ag’in.
And he sez, a-brightenin’ up in his thoughts, and in delicate defference to me,—
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Wall, the next mornin’ the fire wuz built in the furnace, and, it bein’ hot weather, it heat the house beautifully. It wuz about ninety in the shade, so the furnace heat the house warm, and the agent and men looked triumphant, and ag’in Josiah’s apprehensions rose, and he wondered how he wuz goin’ to get through the winter with it without meltin’ right down in our tracts.
But I kep’ cool, or as cool as I could in dog-days, and didn’t say much.
Wall, it run along, and run along, the furnace always a-goin’, to dry the plasterin’, and Josiah’s stock of winter coal kep’ a-dwindlin’ down.