Samantha. (Calmly and firmly). I’m bein’ winsome, Josiah, and tryin’ to allure and charm.
Josiah. You’re bein’ a gol-darned fool, that’s what you’re a-bein’!
Samantha. (Smiling, murmurs gently). Sweet pet!
Josiah. (Stamps his feet in anger and yells). Sweet pet! Dum foolishness! I shall lose the chance to sell that butter! And I’m starved!!! (Flings himself around). Twenty-four hours since I eat a mouful!
Samantha. (Sweetly). Men are made to work for wimmen, dearest one. Them angels hain’t made for work, or votin’, or any other hardship. (Sweetly and smilingly). The cream is all ready for you to finish churnin’. The chicken to brile is in the store-room, the potatoes and vegetables in the suller. (Stops talking to give him three or four full smiles). The mop is hangin’ up behind the back door, the stove brush and blackin’ in the suller-way, and the lamp-chimney cleaner is hangin’ over the kitchen sink.
(Josiah had stood as if dumb foundered, now he yelled as he straightened up.) Dum it all! What are you goin’ to do?
Samantha. I’m goin’ to charm and allure you, dear Josiah; wimmen are made to charm men, they should do nothin’ important.
(Josiah drops into a chair, his arms hanging down at his side in a despairing way and stares at her.)
Samantha. A clean house is important, therefore I will not clean. Eatin’ is important therefore I will not cook, I will emulate the rose in its wisdom, I will charm and be silent. (She leans back in a luxurious attitude and smiles a good deal at him).
Josiah. (Rising). Are you a consarned lunatick? Or what duz ail you? (Puts on his glasses and looks closely at her. His angry looks changes to one of deep anxiety and alarm. With his eye on her all the time he edges off and reaches for the camphor bottle on a mantle in the kitchen, takes it in one hand and then reaches for the soap stone on the kitchen stove and carries it back in a scared fashion. He asks low and appealingly). Don’t you want your back rubbed, Samantha? Where is your worst pain? (He lays down the soap stun within easy reach on the table and steps cautiously near). Won’t camfire relieve you? Shall I go after Miss Gowdey or the doctor? (Steps to one side and looks round as if uncertain what to do). Don’t you want your feet soaked? (Glancin’ towards the kitchen).