It wuz very nice, in the form of a meetin’ house—you put the money down through the steeple.
I thought mebby, bein’ it wuz in this shape, it would sort o’ turn their minds onto meetin’ houses and such moral idees.
Well, finally, one mornin’ early we heard, clear up in our room, Senator Coleman makin’ a great hue and cry.
We hearn his voice lifted up high in agitation and exhortation, and I sez to my pardner:
“What under the sun is the matter with the relation on Maggie’s side?”
And Josiah said, and it pains me to record it:
“He didn’t know, and he didn’t care a dumb.”
He never liked Senator Coleman for a minute.
But as we descended down to breakfast we soon found out and discovered what wuz the matter. Little Raymond (poor little babyish creeter!), a not mistrustin’ its real value, had took a valuable diamond locket and gin it to little Tommy.
It wuz a very valuable locket, with seven great diamonds in it. It wuz one that the Senator’s dead wife had gin him when they wuz first married, and had their two names writ on it, and inside a lock of their two hairs.