And he telegrafted back—
“All right—start 14th. Send bill of expense to me.”
But there wuzn’t no bill sent, as I said—no, indeed!
I guess we didn’t want nobody to buy clothes for us—no, indeed!
As for the travellin’ expenses of the trip, seein’ they thought we wuz necessaries to their comfort, and seein’ he’d invited us, and seein’ his income wuz about ten thousand dollars an hour, why we laid out to let him have his way in that.
It wuzn’t nothin’ that we’d ever thought on, and then, as I told Josiah, we could even it up some by invitin’ the children to stay all summer with us next year.
So the die wuz cast down, and the cloth wuz soon bought for Josiah’s new European shirts, and my own foreign nightcap and nightgown.
As for my clothes, by Maggie’s advice and assistance, aided by our two practical common senses, the work wuz soon completed.
Maggie said that I must dress better than I usually did on my towers, for the sake of pleasin’ Martin and Alice. And she and Thomas J. made me a present of a good black silk dress, and she see to makin’ it, with one plain waist for common wear, and one dressy waist, very handsome, with black jet trimmin’ on it for my best.
A good gray alpacky travellin’ dress, some the color of dust, with a bunnet of the same color, and a good brown lawn for hot days wuz enough, and didn’t take up much room. Plenty of good underclothes and a wool wrapper for the steamer completed my trossow.