“Second rule, ‘Go ahead.’”
As I sez to him impressive, “You will be sure to come out right if you foller them two rules. Mebby you won’t always win your case before earthly judges, though I believe you will be more apt to. But that hain’t the important thing, my son,” I would say, “the important thing is to win your case before the Great Judge that is above all. Why,” sez I, “wouldn’t you ruther win a case before the Supreme Court in Washington, D. C., than before a Jonesville jury?”
And he would say, “Why, yes, of course.”
“Well,” sez I, “wouldn’t you ruther win the case before the Great Judge that sets as high above them Supreme Judges as Heaven is above the earth?”
I tell you them simelys sunk into Thomas J.’s heart; he follers them rules day by day. As I said more formerly, he is inquirin’ round about Miss Green Smythe’s case, and if he makes up his mind that she and Medora are in the right on’t he will help ’em (and thereby ensure her success), and if she hain’t in the right on’t he won’t touch the case with a pair of tongs or leather mittens.
Well, to stop retrospectin’ and resoom backwards a little. Miss Green Smythe greeted me and Maggie with considerable warmth, about as warm as hot dish water, while our greetin’s to her wuzn’t any warmer than new milk. Maggie wuz holdin’ Snow in her arms when Miss Green Smythe wuz ushered in, leadin’ a pug dog by a ribbon, and one of her danglers wuz out in the carriage lookin’ at the house through a eye glass. Miss Green Smythe made a great flutter and excitement in comin’ in, and made a sight of Maggie and me, but we didn’t seem fluttered or excited by her, nor we didn’t make any more of her than we did of any of the neighbors, though we used her well, and she sot down and took her pug into her lap, for Maggie’s cat riz up her back that high at the sight of it that I thought it would break into, and I got up and let her out.
I knew what the call wuz for, it wuz to molify Thomas J. and make him willin’ to take her case in hand. Well, she wuz dretful good to Maggie, over good, I thought; she called her lots of kinder foolish names, “Petteet Ongey,” and “belle amey,” and lots of other trash. Maggie’s name hain’t Amy, nor never wuz.
Maggie took it all in good part and sot there smilin’ and holdin’ little Snow close to her heart. Miss Green Smythe didn’t notice the baby at all, no more than as if it wuz a rag babe. But she begun to talk about a big entertainment she wuz goin’ to have and wanted us to come to, and she called it a real curous name, it sounded some like Fate Sham Peter.
I guess it wuzn’t exactly that, for it sounded so curous to me I sez to her, sez I, “I spoze Peter is all for fashion and outside gildin’ and sham, and that’s how he got his name?” And I sez, “Is Peter any relation of yourn?” And then she explained it out to me as well as she could.