“And lyin’,” sez she, with her face redder than ever with what she called principle (and I called madness and revenge), “is sunthin’ I won’t have goin’ on in this house!”
Sez I calmly, for I see it wuzn’t my place to interfere, “What has she been lyin’ about?” And she said she had told her to not stay but a hour to Miss Bobbettses playin’ with her little girl, and she had stayed two, had lied about it. She had promised to come back in a hour and didn’t. “She said she forgot all about the time, till the two hours wuz up, and I know she didn’t forgit!”
Sez I, “How do you know she didn’t forgit?”
“Why,” sez she, “how could she forgit when there wuz a clock right in the room? She didn’t come back because she wanted to stay, and she must own it up to me!”
“But,” sez I calmly, “if the child did forgit you are whippin’ her into lyin’ instead of out of it.” I didn’t say no more, for I never interfere, and she took her out into the back room and finished up there, and I heard Kate own up that she had stayed three hours and meant to, and wuz sorry.
And then her mother had to whip her agin because she had owned up too much; finally she got her to own jest enough, and then Miss Gowdey come back into the room triumphant and happy and give the child a big piece of cake and jell. She said she always give the child sunthin’ nice when she owned up to tellin’ a story. And so she felt real good natered to think she had come off conqueror. And we had a good visit.
My bizness there wuz to ask her in a friendly way if she didn’t want to run in with me to see Miss Patten. Miss Patten had got a young child, and we hadn’t either on us seen it. And she said in a agreeable way that she would, and she told her husband when we went out she shouldn’t be gone only “jest an hour,” and told him to hang on the teakettle at five, and she would be there to help set the table. And she told little Kate to look at the clock, and when the pinter stood at jest five her Ma would certain sure be there. Well, Miss Patten wuz dretful agreeable, and so wuz Sam, that is her husband, and so wuz old Miss Patten, who wuz there takin’ care of Susan. And nothin’ to do but we had got to take our things off and stay to supper. We hung back, for we had told our companions we would be home to git supper in good season.
Sez I, “I don’t like to disappoint Josiah.”
“And I can’t disappoint my folks,” sez Miss Gowdey.
“Oh, well,” sez old Miss Patten, “if they go through the world without meetin’ a worse disappointment than that, I guess they’ll git along. They can eat their suppers a little later.”