But I couldn’t help seein’ that Josiah wuz right in thinkin’ Senator Coleman wuz proud and high-headed, for truly he wuz. His head wuz right up in the air, and he sort o’ leaned back when he walked, and over his portly stomach hung a glitterin’ watch-chain that he sort o’ fingered and played with as he walked about, and he had some diamonds a flashin’ on his little finger, and his shirt-front, and cuffs.
His eyes wuz a bright blue and as bold and piercin’ looking as Raymond’s wuz gentle and helpless, and his mustache and short hair wuz a sort of a iron gray; and his face bein’ florid and his features good, he made a handsome appearance; and Maggie, I could see, wuz quite proud of the relation on her side.
“WITH A JUMPIN’ TOOTHACHE.”
Wall, we had a good warm supper all ready for ’em, Maggie’s cook bein’ sort o’ helpless that day with a jumpin’ toothache (it jumped worse after Maggie went away and she see in me a willingness to help her get supper).
I laid holt and got the most of the supper myself, and it wuz a good one, if I hadn’t ort to say it.
Two plump spring fowls roasted to a delicate brown, some sliced potatoes warmed up in cream, some hot cream biscuit; and I had splendid luck with ’em—they wuz jest as light and flaky and tender as they could be. And some perfectly delicious coffee. I thought the fragrance of that coffee would steam up invitingly into Senator Coleman’s nostrils, after a hard day’s journey.
And if the relation had been on Thomas Jefferson’s side I couldn’t have set out to do better by him; I am good to my daughter-in-law—anybody will tell you so that has seen me behave to her.
Aunt Mela, the cook, by bendin’ all her energies onto ’em, had made a tomato salad and some veal croquettes. I hain’t partial to ’em, but want everybody to be suited in the line of vittles, and Maggie loves ’em.
And then on the sideboard wuz cake, and jellies, and fresh berries heaped up in crimson beauty on some china plates, and the table had posys on it and looked well.