“Wall, that wuz the way to write it; it wuz stylish,” he yelled. Oh, how he yelled! Why, that “stylish” almost broke a hole through my ear-pan; the pan jest jarred, it wuz so voyalent.
Sez I, “Set down, Josiah, and less argue on it.”
“I won’t argue on it, it is too dumb foolish; I am goin’ out to walk in the back garden before supper.”
And he ketched down his hat and drawed it down over his ears enough to break ’em off if they hadn’t been well sot on, and slammed the door so one of them panels is weak to this day—it wuz a little loose to start with.
And I went and stood in the winder with my hand over my eyes, and watched him all the while he wuz a walkin’ up and down them walks, for I wuz most afraid he would totter and fall over, or mebby he would start off a bee-line for the crick and drown himself, he wuz so rousted up and agitated. And I hain’t dasted to open my head sence on the subject—I don’t dast to, not knowin’ what it would bring onto him. At the table they noticed my pardner’s excited and riz up mean—they couldn’t help it.
And Maggie asked him “if he wuzn’t feelin’ well.”
And I spoke right up, such is a female’s devoted love for her companion—I spoke right up and sez:
“We have been a talkin’ over funerals and such, and your Pa got agitated.”
I spoze I told the truth—I spoze I did; I didn’t tell what the “such” wuz that he had been a talkin’ about; I don’t know as I wuz obleeged to.