"Nanny'll think I've left her," Tip said.
"You did, Tip," said I. "You ran away forever."
"She'll be gittin' married agin," pleaded Tip.
"Serves you right," said I. Then, to myself, "Not unless the other man's an utter stranger."
"She hasn't enough wood chopped to last a week," said Tip.
"She chopped the last wood-pile herself," said I.
"There's Cevery," pleaded Tip. "Cevery never done me no harm, and who'll dandle him?"
"The same good soul that dandled him the day you rode over the mountain," I answered.
"But it's a good half mile from our house to the spring," Tip said, "and who'll carry the water?"
"Earl and Pearl and Alice Eliza," I replied. "They've always done it; why worry now?"