"'Well, then, I guess you never sarved much of a 'prenticeship at making rice puddin's,' says he.
"'If you'll jest taste of it, sir, I guess you'll like it,' says I.
"'I sha'n't taste of sich a lookin' thing as that,' says he, and up he jumps from the table, appearantly jest as mad as a March hare.
"I felt purty much riled myself, and should 'ave been glad if the tarnal puddin' had been right in the middle of the Red Sea. Arter I'd taken so much pains, worried myself e'en jest to death about it, as 'twere, I thought 'twas too bad for him to speak about it in sich a short, scornful way.
"I didn't tell Aunt Keziah anything about it, 'cause, as she was sick, I was afeared 'twould worry her; but, afore I'd finished doin' the work up arter dinner, Uncle Higgins got cooled down a leetle atom, and went into aunt's room to see how she was. She mistrusted by his looks that everything wasn't raly right, so she says to him—
"'How did the dinner suit you?'
"'Well enough,' says he.
"'Did Tabitha make the rice puddin' to yer likin'?' says she.
"'I didn't eat any rice puddin',' says he. 'There was a mushy-lookin' thing on the table that she called a rice puddin'; but it didn't look like an eatable to me.'
"'What appeared to be the matter with it?' says Aunt Keziah.