of her knuckles with its sudden and lively poonk!

"Sally!" said the Colonel,--"wake up, wake up. What 'r' y' dreamin'
abaout?"

Mrs. Sprowle raised herself, by a sort of spasm, sur son seant, as they
say in France,--up on end, as we have it in New England. She looked
first to the left, then to the right, then straight before her,
apparently without seeing anything, and at last slowly settled down, with
her two eyes, blank of any particular meaning, directed upon the Colonel.

"What time is 't?" she said.

"Ten o'clock. What y' been dreamin' abaout? Y' giv a jump like a
hopper-grass. Wake up, wake UP! Th' party 's over, and y' been asleep
all the mornin'. The party's over, I tell ye! Wake up!"

"Over!" said Mrs. Sprowle, who began to define her position at
last,--"over! I should think 't was time 't was over! It's lasted a
hundud year. I've been workin' for that party longer 'n Methuselah's
lifetime, sence I been asleep. The pies would n' bake, and the blo'monje
would n' set, and the ice-cream would n' freeze, and all the folks kep'
comin' 'n' comin' 'n' comin',--everybody I ever knew in all my
life,--some of 'em 's been dead this twenty year 'n' more,--'n' nothin'
for 'em to eat nor drink. The fire would n' burn to cook anything, all
we could do. We blowed with the belluses, 'n' we stuffed in paper 'n'
pitch-pine kindlin's, but nothin' could make that fire burn; 'n' all the
time the folks kep' comin', as if they'd never stop,--'n' nothin' for 'em
but empty dishes, 'n' all the borrowed chaney slippin' round on the
waiters 'n' chippin' 'n' crackin',--I would n' go through what I been
through t'-night for all th' money in th' Bank,--I do believe it's harder
t' have a party than t'"--

Mrs. Sprowle stated the case strongly.

The Colonel said he did n't know how that might be. She was a better
judge than he was. It was bother enough, anyhow, and he was glad that it
was over. After this, the worthy pair commenced preparations for
rejoining the waking world, and in due time proceeded downstairs.

Everybody was late that morning, and nothing had got put to rights. The
house looked as if a small army had been quartered in it over night. The
tables were of course in huge disorder, after the protracted assault they
had undergone. There had been a great battle evidently, and it had gone
against the provisions. Some points had been stormed, and all their
defences annihilated, but here and there were c