ll human appearances you c'd 'a' covered
ev'ry dum thing she had on with a postage stamp." John stole a glance at
Mrs. Cullom. She was staring at the speaker with wide-open eyes of
horror and amazement.

"I guess I wouldn't go very _fur_ into pertic'lers," said Mrs. Bixbee in
a warning tone.

David bent his head down over his plate and shook from head to foot, and
it was nearly a minute before he was able to go on. "Wa'al," he said, "I
heard Polly give a kind of a gasp an' a snort, 's if some one 'd throwed
water 'n her face. But she didn't say nothin', an', I swan! I didn't
dast to look at her fer a spell; an' putty soon in come a hull crowd
more girls that had left their clo'es in their trunks or somewhere,
singin', an' dancin', an' weavin' 'round on the stage, an' after a few
minutes I turned an' looked at Polly. He, he, he, he!"

"David Harum!" cried Mrs. Bixbee, "ef you're goin' to discribe any more
o' them scand'lous goin's on I sh'll take my victuals into the kitchin.
_I_ didn't see no more of 'em," she added to Mrs. Cullom and John,
"after that fust trollop appeared."

"I don't believe she did," said David, "fer when I turned she set there
with her eys shut tighter 'n a drum, an' her mouth shut too so's her
nose an' chin most come together, an' her face was red enough so 't a
streak o' red paint 'd 'a' made a white mark on it. 'Polly,' I says,
'I'm afraid you ain't gettin' the wuth o' your money.'

"'David Harum,' she says, with her mouth shut all but a little place in
the corner toward me, 'if you don't take me out o' this place, I'll go
without ye,' she says.

"'Don't you think you c'd stan' it a little longer?' I says. 'Mebbe
they've sent home fer their clo'es,' I says. He, he, he, he! But with
that she jest give a hump to start, an' I see she meant bus'nis. When
Polly Bixbee," said David impressively, "puts that foot o' her'n _down_
somethin's got to sqush, an' don't you fergit it." Mrs. Bixbee made no
acknowledgment of this tribute to her strength of character. John looked
at David.

"Yes," he said, with a solemn bend of the head, as if in answer to a
question, "I squshed. I says to her, 'All right. Don't make no
disturbance more'n you c'n help, an' jest put your hank'chif up to your
nose 's if you had the nosebleed,' an' we squeezed out of the seats, an'
sneaked up the aisle, an' by the time we got out into the entry I guess
my face was as red as Polly's. It couldn't 'a' ben no redder," he added.