iss Plank held his
price almost above rubies.

If there wuz any good bits among vittles that wuz always good, it wuz
Miss Plank's desire that he should have them bits; if there wuz drafts
a-comin' from any pint of the compass, it wuz Miss Plank's desire to not
have him blowed on. If any soft zephyr's breath wuz wafted to any one of
us from a open winder on a hot evenin' or sunny noon, he wuz the one she
wanted wafted to, and breathed on.

If her smiles fell warm on any, or all on us, he wuz the one they fell
warmest on. But we all liked him the best that ever wuz. Even Nony
Piddock seemed to sort of onbend a little, and moisten up with the dew
of charity his arid desert of idees a little mite, when he wuz around.

And occasionally, when the bacheldor, whose name wuz Mr. Freeman, when
he would, half in fun and half in earnest, answer Nony's weary and
bitter remarks, once in a while even that aged youth would seem to be
ashamed of himself, and his own idees.

There wuz another widder there--Miss Boomer; or I shouldn't call her a
clear widder--I guess she wuz a sort of a semi-detached one--I guess she
had parted with him.

Wall, she cast warm smiles on Mr. Freeman--awful warm, almost meltin'.

Miss Plank didn't like Miss Boomer.

Miss Piddock didn't want to cast no looks onto nobody, nor make no
impressions. She wuz a mourner for Old Piddock, that anybody could see
with one eye, or hear with one ear--that is, if they could understand
the secrets of sithes; they wuz deep ones as I ever hearn, and I have
hearn deep ones in my time, if anybody ever did, and breathed 'em out
myself--the land knows I have!

Miss Plank loved Miss Piddock like a sister; she said that she felt
drawed to her from the first, and the drawin's had gone on ever
sence--growin' more stronger all the time.

Wall, there wuz two elderly men, very respectable, with two wives, one
apiece, lawful and right, and their children, and Miss Schack and her
three children, and a Mr. Bolster, and that wuz all there wuz of us,
includin' and takin' in my pardner and myself.

Mr. Freeman wuz very rich, so Miss Plank said, and had three or four
splendid rooms, the best--"sweet"--in the house, she said.

I spoze she spoke in that way to let us know they wuz furnished
_sweet_--that is, I spoze so.

His mother had died there, and he couldn't bear to know that anybody
else had her rooms; so he kep 'em all, and paid high for 'em, so she
said, and wuz as much to