od land! Josiah sot right there,
and he wuzn't jealous a mite. Mr. Freeman wuz young enough to be my boy,
anyway. And then Josiah knew what I had in my mind.

But I told my pardner that night, sez I--

"I hain't mentioned Mr. Freeman's name to Isabelle, and hain't a-goin'
to; for one reason, she wouldn't come nigh the house if she knew what I
wuz a-thinkin' on, and for another reason, I am a-goin' to try to stop
a-thinkin' on't. He took it so beautiful, and he has match-makers
a-besettin' him so much, I dare presoom to say he mistrusted what I wuz
up to in my own mind. And, like as not, Isabelle wouldn't look at him,
or any other man, anyway.

"But I wouldn't have thought on't in the first place," sez I, "if
Isabelle hadn't been such a born angel, and seemed cut out a purpose for
him by Providence. But I shall try to stop a-thinkin' on't."

And sez Josiah, "You had better have done that in the first place."

Wall, I wuz as good as my word. I didn't say another word _pro_ nor
_con_. But I kep up a-thinkin' inside of me, bein' but mortal, and
havin' two eyes in my head.

Wall, as I say, finally Gertrude Plank had left her room vacant, and our
niece had come to us with a cheerful face and one small trunk full of
neccessaries for her week's visit.

I call her our niece, though she wuzn't quite that relationship to us.
But it is quite hard sometimes to git the relationship headed right, and
marshal 'em out into company before you--specially when they are fifth
or sixth cousins.

And I thought, bein' our ages wuz such, and our affections wuz so
strong, back and forth, that it would be jest as well to jest use that
plain term aunt and uncle and niece--it looked better, anyway, as our
ages stood. And I didn't think it wuz anything wrong, for good land! we
are called uncle and aunt, my Josiah and me are, by lots of folks that
hain't no sort of kin to us, and Isabelle wuz related to us anyway by
kin and by soul ties.

Wall, to resoom: the evenin' after Isabelle got there it wuz burnin'
warm in my room. And her room wuz still worse, way up on top of the
house; but it wuz the best room that we could git for her, and she wuz
contented with it for the sake of bein' with her Uncle Josiah and me.

After we got up from the supper-table--Mr. Freeman wuz away that day,
but I felt free to take her into that big, cool room, and so we went
into that beautiful place.

And then, all of a sudden, as Isabelle stood there in front of