at goes, it's a ill wind
't blows no good, 'n' no one c'n deny 't he's been easy for you to
manage, 'n' what's sauce f'r the goose is sauce f'r the gander, so I
sh'll look to be equally lucky."

Mrs. Lathrop looked proud and pleased.

"Why can't you ask him to-night 'n' let me know the first thing in the
mornin'? That'll save me havin' to come 'way aroun' by the gate, you
know."

Mrs. Lathrop assented to the obvious good sense of this proposition
with one emphatic nod of her head.

"'N' I'll come out jus' 's quick 's I can in the mornin' 'n' hear what
he said; I'll come 's soon 's ever I can get father 'n' the dishes
washed up. I hope to Heaven father'll sleep more this night 'n he did
last. He was awful restless last night. He kept callin' f'r things
till finally I had to take a pillow and go down on the dinin'-room
lounge to keep from bein' woke up any more."

"Do you think he's--"

"No, I don't think he's worse; not 'nless wakin' up 'n' askin' f'r
things jus' to be aggravatin' is worse. If it is, then he is too. But,
lor, there ain't no manner o' use in talkin' o' father! A watched pot
_never_ boils! Jathrop's more to the point right now."

Upon this hint Mrs. Lathrop de-fenced herself, so to speak, and the
friendly chat ended for that time.

The morning after, Miss Clegg was slow to appear at the summons of her
neighbor. When she did approach the spot where the other stood
waiting, her whole face and figure bore a weary and fretful air.

"Father jus' about kept me up this whole blessed night," she began as
soon as she was within easy hearing. "I d'n' know what I want to get
married f'r, when I'm bound to be man-free in twenty-five years 'f I
c'n jus' make out to live that long."

Mrs. Lathrop chewed and listened.

"If there was anythin' in the house 't father didn't ask f'r 'n' 't I
didn't get him last night, it must 'a' been the cook-stove in the
kitchen. I come nigh to losin' a toe in the rat-trap the third time I
was down cellar, 'n' I clum that ladder to the garret so many times 't
I do believe I dusted all overhead with my hair afore mornin'. My ears
is full o' cobwebs too, 'n' you know 's well 's I do 't I never was
one to fancy cobwebs about me. They say 't every cloud has a silver
linin', but I can't see no silver linin' to a night like last night.
When the rooster crowed f'r the first time this mornin', I had it in
my heart to march right out there 'n' hack off his head. If it 'd 'a'
been Sat