e wagon stop to the gate,
and I got up and peeked through the window, and I see it was visitors
come to spend the evenin'--Elder Wesley Minkly and his family, and
Deacon Dobbins' folks. Josiah vowed that he wouldn't stir one step out
of that bed that night. But I argued with him pretty sharp, while I
was throwin' on my clothes, and I finally got him started up. I hain't
deceitful, but I thought, if I got my clothes all on before they came
in, I wouldn't tell 'em that I had been to bed that time of day. And I
did get all dressed up, even to my handkerchief pin. And I guess they
had been there as much as ten minutes before I thought that I hadn't
took my night-cap off. They looked dretful curious at me, and I felt
awful meachin'. But I jest ketched it off, and never said nothin'. But
when Josiah came out of the bedroom, with what little hair he has got
standin' out in every direction, no two hairs a layin' the same way,
I up and told 'em. I thought mebby they wouldn't stay long. But Deacon
Dobbins' folks seemed to be all waked up on the subject of religion,
and they proposed we should turn it into a kind of a conference
meetin'; so they never went home till after ten o'clock.

It was most eleven o'clock when Josiah and me got to bed agin. And
then jest as I was gettin' into a drowse, I heard the cat in the
buttery, and I got up to let her out. And that rousted Josiah up, and
he thought he heard the cattle in the garden, and he got up and went
out. And there we was a marchin' round most all night. And if we would
get into a nap, Josiah would think it was mornin', and he would start
up and go out to look at the clock. I lost myself once, for I dreampt
that Josiah was a droundin', and Deacon Dobbins was on the shore a
prayin' for him. It started me so, that I jest ketched hold of Josiah
and hollered. It skairt him awfully, and says he, "What does ail
you, Samantha? I hain't been asleep before to-night, and now you have
rousted me up for good. I wonder what time it is?" And then he got out
of bed again, and went out and looked at the clock. It was half-past
one, and he said "he didn't believe we had better go to sleep again
for fear we would be too late for the exertion, and he wouldn't miss
that for nothin'."

"Exertion," says I, in a awful cold tone; "I should think we had had
exertion enough for one spell."

But I got up at 2 o'clock, and made a cup of tea as strong as I could,
for we both felt beat out, worse than if w