the sufferin's we had undergone made him delirious?" says I to
myself; and then I started off on the run towards the woods, and old
Miss Bobbet, and Miss Gowdey, and Sister Minkley, and Deacon Dobbins'
wife, all rushed after me. Oh, the agony of them 2 or 3 minutes, my
mind so distracted with forebodin's, and the perspiration a pourin'
down. But, all of a sudden, on the edge of the woods we found him.
Miss Gowdey weighed 100 pounds less than me; had got a little ahead of
me. He sat backed up against a tree in a awful cramped position, with
his left leg under him. He looked dretful uncomfortable, but when Miss
Gowdey hollered out: "Oh, here you be; we have been skairt about you;
what is the matter?" he smiled a dretful sick smile, and says he: "Oh,
I thought I would come out here and meditate a spell. It was always a
real treat to me to meditate."

Jest then I came up, a pantin' for breath, and as the women all turned
to face me, Josiah scowled at me, and shook his fist at them 4 wimmen,
and made the most mysterious motions with his hands towards 'em.
But the minute they turned 'round he smiled in a sickish way, and
pretended to go to whistlin'.

Says I, "What is the matter, Josiah Allen? What are you off here for?"

"I am a meditatin', Samantha."

The wimmen happened to be a lookin' the other way for a minute, and he
looked at me as if he would take my head off, and made the strangest
motions towards 'em; but the minute they looked at him he would
pretend to smile that deathly smile.

Says I, "Come, Josiah Allen, we're goin' to have dinner right away,
for we are afraid it will rain."

"Oh, wal," says he, "a little rain, more or less, hain't a goin' to
hinder a man from meditatin'."

I was wore out, and says I: "Do you stop meditatin' this minute,
Josiah Allen."

Says he: "I won't stop, Samantha. I let you have your way a good deal
of the time; but when I take it into my head to meditate, you hain't a
goin' to break it up."

Says I: "Josiah Allen, come to dinner."

"Oh, I hain't hungry," says he. "The table will probably be full. I
had jest as leves wait."

"Table full!" says I. "You know jest as well as I do that we are
eatin' on the ground. Do you come and eat your dinner this minute."

"Yes, do come," says Miss Bobbet.

"Oh," says he, with that ghastly smile, a pretendin' to joke; "I have
got plenty to eat here, I can eat muskeeters."

The air was black with 'em; I couldn't deny it.

"The muskeete