rs will eat you, more likely," says I. "Look at your face
and hands."

"Yes, they have eat considerable of a dinner out of me, but I don't
begrech 'em. I hain't small enough, I hope, to begrech 'em one meal."

Miss Bobbet and the rest turned to go back, and the minute we were
alone he said:

"Can't you bring 40 or 50 more wimmen up here? You couldn't come here
a minute without a lot of other wimmen tied to your heels!"

I began to see daylight, and then Josiah told me.

It seems he had set down on that bottle of rhaspberry jell. That blue
stripe on the side wasn't hardly finished, as I said, and I hadn't
fastened my thread properly; so when he got to pullin' at 'em to
try to wipe off the jell, the thread started, and bein' sewed on a
machine, that seam jest ripped right open from top to bottom. That was
what he had walked off sideways towards the woods for. Josiah Allen's
wife hain't one to desert a companion in distress. I pinned 'em up as
well as I could, and I didn't say a word to hurt his feelin's, only I
jest said this to him, as I was a fixin' 'em: "Josiah Allen, is this
pleasure?" Says I: "You was determined to come."

"Throw that in my face again, will you? What if I wuz? There goes a
pin into my leg. I should think I had suffered enough without your
stabbin' of me with pins."

"Wal, then, stand still, and not be a caperin' round so. How do you
suppose I can do anything with you a tousin' round so?"

"Wal, don't be so agrevatin', then."

I fixed 'em as well as I could, but they looked pretty bad, and then,
there they was all covered with jell, too. What to do I didn't know.
But finally I told him I would put my shawl onto him. So I doubled
it up corner-ways, as big as I could, so it almost touched the ground
behind, and he walked back to the table with me. I told him it was
best to tell the company all about it, but he jest put his foot down
that he wouldn't, and I told him if he wouldn't that he must make his
own excuses to the company about wearin' the shawl. So he told 'em
that he always loved to wear summer shawls; he thought it made a man
look so dressy.

But he looked as if he would sink all the time he was a sayin' it.
They all looked dretful curious at him, and he looked as meachin' as
if he had stole a sheep, and he never took a minute's comfort, nor I
nuther. He was sick all the way back to the shore, and so was I. And
jest as we got into our wagons and started for home, the rain begun to