He put his brush into the pail and insisted on my coming to the house, because "the old woman," his wife, would want to hear "all the sewin' circle news." "It's the biggest hardship of her life," said Ben, "that she has to miss sewin' circle when the bay ices in.

Soon's it clears she's at me to row her acrost to the meetin's.

I've took her to two this spring, but she missed the last one, on account of this whitewashin', and she's crazy to know who's been talked about now.

If anything disgraceful has happened for the land sakes tell her; then she'll he more reconciled." I had nothing disgraceful to tell, but Mrs.Small was glad to see me, nevertheless.

She brought out doughnuts and beach-plum jelly and insisted on my sampling both, the doughnuts because they were just made and she "mistrusted" there was too much flour in them, and the jelly because it was some she had left over and she wanted to see if I thought it was "keepin'" all right.