Sometimes she saw Mother and sometimes she did not, depending upon Dorinda's state of mind at the time.
Lute, always a sort of social barometer, noticed the change in the weather.
"Everybody's talkin' about you, Ros," he declared.

"They cal'late you're a pretty smart feller.

They don't just understand what you're up to, but they think you're pretty smart." "No ?" I commented, ironically.

"Lute, you astonish me.

Why am I smart ?" "Well, they don't know exactly, but they cal'late you must be.