I forgive Hank all the orneriness he done me, and they was a lot of it, as is becoming unto a church member, which he never was." And all the women but Mis' Primrose, they says: "Elmira Appleton, you HAVE got a Christian sperrit!" Which done her a heap of good, and she cried considerable harder, leaking out tears as fast as she poured tea in.

Each one on em tries to find out something good to say about Hank, only they wasn't much they could say.

And Hank in that there cistern a-listening to every word of it.
Mis' Rogers, she says: "Afore he took to drinking like a fish, Hank Walters was as likely looking a young feller as I ever see." Mis' White, she says: "Well, Hank he never was a stingy man, nohow.

Often and often White has told me about seeing Hank, after he'd sold a piece of land, treating the hull town down in Nolan's bar-room jest as come-easy, go-easy as if it wasn't money he orter paid his honest debts with." They set there that-a-way telling of what good pints they could think of fur ten minutes, and Hank a-hearing it and getting madder and madder all the time.

The gineral opinion was that Hank wasn't no good and was better done fur, and no matter what they said them feelings kep' sticking out through the words.
By and by Tom Alexander come busting into the house, and his wife, Mis' Alexander, was with him.
"What's the matter with all you folks," he says.