But Peter Cooper wuz the worst; to see him take everything away from his brothers he possibly could, and devour it himself, and want everything himself, and be mad if they had anything, and steal from 'em in the most cold-blooded way, and act--why, it wuz enough to make that blessed old philanthropist, Peter Cooper, turn over in his grave.
They wuz dretful troublesome and worrisome to the rest of the boarders, but Mr.Freeman could quell 'em down any time--sometimes by lookin' at 'em and smilin', and sometimes by lookin' stern, and sometimes by candy and oranges.
I declare for't, as I told Miss Plank sometimes, I didn't know what we would have done durin' some hot meal times if it hadn't been for that blessed bacheldor.
I said that right out openly to Miss Plank, and to everybody else.

Bein' married happy, I felt free to speak my mind about bacheldors, or anything.

Of course, bein' a widder, Miss Plank felt more hampered.
And he wuz good to me in other ways, besides easin' my cares and nerves at the table.
His rooms wuz jest acrost the hall from ourn, and my Josiah's and my room wuz very small; it wuz the best that Miss Plank could do, so I didn't complain.

But it wuz very compressed and confined, and extremely hot.
When we wuz both in there sometimes on sultry days, I felt like compressed meat, or as I mistrusted that would feel, sort o' canned up, as it were.
And one warm afternoon, 'most sundown, jest as I opened my door into the hall, to see if I could git a breath of fresh air to recooperate me, Josiah a-pantin' in the rockin'-chair behind me, Mr.Freeman opened his door, and so there we wuz a-facin' each other.
[Illustration: And so there we wuz a-facin' each other.] And bein' sort o' took by surprise, I made the observation that "I wuz jest about melted, and so wuz my Josiah, and my room wuz like a dry oven and a tin can." I wouldn't have said it if I hadn't been so sort o' flustrated, and by the side of myself.
And he jest swung open his door into a big cool parlor, and I could see beyend the doors open into two or three other handsome rooms.
And, sez he, "I wish, Mrs.Allen, that you and your husband would come in here and see if it isn't cooler." Sez he, "I feel rather lonesome, and would be glad to have you come in and visit for a spell." He told me afterwards that it wuz the anniversary of his mother's death.
He looked sort o' sad, and as if he really wanted company.

So we thanked him, or I did, and we walked in and sot down in some big, cool cane-seat easy-chairs.
And we sot there and visited back and forth for quite a spell, and took comfort.