Don't be shocked; those circumstances we hear so much tell of--the kind you can't control--have kept me from goin' to theaters much, even if I wanted to.

But I did see this entertainment, and a fool one 'twas, too, all singin' instead of talkin'-- op'ra, I believe they called it.

Well, as I started to say, one of the leadin' folks in it was the Old Harry himself, and HE was pretty good-lookin'." Grace laughed, even though she had been somewhat shocked.
"Why, Aunt Keziah!" she exclaimed--those who knew Keziah Coffin best usually called her aunt, though real nephews and nieces she had none--"why, Aunt Keziah! What do you mean by comparing the--the person you just mentioned with a MINISTER!" "Oh, I wasn't comparin' 'em; I'll leave that for you Come-Outers to do.
Drat this carpet! Seems's if I never saw such long tacks; I do believe whoever put 'em down drove 'em clean through the center of the earth and let the Chinymen clinch 'em on t'other side.

I haul up a chunk of the cellar floor with every one.

Ah, hum!" with a sigh, "I cal'late they ain't any more anxious to leave home than I am.