His sister, Mrs.Polena Ginn, was washing dishes in the kitchen.
"Wat's that letter you're readin', Obed ?" she called from her post by the sink.
"Nothin'," said her brother, gruffly, crumpling up the sheet of note paper and jamming it into his pocket.
"My sakes! you're shorter'n pie crust to-night.

What's the matter?
Anything gone wrong at the store ?" "No." Silence again, only broken by the clatter of dishes.

Then Polena said: "Obed, when are you goin' to take me up to the clubroom so's I can see that picture of Major Hardee that he presented the club with?
Everybody says it's just lovely.

Sarah T.says it's perfectly elegant, only not quite so handsome as the Major reelly is.

She says it don't flatter him none." "Humph! Anybody'd think Hardee was some kind of a wonder, the way you women folks go on 'bout him.