"Who?"

"Cusmoodle, the duck. I named it this mornin'. Well, when the lady
seen Tommy she started up, then she set down ag'in, holdin' her skirts
up all the time to keep 'em from techin' the floor. 'How'd they git
here?' she ast, so relieved-like that I thought she must be kin to
'em. So I up an' told her all I knew. I told her if she wanted to find
out anything about us she could ast Mrs. Reddin' over at Terrace Park.
'Mrs. Robert Reddin'?' says she, lookin' dumfounded. 'Yes,' says I,
'the finest lady, rich or poor, in Kentucky, unless it's her husband.'
Then she went on an' ast me goin' on a hunderd questions 'bout all of
us an' all of you all, an' 'bout the factory. She even ast me where we
got our water at, an' if you kept yer house healthy. I told her Lovey
Mary had made Chris carry out more 'n a wheelbarrow full of dirt ever'
night since she had been here, an' I guess it would be healthy by the
time she got through."

[Illustration: "'She took on mighty few airs fer a person in
mournin'.'"]

Miss Hazy moved uneasily. "I told her I couldn't clean up much 'count
of the rheumatism, an' phthisic, an' these here dizzy spells--"

"I bet she didn't git a chance to talk much if you got started on your
symptims," interrupted Mrs. Wiggs.

"Didn't you think she was a' awful haughty talker?"

'No, indeed. She took on mighty few airs fer a person in mournin'.
When she riz to go, she says, real kind fer such a stern-faced woman,