remember of. Cyse Higgins set up with her for a spell,
but it never amounted to nothin'. It seems queer, too, for she
was always so fond o' seein' men folks round that when Pitt
Packard was shinglin' her barn she used to go out nights
'n' rip some o' the shingles off, so 't he'd hev more days'
work on it."

"I always said 't was she that begun on Rube Hobson,
not him on her," remarked the Widow Buzzell.
"Their land joinin' made courtin' come dretful handy.
His critters used to git in her field 'bout every other day
(I always suspicioned she broke the fence down herself),
and then she'd hev to go over and git him to drive 'em out.
She's wed his onion bed for him two summers, as I happen to know,
for I've been ou' doors more 'n common this summer, tryin'
to fetch my constitution up. Diademy, don't you want to look
out the back way 'n' see if Rube's come home yet?"

"He ain't," said old Mrs. Bascom, "so you needn't look;
can't you see the curtains is all down? He's gone up to the Mills,
'n' it's my opinion he's gone to speak to the minister."

"He hed somethin' in the back o' the wagon covered up with an old
linen lap robe; 't ain't at all likely he 'd 'a' hed that if he'd ben goin'
to the minister's," objected Mrs. Jot.

"Anybody'd think you was born yesterday, to hear you talk, Diademy,"
retorted her mother-in-law. "When you 've set in one spot's long's
I hev, p'raps you'll hev the use o' your faculties! Men folks has more
'n one way o' gettin' married, 'specially when they 're ashamed of it.