nts, and then havin' a social time
afterwards, and as the object wuz good I sez to my pardner, "I would
like to attend to it." And he acted fairly skairt and horrow struck at
the idee and went on eloquent about old folks at our ages, and with
our professions, and our rumatiz, follerin' up gayety and show. Sez
he, "The place for us evenin's is in our own room readin' our Bibles
and Tracks."

And I sez as I calmly wadded up my back hair and smoothed my foretop,
"Well, I spoze I can go alone if you feel so."

Then another thought seemed to roust him up; Jealousy seemed to strike
her sharp prongs into his slender side, and he sez bitterly, "Yes,
goin' down alone into a perfect mawlstrom of men flirtin' and
actin'!"

"The mawlstrom won't hurt me," sez I, "I hain't goin' nigh it." But
even as I spoke I thought of Mr. Pomper, and sez to myself, Can I help
him from comin' nigh me? And as if in answer to my onspoken thoughts
my pardner sez:

"Mawlstroms will draw anybody in onbeknown to them; they're deadly
dangerous!" And I see him gin a kin' of a shiver. I wuz touched to the
heart by the thought of his devotion, and as I fastened my cameo pin
more firmly into the rich folds of parmetty at my neck, I sez:

"Dear Josiah, I don't know but you're right. I feel as though I want
you near me to protect me." That melted his heart, but alas, did not
affect his pocket book, and he sez, "I would go down with you in a
minute, Samantha, but jest consider on the 50 cents we would spend
there, how much comfort that would bring to some lonely widder, mebby
a blind woman, who is a-hunger and ye fed her not."

I looked stiddy at him and sez I, "Josiah Allen, will that poor widder
git that fifty cents?"

He answered evasive, and I went on, "It is easy to make the excuse
that the money you are asked for in charity will do so much more good
somewhere else, but," sez I sternly, "the money don't git there, and
you know it." He still kep' his hand in his pocket round that pocket
book I believe, whilst he took a new tact: "The air, Samantha, in that
room will be stiflin', and if I should take you into that place and
you should stifle, I should die away myself, I couldn't live a minute
without you, dear Samantha," sez he.

Well, my tizik wuz pretty bad in crowded places and suffice it to say,
that though his arguments didn't convince me, they sort o' overpowered
me for the time bein', and we stayed in our own room.

Now to show the facility