itions, etc.

Anon a broad gray stripe, monotony, deadly monotony, and lonesomeness,
gray as a rat both on 'em, all loosely twisted together makin' a wide
melancholy stripe. Then a more flowery piece, golden moments, mounts
of soul transfiguration, full understandin', divine hopes and
raptures, heart talks, illuminations, all striped in with images of
golden rod, evergreen trees pintin' up into the friendly blue heavens,
that leaned down so clost you could almost see into the Sweet Beyond.
Singin' rivulets, soarin' birds, green fields, rosy clouds. Anon a
plain piece, some slazy, as the shuttle seemed to go slower and kinder
lazy, and then agin quick strong beats that made the web firm as
iron.

Mebby that wuz the time that old Mr. Time hung up that old scythe of
hisen for a few minutes on the top bars of the loom, and got in and
footed it out for his pardner for a spell, while she rested her old
feet or wound her bobbins for another stripe. But such idees are
futile, futiler than I often mean to be. 'Tennyrate and anyway all the
time, all the time the shuttles moved back and forth to and fro, and
old Miss Time's tapestry widened out.

That summer my pardner had a oncommon good streak of luck, he sold two
colts and a yearlin' heifer for a price that fairly stunted us both,
it wuz so big. And his crops turned out dretful well, and he jest laid
up money by the handfuls as you may say. And one day we wuz talkin'
about what extreme good luck we'd had for the past year, and we also
talked considerable about Tirzah Ann and little Delight, and how they
wuz both pimpin' and puny. The older children away to school wuz doin'
first rate both in health and studies, but Tirzah Ann's health wuz
such that Whitfield had to keep a girl and pay doctor's bills, and I
sez to Josiah:

"I am sorry for 'em as I can be, and if this goes on much longer there
don't seem much chance of Whitfield's buildin' his house on Shadow
Island this summer."

And Josiah sez, "No indeed! if he can pay the doctor's bills and help,
he will do well. But," sez he, "he is goin' to have quite a good job
up to his folkses."

His uncle, Jotham Minkley, who is forehanded and a ship builder up in
Maine, had invited Whitfield to come and take charge of some bizness
for him, and he said he must bring Tirzah Ann and Delight. So it wuz
arranged that they wuz goin' to stay for some time. We all thought the
change would do Tirzah Ann good, and then Whitfield had been