ant mutterings. Justus
Hoxon's eyes were cast upward for a moment, as he watched a massive
bough of an oak-tree sway against the far sky, shutting off the stars,
which became visible anew as the elastic branch swung back once more.
Only the pallor of his face and a certain lustrous liquid gleam
betokening his eyes were distinguishable to his brother, who
nevertheless watched him with anxiety and quickened breathing as he
went on:--

"That thar feller hed sca'cely stepped down off'n that thar stump
afore I war on ter it. I asked fur a few minutes' attention, an'
'lowed, I did, that Mr. Markham's account o' the humble beginnin's of
me an' 'Fambly' war accurate an' exac'. (Everybody hed looked fur me
ter deny it, or ter git mad, or suthin', an' they war toler'ble
s'prised.) 'Fambly' _did_ eat out'n the pot permiscuous, an' made a
mighty pore dinner thar many a day. An' 'Fambly' washed thar clothes
ez described, infrequent enough, an' no doubt war ez ragged an' dirty
ez they war hongry. But, I said, Mr. Markham hedn't told the haffen o'
it. Cold winter nights, when the snow sifted in through the cracks,
an' the wind blew in the rotten old door, 'Fambly' liked ter hev friz
ter death. They hed the pneumonia, an' whoopin'-cough, an' croup; an'
in summer, bein' a perverse set o' brats, 'Fambly' hed fever an' ager,
an' similar ailments common ter the young o' the human race, _the same
ez ef 'Fambly' war folks_! 'T war 'stonishin', kem ter think of it,
how 'Fambly' hed the insurance ter grow up ter _look_ like folks, let
alone settin' out ter run fur office; an' ef God hedn't raised 'em up
some mighty good frien's in this county, I reckon thar wouldn't be
much o' 'Fambly' left. Some folks 'low ez Providence hev got mighty
leetle jedgmint in worldly affairs, an' this mus' be one o' the
strikin' instances of it. These frien's gin the bigges' boy work ter
do, an' that holped ter keep 'Fambly's' bodies an' souls tergether. I
reckon, says I, that I hev ploughed in the fields o' haffen the men in
our deestric'; I hev worked in the tan-yard; I hev been striker in the
blacksmith shop; an' all the time that pot, aforesaid, b'iled at home,
an' 'Fambly' tuk thar dinner thar constant, _with_ thar fingers, _ez
aforesaid_. But 'Fambly' warn't so durned ragged, nuther. Good
neighbors gin 'em some clothes wunst in a while, an' l'arned the gals
ter sew an' cook some. An' thar kem ter be a skillet an' a fryin'-pan
on the h'a'th ter holp the pot o