ddest-lookin' man,
an' he shook his fist at me jest like one o' the unregen'rit. 'Consarn
ye, Dave Harum!' he says, 'I'll hev the law on ye fer this.' 'What fer?'
I says. 'I didn't make it come on to rain, did I?' I says. 'You know
mighty well what fer,' he says. 'You sold me this _damned beast_,' he
says, 'an' he's balked with me _nine_ times this afternoon, an' I'll fix
ye for 't,' he says. 'Wa'al, deakin,' I says, 'I'm 'fraid the squire's
office 'll be shut up 'fore you _git_ there, but I'll take any word
you'd like to send. You know I told ye,' I says, 'that he'd stand
'ithout hitchin'.' An' at that he only jest kind o' choked an'
sputtered. He was so mad he couldn't say nothin', an' on I drove, an'
when I got about forty rod or so I looked back, an' there was the deakin
a-comin' along the road with as much of his shoulders as he could git
under his hat an' _leadin'_ his new hoss. He, he, he, he! Oh, my stars
an' garters! Say, Polly, it paid me fer bein' born into this vale o'
tears. It did, I declare for't!" Aunt Polly wiped her eyes on her apron.

"But, Dave," she said, "did the deakin really say--_that word_?"

"Wa'al," he replied, "if 'twa'n't that it was the puttiest imitation
on't that ever I heard."

"David," she continued, "don't you think it putty mean to badger the
deakin so't he swore, an' then laugh 'bout it? An' I s'pose you've told
the story all over."

"Mis' Bixbee," said David emphatically, "if I'd paid good money to see a
funny show I'd be a blamed fool if I didn't laugh, wouldn't I? That
specticle of the deakin cost me consid'able, but it was more'n wuth it.
But," he added, "I guess, the way the thing stands now, I ain't so much
out on the hull."

Mrs. Bixbee looked at him inquiringly.

"Of course, you know Dick Larrabee?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Wa'al, three four days after the shower, an' the story 'd got aroun'
some--as _you_ say, the deakin _is_ consid'able of a talker--I got holt
of Dick--I've done him some favors an' he natur'ly expects more--an' I
says to him: 'Dick,' I says, 'I hear 't Deakin Perkins has got a hoss
that don't jest suit him--hain't got knee-action enough at times,' I
says, 'an' mebbe he'll sell him reasonable.' 'I've heerd somethin' about
it,' says Dick, laughin'. 'One of them kind o' hosses 't you don't like
to git ketched out in the rain with,' he says. 'Jes' so,' I says. 'Now,'
I says, 'I've got a notion 't I'd like to own that hoss at a price, an'
that mebbe _