ntry right in with them,
but by that time Elijah'd got his breath, an' he just shook his head an'
asked me if I remembered what a lot of fuss the first billion dollar
congress made an' if I'd observed how calm they was took now? I told him
I had an' then we went at it hammer an' tongs, Elijah for the Democrats
an' me against 'em, although I must say I wished he'd give me the other
side, for in spite of their actin' so silly I must say I always have a
feelin' as the most of the Democrats is tryin' to be honest which is
somethin' as even their best friend couldn't say of the most of the
Republicans as a general thing."

"Did--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"Yes, I did, an' I don't know but we'd be talkin' yet only Mr. Dill come
in on us to ask me if I would n't consider takin' Gran'ma Mullins to
board for a month or two, just to see how Hiram an' Lucy would get along
if they had the house all alone to themselves."

"What--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"Well, I told him I'd think about it," said Miss Clegg. "I don't know
I'm sure why I should bed an' board Gran'ma Mullins to help Lucy an'
Hiram to try to get along any better. They 're a good deal more
interestin' to talk about the way they're gettin' along now. I never see
Mrs. Macy but what she has somethin' amusin' to tell me about Hiram an'
Lucy an' Gran'ma Mullins, an' I like to hear it. She says the other
night they was all three runnin' round the house one after another for a
hour an' she said she most died laughin' to watch 'em. Seems Lucy got
mad an' started to run after Hiram to pull his hair, an' Gran'ma Mullins
was so scared for fear she _would_ pull his hair that she run after Lucy
to ask her not to do it. Hiram run so much faster than Lucy that finally
he caught up with Gran'ma Mullins an' then they all went to bed. Mrs.
Macy says that's the way they act all the time, an' she certainly would
n't see any more than I should why I should break up the family. I'm
sure I never cooked up that marriage an' I told Mr. Dill so. I asked him
why he did n't take Gran'ma Mullins to board with him, if he was so wild
to get her away from Lucy, but he said he did n't think it'd be proper,
an' I said I did n't say nothin' about _bed_--I just spoke about board,
an' if there was anythin' as was n't proper about boardin' Gran'ma
Mullins he'd ought not to of mentioned the subject to me."

"What--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"Oh, there was n't nothin' left for him to say then, of course; but law!