n.
As for myself, I was angry. The memory of my two years at Wardville
Young Ladies' Seminary in my youth and my frugally independent life
as wife and widow was strong upon me. I had read and improved my
mind. I was a prominent member of the Ladies' Literary Society of our
village: I wrote papers which were read at the meetings; I felt, in
reality, not one whit below Mrs. H. Boardman Jameson, and, moreover,
large sleeves were the fashion, and my sleeves were every bit as
large as hers, though she had just come from the city. That added to
my conviction of my own importance.

"Madam," said I, "I do not take boarders. I have never taken
boarders, and I never shall take boarders." Then I turned and went
out of the room, and downstairs, with, it seemed to me, much dignity.

However, Mrs. Jameson was not impressed by it, for she called after
me: "My good woman, will you please tell Mrs. Liscom that I must have
some hot water to make my health food with immediately? Tell her to
send up a pitcher at once, very hot."

I did not tell Caroline about the hot water. I left that for them
to manage themselves. I did not care to mention hot water with
Caroline's stove as wet as if it had been dipped in the pond, even
if I had not been too indignant at the persistent ignoring of my own
dignity. I went home and found Louisa Field, my brother's widow, and
her little daughter Alice, who live with me, already there. Louisa
keeps the district school, and with her salary, besides the little
which my brother left her, gets along very comfortably. I have a
small sum in bank, besides my house, and we have plenty to live on,
even if we don't have much to spare.

Louisa was full of excitement over the false alarm of fire, and had
heard a reason for it which we never fairly knew to be true, though
nearly all the village believed it. It seems that the little Jameson
boy, so the story ran, had peeped into the kitchen and had seen it
full of smoke from Caroline's smoky chimney when she was kindling the
fire; then had run out into the yard, and seeing the smoke out there
too, and being of such an exceedingly timid temperament, had run out
to the head of the lane calling fire, and had there met Tommy Gregg,
who had spread the alarm and been the means of calling out the fire
department.

Indeed, the story purported to come from Tommy Gregg, who declared
that the boy at Liscom's had "hollered" fire, and when he was asked
where it was had told him