on.

"'You DO look so comfortable, Mr. Parker,' purrs Abbie, as sweet and
syrupy as a molasses stopper. 'It must be SUCH a comfort to a man to
smoke. I don't care WHAT the minister says, you can smoke here just as
much as you want to! It must be pretty hard to live in a house where you
can't enjoy yourself. I shouldn't think it would seem like home. A man
like you NEEDS a good home. Why, how I do run on!'

"Oh, there ain't really nothin' the matter with the Widow Larkin--so
fur's smartness is concerned, there ain't.

"And for five days more Kenelm ate his meals at Abbie's and smoked and
was happy, happier'n he'd been for months.

"Meantime, Hannah and Etta was visitin' the President--that is to say,
they was lookin' over the White House fence and sayin' 'My stars!' and
'Ain't it elegant!' Nights, when the sightseein' was over, what they did
mostly was to gloat over how mean and jealous they'd make the untraveled
common tribe at sewin' circle feel when they got back home. They could
just see themselves workin' on the log-cabin quilt for the next sale,
and slingin' out little reminders like, 'Land sakes! What we're
talkin' about reminds me of what Etta and me saw when we was in the
Congressional Libr'ry. YOU remember that, Etta?' And that would be
Etta's hint to look cute and giggle and say, 'Well! I should say I DID!'
And all the rest of the circlers would smile kind of unhealthy smiles
and try to look as if trips to Washington wa'n't nothin'; THEY wouldn't
go if you hired 'em to. You know the game if you've ever been to sewin'
circle.

"But all this plannin' was knocked in the head by a letter that Hannah
got on an afternoon about a week after she left home. It was short but
there was meat in it. It said: 'If you want to keep your brother from
marryin' Abbie Larkin you had better come home quick!' 'Twas signed 'A
Friend.'

"Did Hannah come home? Well, didn't she! She landed at Orham the next
night. And she done some thinkin' on the way, too. She kept out of the
way of everybody and went straight up to the house. 'Twas dark and shut
up, but the back door key was under the mat, as usual, so she got in all
right. The plants hadn't been watered for two days, at least; the clock
had stopped; the cat's saucer was licked dry as a contribution box, and
the critter itself was underfoot every second, whoopin' for somethin'
to eat. The whole thing pretty nigh broke Hannah's heart, but she wa'n't
the kind to give up while th