ther, while John was talkin' to Mitch and me, and pointin' out
the places of interest along the way. "Over thar," he says, "is whar
Slicky Bill Wilson used to live." "Thar's the Widow Watkins' farm."
"Right down thar is whar they held a camp meetin' onct and converted
more'n 80." And pretty soon we went over a bridge over a clear blue
stream, and John says: "That's Salt Creek, and just down thar about a
mile old Tom Giles used to live who raised quarter horses," and so on.

Then I heard Mr. Miller tell my pa that he was goin' to lose his church
for preachin' that sermon about God bein' in everything; that he was
sure of it. And he didn't know what to do. He couldn't teach school and
walk into the country, and he couldn't get a school to teach in town.
And he was worried and said with a big family like he had on his hands,
he was worried to death. That his father had had a big family and was
poor and worried too, and that he could see his own children poor and
havin' big families. And it looked just like the same story over and
over, world without end.

By and by we got to Kilburn and the engine broke down or somethin' and
we waited and waited. The conductor came in and said we'd better eat
here, because he didn't know when we'd get started. So we all got off
and went into the station where Mrs. Ruddy, the wife of the ticket
agent, had a restaurant. She looked like a hen in the early morning. Her
eyes were so quick and bright, and she kept goin' around askin' us to
have things. There was a jar of jelly on the table all sealed up, and
she said, "Won't you have some of the jell?" Mr. Miller said, "No, thank
you." But Mitch took up the jar and tried to get the top off. It would
have took a monkey wrench to get it off; so after tuggin' at it and not
bein' able to budge it, he put it down. Just then she came up and said,
"Do have some of the jell." Mitch began to laugh. Then pa took the jar
and he couldn't get the top off either, and he put it down. She came
back again and said, "Won't you have some of the jell, Mr. Armstrong?"
"I don't mind if I do," says John, and he took hold of the jar. Findin'
the top on, he tried to get it off. Then Mrs. Ruddy says, "Oh, the top
ain't off." I believe she knew it all the time. The remark sounded just
like a woman. So she went into the kitchen for an opener and came back
and said she couldn't find none. Then she took the jar and got her apron
about it and screwed up her face and tried her