atenin' to send Hannah to the Asylum, and Hannah
cryin' and laughin' and sayin', 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth,' and me tryin' to pacify Hannah and Abram tryin' to pacify
Miles, it was some time before he could come to an understandin' of
the case; and when he begun to see daylight he turned around to Miles
as stern as if he was reprovin' a child, and says he, 'Not another
word, Miles! If you can't hold your tongue go out of the room, for
every time you speak you're makin' Hannah that much worse.' And he
turns around to me and says he, 'Have you any idea what Hannah means
by saying "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?"' And I says,
'Doctor, do you ricollect the sermon that strange minister preached
about a month ago?' Says I, 'I may be wrong, but it's my belief that
that sermon helped to put Hannah in the fix she's in now.' And the
doctor, he thought a minute, and then he nodded his head right slow,
and says he, 'I remember that sermon. It was not a wholesome sort of a
discourse for any one to listen to.' Says he, 'It might not hurt a
healthy person, but if there was anyone in the congregation with a
sick mind, such a person couldn't be benefited by it.' And then he
says to Hannah, 'Was it that sermon that put it into your head to tear
down Miles's corn shocks?' And Hannah laughed and wrung her hands
together and rocked herself backward and forward, and says she, 'Yes,
that was it. Miles has been undoin' my work and givin' me trouble for
thirty-five years, and I've wished many a time I could pay him back
and make him see how hard it was, but I couldn't bring myself to do
what I wanted to do till I heard that sermon. I found out then that
God wanted me to pay Miles back, and I'm glad I pulled his corn shocks
to pieces, and tore down the straw stacks and scattered the bran all
over the stable floor. May be he knows now how hard I have to work to
keep house for him, and may be he'll be more keerful about litterin'
the house up and pullin' things to pieces.' Says she, 'I work from
mornin' till night, but there's always somethin' left undone. Before I
get through with the breakfast dishes and cleanin' the house and
churnin', it's time to cook dinner, and by the time I've cooked dinner
and cleaned up the dishes and sewed and mended a little, it's time to
cook supper and attend to the milkin', and I try to see after the
children, but there's always somethin' undone.' Says she, 'I believe I
could ketch up wit