he says she didn't have no choice as to her
drawin', for between her bein' No. 9 'n' only havin' a trundle-bed
Roxana was just forced right down her throat, so she ain't botherin'
over her a _tall_. She come out to make calls this afternoon, 'n' she
says she sh'll see to her own marketin' same 's ever, 'n' Roxana c'n
weep or not weep to suit herself."

"I'm glad you--" said Mrs. Lathrop thoughtfully.

"I am too," said Susan quickly, "I'm glad 'n' I sh'll always stay
glad. I just had that one time o' carin' for children, 'n' the Lord
dealt me a lion instid of a baby, 'n' I 'm free to confess 't I've
never seen no occasion to say other than Thy Will be Done. The
sparrows do build awful in the notches of that lion, 'n' the nest in
his mouth aggravates me so I d'n' know what to do some days, but still
when all's said 'n' done a sparrow's nest in the mouth of your
father's tombstone ain't any such trial as gettin' a child to bed
nights 'n' keepin' its hands clean would be. 'N' if I had adopted a
child, Mrs. Lathrop, I sh'd cert'nly 'a' kept it clean, f'r, if you'll
excuse me remarkin' it right in your face, I was raised to wash 'n'
dust 'n' be neat. That's why that nest in my lion's mouth with the
straws stickin' every way do try me so. Mr. Kimball 's forever askin'
me if the lion 's raisin' a beard against the winter, 'n' the other
day he said he was give to understand 't it was tippin' a little, 'n'
I was recommended to brace him up by givin' him raw eggs for his
breakfast. Well, maybe all Mr. Kimball says is very witty, but it's a
poor kind o' wit, I think. He makes good enough jokes about the rest
of the c'mmunity, but I may tell you in confidence, Mrs. Lathrop, 't I
ain't never heard one joke 't he's told on me 't I considered even
half-way amusin'."

Mrs. Lathrop shook her head sadly.

Then they went in.

The Sunday which followed this particular Saturday was of a heat truly
tropical. All the blinds of the Clegg and Lathrop houses stayed
tightly closed all day, and it is only fair to surmise that those who
remained behind them were not sorry that the minister's absence
allowed them to do so with a clear conscience.

But about half-past seven in the evening Susan's shutters began to
bang open with a succession of blast-like reports, and shortly after
she emerged from her kitchen door and started down town. Mrs. Lathrop,
who was of course cognizant of every movement on her neighbor's part,
saw her go and made has