atured about half-past the hour. The visitor brought her knitting,
too.

"Well, Mrs. Lathrop," she said pleasantly on entering, "if it was n't
for the automobile, you 'n' the deacon 'd surely be the talk o' the town
this day."

"Whose aut--?"

"Nobody 's; jus' two men's. One steers in goggles, 'n' the other jumps
in 'n' out 'n' settles for the damages. I see it first on my way
down-town this morning; only, as a matter of fact, I did n't see it, 'n'
it was nigh to tootin' right over me, only I jumped in the nick o' time,
'n' it went over my over-shoe an' split the heel open. I c'n assure you
I was glad I was wearin' father's over-shoes, as c'n come off so easy,
when I saw the split heel; an' them men was as polite 's could be,
churned backward right off, 'n' settled with me for a quarter. I can
easy sew up the heel myself, so I went on down-town feelin' pretty good.
There ain't many things about me 't I can sew up as I would n't split
for a quarter any day. The automobile went on ahead, 'n' by the time I
got to the square it had had time to run down the minister.

"He was crossin' from Mr. Kimball's to Mr. Dill's, an' stopped short for
fear it 'd run over him. Not knowin' the minister's make-up, they 'd
calc'lated on his goin' on when he see a' automobile comin'; an' so it
was all over him in a jiffy. I don' know what his wife'll ever say, f'r
his hat is completely bu'st. However, they settled with him--hat,
feelin's, an' all--for ten dollars, an' he went on over to Mr. Dill's. I
said 't if I was his wife I 'd anchor him in the middle o' the square
'n' let automobiles run up 'n' down him all day long at that price. I
said it to Mrs. Craig; she come up to ask me 'f it was really true about
you an' the deacon. She says no one can believe it o' the deacon. She
says Mr. Jilkins was in town last night, 'n' he was very mad when he
heard of it. He thinks it's a reflection. He says folks 'll say it looks
like his sister was n't wife enough for one man. I told her nobody could
n't say nothin' about it 't I would n't agree to, considerin' your age
an' his ears. I told her 't it did n't seem to me 's marryin' was
anyways necessary to the business o' the world. If mother 'd never
married, neither she nor me 'd ever of had all them years o' work with
father. She says this about you 'n' the deacon was stirrin' up the town
a lot. She says there's a good deal o' bitter feelin'. Seems Mrs. Allen
never charged him nothin' for his meal