"'Ardely,' says he to me, 'I'm plumb sick o' smellin' beans ev'ry time I come nigh the house on Sat'day afternoon. Can't we have suthin' else for Sat'day supper for once't--fried sounds, or pollock an' potaters, or even fishcakes or chowder? This here reg'larity is a-drivin' of me wild.' "I jest laughed at him. No use gettin' mad with a man. If ye do, ye can scratch yerself and get glad again. So I baked beans jest like I always do on Sat'days. "An' when Smith, he come up from the shore where he'd been stackin' seaweed an' smelt the beans, he never says nothin', but he washes up, an' shaves, an' puts on his Sunday-go-to-meetin' clo'es, and says he: "'I'm goin' over to Lucy Ann Mott's for supper, Ardely. An' I'll prob'bly stop the night.' "So he went off. I knowed what he went for. He cal'lated he'd 'scape eatin' beans one Sat'day night. Lucy Ann's his niece. She thinks a heap o' Smith Dodge, an' Smith thinks a heap o' her. They was all glad to see him. When he come up into the yard Lucy Ann run to put another plate on the table, and says she: "'You'm more than welcome, Uncle Smith. I'm jest a-goin' to take a pot o' beans out o' the oven. I hope they air as good as A'nt Ardely's?' "Wal," chuckled the old woman, "ain't nothin' cramped about Uncle Smith's brains, if he has got tar on his breeches. He spoke right up quick-like, an' says he: "'Lucy Ann, I can't stop along o' you folks to supper, though I'm just as obleeged. I was on my way to Peke Rose's, an' I got to see Peke about somethin' afore dark. Jest stopped here to pass the time o' day.' "So he goes on to Peke's. Peke's wife," continued Aunt Ardelia, "is a might' good cook. Smith cal'lated he'd struck on good when he reached Peke's jest as they was settin' down to supper. "'Set right up with us, Uncle Smith,' says Peke, givin' him a cheer. They all hailed him like he was a sight for sore eyes, and he got seated an' Peke axed Smith to ax a blessin'. "An' when he opened his eyes after axin' that blessin', what d'ye s'pose he seen on the table right in front of him? A big, fat, brown beanpot!" chuckled Aunt Ardelia. "Oh!" Carolyn's mouth was as round as the hole in the fresh doughnut the old woman dropped into her napkin-covered lap. "But Smith Dodge," continued the narrator of this tale, "he warn't to be overdone that-a-way. He'd set out to find somethin' b'sides beans, and after supper he went on to Mrs. John-Ed Allen's. John-Ed is Smith's nevvy. They was all for havin' Uncle Smith stop all night an' they would take him to church, come Sunday mornin', in their surrey. So he stopped.