And she wuz a-travellin' along peacible, with her father's old mair, and a-leanin' back in the buggy a readin' a article her father had sent over by her to Deacon Widrig, a witherin' article about female Deaconesses, and the stern necessity of settin' 'em apart and sanctifyen' 'em to this one work--deacon work--and how they mustn't marry, or tackle any other hard jobs whatsumever, or break off into any other enterprize, only jest plain deacon work. It wuz a very flowery article. And she wuz enjoyin' of it first rate, and a-thinkin', for she is a little timid and easily skairt, and the piece had convinced her-- She wuz jest a-thinkin' how dretful it would be if sum female deaconess should ever venter into some other branch of business, and what would be apt to become of her if she did. She hated to think of what her doom would most likely be, bein' tender hearted. [Illustration: “SHE SEE THIS WILD AND SKAIRFUL MACHINE APPROACHIN'.”] When lo, and behold! jest as she wuz a-thinkin' these thoughts, she see this wild and skairful machine approachin', and Deacon Henzy a-standin' up on top of it a-drivin'. He looked wild and excited, bein' very tickled to think that he had threshed more with his machine, by twenty bushels, than Deacon Petengill had with his. There was a bet upon these two deacons, so it wuz spozed, and he wuz a-hastenin' to the next place where he wuz to be setup, so's to lose no time, and he was kinder hollerin'. And the wind took his gray hair back, and his long side whiskers, and kinder stood 'em out, and the skirts of his frock the same. His mean wuz wild. And it wuz more than Celestine's old mair and she herself could bear; she cramped right round in the road (the mair did) and set sail back to old Bobbet'ses, and that great concern a-puffin' and a-steamin' along after 'em. And by the time that she that wuz Celestine got there she wuz almost in a fit, and the mair in a perfect lather. Wall, Celestine didn't get over it for weeks and weeks, nor the mair nuther. And besides this enterprize of Deacon Henzy's, he had got up a great invention, a new rat trap, that wuz peculier and uneek in the extreme. It wuz the result of arjous study on his part, by night and day, for a long, long time, and it wuz what he called “A Travellin' Rat Trap.” It wuz designed to sort o' chase the rats round and skair 'em. [Illustration: DEACON HENZY'S RAT TRAP (LIKE A CIRCUS FOR THE RATS).] It was spozed he got the idee in the first place from his threshin' machine. It had to be wound up, and then it would take after 'em--rats or mice, or anything--and they do say that it wuz quite a success. Only it had to move on a smooth floor. It would travel round pretty much all night; and they say that when it wuz set up in a suller, it would chase the rats back into their holes, and they would set there and look out on it, for the biggest heft of the night. It would take up their minds, and kep 'em out of vittles and other mischief.