“He’d ought to mourn! I mourn,” sez he, “Heaven knows I do. But I shan’t mourn after the first ray of daylight, for I’ll take his trunks and throw ’em outdoors, and him on top of ’em. And I’ll cast out Melinda Ann like a viper,” sez he. “I’ll empty the house of the hull crew of fools and lunaticks! I’ll do it,” sez he, “if I have a breath left in my body.” When he sez this I thought of Melinda Ann. Had she got a breath left? Wuz she alive? Or wuz she not? I jest sprung over Josiah Allen, I trompled on him, I won’t deny it, in my haste to get up, and I left him groanin’ and a sayin’ in a low, mournful axent: “That foot could never be stepped on agin by him.” But I didn’t stop to comfort him; no, my mind wuz too much took up with the relation on my side. I hastened upstairs, and there wuz my worst fears realized. Melinda Ann wuz wild as a hen hawk. She had got the winder up and wuz jest a springin’ out. I ketched her by her limb and hollered for Josiah. Before he got there she had got her hands clenched into my hair and wuz a tryin’ to choke me. But, good land! she didn’t know what she wuz a doin’. Wall, Josiah Allen by main strength got her into the house agin, and after a tussle we got her onto the bed. And then I begun to doctor her up. But I never tried to go to bed agin that night, for it wuz daylight before I got her quieted down. [Illustration: “I KETCHED HER BY HER LIMB.” ] Wall, Josiah had to go off that mornin’ early on bizness, to be gone all day. And I wuz glad on’t, for I wuz afraid, in spite of all I could do, he would do sunthin’ to disgrace himself in the eyes of both sides. His last words to me wuz: “If I find either of them cussed fools in the house when I get back, I’ll burn the house down over their heads.” But I knew he wouldn’t, I knew he would quiet down while he wuz gone, and he did. But my sufferin’s through that day can’t never be told or sung. And the martyrs that I called on, and the groans and sithes that I smothered in my breast waist, couldn’t be told. But jest as I expected, when Peter first blasted out on the clarinet loud and strong, not bein’ afraid of wakin’ anybody up, I had to drop everything and go right up to Melinda Ann. But the attack wuz light, and, as usual, after she got over the first shock she enjoyed it. And I happened to mention—havin’ that pride I have spoke of, of havin’ the relations on his side stand on their best foot before mine—I happened to mention that Peter got up and played in the night because he wuz lonesome, and that he said he would give half his property (he wuz well off) if he had somebody to play the organ while he played the clarinet. I see she grew more meller-lookin’ and brightened up, and she sez: “I used to be a good player.” And if you’ll believe it—I don’t spoze you will, for Josiah wouldn’t when I told him that night—