"Once a year!" sez Josiah. "You forgit how much kindlin' wood a woman uses." Sez he, "When she that wuz Arvilly Nash worked here I believe we used a woodhouse full a day. If we had a floatin' woodhouse here, we should had to embark on it once a day at least and load it up with shavin's and kindlin' wood. Samantha is more eqinomical," sez he. "But," sez Uncle Nate, "I hearn that Whitfield's folks wuz layin' out to use a coal oil stove durin' the summer." Josiah's face fell. "So they be," sez he. But he wuz loath to give up this floatin' woodhouse and went on: "How handy it would be for a picnic, jest fill the woodhouse full of Highlariers and set off, baskets, bundles and all. It would do away with parasols; no jabbin' 'em into a man's eyes, or proddin' his ears with the pints of umbrells. Or on funeral occasions," sez he, "jest load the mourners right in, onhitch the room and sail off. Why it would be invaluable." But Uncle Nate wuz more conservative and cautious. He sez, "What if it should break loose in the night and start off by itself? It would be a danger to the hull river. How would boats feel to meet a woodhouse? It would jam right into 'em and sink 'em--sunk by a woodhouse! It wouldn't sound well. And row boats would always be afraid of it, they'd be thinkin' it would be liable to come onto 'em at any time onbeknown to 'em, 'twouldn't have no whistle or anything." "Yes it would," sez Josiah hautily; "I laid out to fix it somehow with a whistle." "But it couldn't whistle itself if it sot off alone." "Well," sez Josiah, scratchin' his head, "I hain't got that idee quite perfected, but I might have a self actin' whistle, a stationary self movin' gong, or sunthin' of that kind." But I didn't wait to hear any more; I left the room, and I shouldn't wonder if I shet the door pretty hard. CHAPTER TWELVE IN WHICH JOSIAH STILL WORKS AT HIS PLAN FOR TIRZAH ANN'S COTTAGE, AND DECIDES TO SEND HIS LUMBER C. O. W. CHAPTER TWELVE IN WHICH JOSIAH STILL WORKS AT HIS PLAN FOR TIRZAH ANN'S COTTAGE, AND DECIDES TO SEND HIS LUMBER C. O. W. Wall the next evenin', Josiah would make the plan all over, would rub out red marks and put in blue ones, and then rub 'em out with his thumb and fore finger, and then anon, forgittin' himself, he'd rub his forward with the same fingers, till he looked like a wild Injun started for war. And he would sithe heart breakin' sithes, and moisten his hands in his mouth, and roll up his shirt sleeves, and toil and toil till he seemed to git a new plan made after Uncle Nate's idees, as squatty and curous lookin' as I ever see as I glanced at it in a cursory way. And he would work at that till some new man come round with some new idee and then he would (goin' through with all the motions and acts I have depictered) make a new one. And so it went on till finally in the fullness of time Josiah produced a dockument which he said wuz the finest plan ever drawed up in America.