"You'd heard Vilruvias's brother, Abel Bennett, died that night, didn't you? Well, did you know how suddent it was? He'd never hed a sick day in his life, so we hed no hopes of ever gettin' red of him; though there wa'n't a worse husband nor father nor neighbor in Bixby. His mother hed consid'able better 'a' named him Cain than Abel, but you can't never tell by lookin' at little mites o' bald-headed, red-faced things in cradles whether they're going to turn out Abels or Cains. Well, he'd refused to buy a ticket to the Readin', and he never would let his wife join the club; but about half-past six o'clock the very night o' the entertainment he eat a hearty supper of brown bread and pork and beans, got up and took his hat, kicked the dog and the cat and cuffed the children, which he'd done every night and mornin' faithful for twelve years, went out the side door and expired right there on the rubber door-mat where Mis' Bennett would have to step on him to get out; and it'll be easier for a camel to get through the needle's eye than for him to git int' the Kingdom, that's all I've got to say, and I'm a woman o' few words! "Nobody knew what Vilruvias was called away for till after the Readin', so there wa'n't no excitement at the entertainment. The author said afterwards when the committee was givin' her a colation (it was an elegant one, too--lemon pie and jelly cake and marble cake and caraway cookies, and root beer and lemonade) that if she had known it she should 'a' ben afraid it was a bad sign.' "'Not if you'd ever hed Abel Bennett for a neighbor,' said Si; and he was about right, though it sounds hard to say it, and he didn't but jest a few times! "No, I ain't said much about the Readin' itself, for ef you're on a committee you're too busy to listen to anything that goes on. The author looked pretty and appeared pretty; she got on first-rate with Mis' Stevens, and gave her a book, with writin' in the front of it, that Mis' Stevens keeps on her marble-top table in the parlor. Si says ef Mis' Stevens ever wants to dispose of it the writin' will spoil the trade, but I tell him the author meant all right, and Mis' Stevens is too well off to sell a present that was give to her, anyway. The audience was real pleased with the author, and she said they was awful easy to read to, and awful quick at takin' a joke; but I told her it wa'n't no ordinary State o' Maine audience she hed in Bixby: a place that has its three churches and two settled ministers and four college graduates, an' a Readin' Club an' a High School and a drinkin' fountain! She said no, she couldn't expect to meet with such folks everywhere, but the remembrance of hevin' once enjoyed sech advantages would keep her up when she was hevin' hard times in other places. I thought that was real modest and pretty of her.