Then we all gathered in the front chamber agin watchin’ events to come, Jabez boastin’ louder than ever how like a charm it would work, and Karen opholdin’ him.  But Josiah looked anxious as I could see.  When agin that loud angry roar begun in the suller, and agin Ury ketched Philury round the waist, for she wanted to stand her ground, but he yanked her down stairs and half way acrost the back yard.  He loves her dearly and thinks it a man’s place to protect his pardner.  He didn’t go so fur this time, but had almost onbeknown to himself sought safety for his dear Philury in flight.

Agin Jabez and Josiah and Royal rushed down suller.  The dretful roar ended in a higher more steaminer volume of water than before, agin we laid to and bailed it out, our ranks bein’ reinforced anon by the returnin’ Ury and Philury, and anon furder by Josiah, Royal, and Jabez.  Jabez didn’t boast quite so loud now, and I wuz glad to see that Rosy kinder cuddled up closter to Royal as she wielded the dipper, as if she thought him a refuge in time of storm.

Well, from that time, about three in the afternoon, till ten P.M. the programmy wuz stidy over and over.  Fillin’ the tank, low snortin’ and rushin’ of the waters up and down, chasin’ along the pipes in every room, hammerin’, kickin’, shootin’, like enraged artillery, at last thundering like the most skairful clap of thunder and then with a fearful roar the volume of water would mount up and pour into the spare room and drizzle down into the settin’ room below, takin’ off the plasterin’ in spite of our very best efforts to bail it out.  Over and over agin wuz the wearisome and soul tuckerin’ job carried out, varied every time by Ury ketchin’ Philury and fleein’ with her, but the distance shortened every time, till at last he fled with her no furder than the top of the kitchen stairs.  Karen’s horrow struck, mortified looks, Jabez’es entire absence of boastin’, which in itself wuz dog queer, and Rosy’s instinctive turning to Royal for protection, which wuz gladly granted.

Over and over the seen wuz enacted, Jabez every time turnin’ some screw or valve or sunthin’ and prophesyin’ every time it would go right the next time, but said it with feathers droopin’, so to speak, more humble like and doubtful.  My poor pardner as he lugged up two heavy pails of water at half-past nine P.M., I hearn him say: 

“Oh, gracious, Peter! is this two pails a year?  This makes more’n a hundred pails I’ve carried up to-night myself besides Ury’s and Jabezs’es.”  It wuzn’t so, he hadn’t carried up more’n thirty or forty twelve quart pails.  But yet I pitied him.  Well, that also thundered and deluged and guyzered out onto the floor accompanied by the drips and drizzles into the settin’ room, Ury’s flight with Philury, Karen’s mourns, and Josiah’s groans, for he had lost his pride and openly groaned and jawed at Jabez and sez to him: 

“You dum fool you! you don’t know beans from a broom stick!  I wouldn’t trust you to make splinters to do up a dog’s leg!” And Jabez jawed back again, and Josiah sez, “I’ll make you pay heavy damages for this job, and I’ve as good a mind as I ever had to eat, to give you a good floggin’ with a rawhide.”  And as he grew madder and madder he went on: