She’s an awful clever critter, it hain’t good nater that she lacks.  But there is sunthin’ wantin’ in her, I believe it is common sense.

But we sot out, I with considerable misgivin’ at heart, but calm and cool on the outside, clad as I wuz in dignity and a gray braize delaine dress and a bunnet of the same color, I also wore my costly cameo pin fastened in my linen collar.  Some gray lisle thread gloves and a rich Paisley shawl completed my toot a sembly.

Blandina had on a soft yellerish dress, I guess it wuz lawn it looked most as soft as she did, and a hat that kinder drooped ’round her face trimmed with crushed strawberry roses.  She also wore some open-work mitts, and a lace long shawl that had been her ma’s.

Josiah had on his pepper and salt costoom, and in my partial eyes he wuz beautiful, but, oh, so sad, so deprested.  Would the gloom ever be lifted from his beloved liniment?  So my heart questioned itself as we helped ourselves out of the Democrat, Ury tendin’ to the trunks.

It wuz a Monday mornin’, for I felt that I wanted to tackle this job jest as I would a three weeks’ washin’, the first day of the week.  Ury shook our hands firmly but sadly, promisin’ to the last to see to things and not let the cows into the garden, and keep the buttery door shet up nights, for though the cat is not a habitual snooper, yet she will sometimes snoop.

The car wuz crowded, mebby folks had hearn of our goin’ and wanted to ride a spell with us.  ’Tennyrate Josiah and I had to be separated at the outset of our journey, he settin’ with a man acrost the aisle; Blandina got a seat with an aged gentleman while I sot down with a pale complected woman in deep mournin’.  Or at least what mournin’ she had wuz deep.  She wore a thick crape veil and black cotton gloves.  But her dress wuz chocklate delaine.  The mournin’ wuz borryed, she told me most as soon as I sot down.

She wuz on the way to the funeral of her father.  He had lived with her, but died while he wuz on a visit to her sister.  She wuz feelin’ dretful and said she didn’t know what she would do without him; she took on real bad, and I sez, “Yes, losin’ a pa is an awful loss.”

“Yes,” sez she, “pa wuz a dretful good man.  I don’t see what we’re goin’ to do without him; we shall miss him so makin’ line fences.  He knew all about where they ort to stand.”

I wuz kinder took back.  But then come to think it over I see it wuz better to be missed in line fences than not at all.  She got out at the next station, and my own pardner took the vacant seat by my side, and on and on we wuz whirled from the peaceful shores of Jonesville to the pleasures and dangers of the great city.