Mrs. Lathrop appeared most regretful, withdrew her gaze from the fire and the yellow polka-dots and directed its entire volume at Susan.

The latter altered her needles with a fierce fling, and then continued: 

“However, now ’s all is made clear I will go on ‘n’ tell you what’s on my mind.  I’d be a fool not to tell you, havin’ got you over here just for the purpose o’ bein’ told, ‘n’ yet I’ve sat here a good hour—­’n’ you know I ain’t over-give to sittin’, Mrs. Lathrop—­tryin’ to decide whether after all I would tell you or not.  You see this subjeck isn’t nowise new to me, but it’ll be new to you, ‘n’ bein’ new to you I can’t see how anythin’ ‘s goin’ to be got out o’ askin’ you f’r advice.  It ain’t likely ’t any one first go-off c’n think of things ’t I ain’t thought of already, ‘n’ you know yourself, Mrs. Lathrop, how little you ever have to say to me compared to what I say to you.  Besides, ’s far’s my observation ’s extended no one don’t ask f’r advice ’nless they’ve pretty well made up their mind not to take it, if so be ’s it suits ’em better untook, ‘n’ when I make up my mind I’m goin’ to do a thing anyhow so there ain’t much use in me askin’ you ’r anybody else what they think about it.  A woman ’s rich ’s I be don’t need to take no one else’s say-so nohow—­not ’nless she feels so inclined, ‘n’ the older I get the less I incline.”

Mrs. Lathrop sighed slightly, but did not alter her position by a hair.  Susan whirled her stocking, took a fresh breath, and went on: 

“It’s a subjeck ‘t I’ve been lookin’ straight in the face, ’s well ’s upside down ‘n’ hind end to, f’r a good long time.  I ’xpeck ’t it’ll mebbe come in the nature of a surprise to the c’mmunity in general, ‘n’ yet, to tell you the truth, Mrs. Lathrop, I was thinkin’ o’ this very thing away back las’ spring when Mrs. Shores eloped.  I was even thinkin’ of it that very minute, f’r I was one o’ them ’s was in the square when Johnny come runnin’ from the station with the telegram.  Everybody ’s see Johnny’s face thought ’s two trains had smashed on his a’count somewhere, ‘n’ I recolleck Mr. Kimball’s sayin’ ’s he couldn’t ‘a’ looked more miserable ’f he’d been the man ’s had run away with her.  It was too bad you wasn’t there, Mrs. Lathrop,—­Mrs. Macy always says ‘t she’ll regret to her dyin’ day ‘s she thought o’ comin’ to town that mornin’ to get the right time f’r her clock ‘n’ then decided to wait ‘n’ set it by the whistle.  Gran’ma Mullins was there—­she was almost in front o’ Mr. Shores’ store.  I’ve heard her say a hunderd times ’t, give her three seconds more, ‘n’ she’d ‘a’ been right in front; but she was takin’ her time, ‘n’ so she jus’ missed seein’ Johnny hand in the telegram.  I was standin’ back to the band-stand, tellin’ Mrs. Allen my receipt for cabbage pickle, so I never felt to blame myself none f’r not gettin’ nearer quicker.  The first thing I recolleck was I says, ‘’N’ then boil the vinegar again,’ ‘n’