she gin, as she sank down on the bed. I felt dretfully to find out by a question or two that the cosset left deep marks. But still I knew cryin' and sympathy wuzn't what she needed; no, it wuz cast-iron firmness and common sense. So I took up that instrument of agony some as if it wuz a snake and carried it into the closet under the stairs, and hung it up and locked the door, and sez I in a winnin' way, "Now, my dear, you let that hang there for a spell and see what will come of it."
She wuz horrified at the idee, I could see, but bein' of such a good disposition she crumpled down and bore it.
Well, after Josiah and I eat (that man wouldn't wait a minute for the President) I got her a good wholesome supper and carried it up into her room on a tray. I had a piece of the breast of a chicken broiled and nice, some delicate toast, and sweet graham bread and butter, and ripe strawberries, and a fragrant cup of coffee not too strong, and plenty of cream. It wuz a good supper. I see she looked disappointed in not havin' rich cake and sweetmeats, but I talked real cheerful to her about the relations and one thing and another, and, though she said she couldn't eat a mou'ful, yet she did make out quite a meal. Well, after supper she put on a tea-gown, a pretty, white affair, and some slippers, and come downstairs, and I see, though mebby she didn't think I did, how different she breathed and how different she looked when she had her iron armor off. She wuz a pretty girl, I see plain—just as pretty as a pink rosy.
Well, that first evenin' about a quarter to nine she began to look perter and sort of brightened up, and I told her so, and she sez, "Yes, Aunt Samantha, this is the hour that mamma begins to help me dress to go out."
