Susan Clegg and a Man in the House | Page 6

never failed to glow in the latter's eyes, her own expression
softened slightly and she took up her end of the conversation with her
customary capability at giving forth.
"I don't know," she began, "an' Mr. Kimball don't know either. Elijah
was tellin' me all about it last night. He is a trouble, Mrs. Lathrop, but I
don't know but what it pays to have a man around when you can have
them to talk to like I have him. Of course a new broom sweeps clean
an' I've no intention of supposin' that Elijah will ever keep on coverin'
his soap an' scrapin' his feet long, but so far so good, an' last night it
was real pleasant to hear the rain an' him together tellin' how much
trouble they're havin', owin' to Hiram's bein' too energetic wringin' the
handle of the printin' press an' then to think as when he was all done
talkin' it would be him an' not me as in common decency would have to
go out in the wet to padlock the chickens. Seems, Mrs. Lathrop, as
they're really havin' no end o' trouble over the new paper an' Elijah's
real put out. He says Hiram had a idea as the more the speed the better
the paper an' was just wringin' for dear life, an' the first thing he knew
the first issue begin to slide a little cornerways an' slid off into a crank
as Elijah never knowed was there, an' him an' Mr. Kimball spent the

whole of yesterday runnin' around like mad an' no way to fix it. As a
consequence Elijah's very much afraid as there'll be no paper this week
an' it's too bad, for every one is in town spendin' the day an' waitin' to
take it home with them. Young Dr. Brown is goin' to feel just awful
'cause he'd bought twenty-five papers to mail to all his college class.
There was goin' to be a item about him, an' Mrs. Brown says it was
goin' to be a good one for she fed Elijah mince pie while he made his
notes for it an' had Amelia play on her guitar, too."
"What do you--?" began Mrs. Lathrop.
"Well, I can't say as I really know what to think of him just yet. I never
see such a young man afore. He has some very curious ways, Mrs.
Lathrop, ways as make me feel that I can't tell you positively what I do
think. Now yesterday was the first day as I knowed he'd be gone for
long, so I took it to go through all his things, an' do you know, away
down at the bottom of one of his trunks I found a box as was locked an'
no key anywhere. Well, Mrs. Lathrop, I hunted, an' I hunted, an' I
hunted, an' I couldn't find that key a tall. I never had any thin' of that
kind in my house afore an' of course I ain't goin' to give up without a
good deal more lookin', but if I can't find that key it'll prove beyond a
shadow of a doubt as Elijah Doxey ain't of a trustin' nature an' if that's
true I don't know how I ever will be able to get along with him. A
trustin' nature is one thing to have around an' a distrustin' nature is
another thing, an' I can tell you that there's somethin' about feelin' as
you ain't trusted as makes me take my hands right out of my bread
dough an' go straight upstairs to begin lookin' for that key again. The
more I hunt the wilder I get, for it's a very small box for a man to keep
locked, an' it ain't his money or jewelry for it don't rattle when you
shake it. It's too bad for me to feel so because in most other ways he's a
very nice young man, although I will say as sunset is midnight
compared to his hair."
"Do--" began Mrs. Lathrop.
"Then too, he said yesterday," Miss Clegg continued, "as he wanted it
distinctly understood as his things was never to be touched by no one
an' I told him as he could freely an' frankly rely on me. Now that's goin'

to make it a great deal more work to hunt for that key from now on. An'
I don't like to have it made any harder work to find a thing, as I have n't
found yet a tall."
"Wh--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
"Not me," said Miss Clegg; "I ain't got any give-up in me. I'll keep on
until I find it if I have to board Elijah Doxey till he dies or till I drop
dead in my huntin' tracks. But I can