"
"'T would 'a' served old Levi right if nobody else had gone,"
said Rish Bixby. "When his wife died he refused to come into the
house till the last minute. He stayed to work in the barn until
all the folks had assembled, and even the men were all settin'
down on benches in the kitchen. The parson sent me out for him,
and I'm blest if the old skunk didn't come in through the crowd
with his sleeves rolled up,--went to the sink and washed, and
then set down in the room where the coffin was, as cool as a
cowcumber."
"I remember that funeral well," corroborated Abel Day. "An' Mis'
Day heerd Levi say to his daughter, as soon as they'd put poor
old Mrs. Baxter int' the grave: 'Come on, Marthy; there 's no use
cryin' over spilt milk; we'd better go home an' husk out the rest
o' that corn.' Old Foxy could have inherited plenty o' meanness
from his father, that's certain, an' he's added to his
inheritance right along, like the thrifty man he is. I hate to
think o' them two fine girls wearin' their fingers to the bone
for his benefit."
"Oh, well! 't won't last forever," said Rish Bixby. "They're the
handsomest couple o' girls on the river an' they'll get husbands
afore many years. Patience'll have one pretty soon, by the looks.
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