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the oven," Susan said in a spirit of rebellion and disapproval mixed, and then she battered madly for entrance.

Mrs. Lathrop was asleep, and did have her feet in the oven. She was particularly fond of finishing up her daily desultoriness in that manner. It took time slightly to disturb her slumber, more time yet to awaken her fully, and still again more time to get her to the door and open it.

"Well, Susan!" she said in a tone of cordial surprise when she saw who it was; "the idea of—"

"He wanted 's I sh'u'd see you to-night, rain or shine," said the friend, advancing into the middle of the kitchen.

"Who wanted?"

"The deacon. Didn't you see him this afternoon?"

Mrs. Lathrop furtively rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, yes, yes—I—" she began.

"Well, he wanted 's I sh'u'd come right over 'n' tell you to-night. 'N' I told him 't I would."

"Tell me wh—"

"I sh'll break it to you 's easy 's I can, Mrs. Lathrop; but there's no denyin' 's it 'll come very sharp on you at the end."

Mrs. Lathrop ceased to rub her eyes, and a vague apprehension opened them effectually instead.

"I presume, if you saw him at all, you saw how long he stayed?"

"Yes, I—"

"All of two hours, 'n' his talk was 's dumfounderin' on me 's it will be on you. I'd never thought o' any such doin's in this direction. I always looked on as a complete outsider, didn't you?"

"I don't un—"

Susan had shed her jacket and cap while talking; she now took a chair and surveyed her friend with the air of one who has pain to inflict and yet is firm.

Mrs. Lathrop looked frankly troubled.

"Well, Mrs. Lathrop, you'd ought to know me well enough, after all these years, to know 's I sh'll make this 's easy 's I can for you. Perhaps the best way 'll be to go 'way back to the beginnin' 'n' speak o' when Mrs. White died. It 'll be a proper leadin' up; fer if she hadn't died, he'd never 'a' come to see me this afternoon, 'n' I'd never 'a' come to see you to-night. Howsumsever, she did die; 'n', bein' dead, I will say fer her husband's you won't find chick or child in town to deny 's a nicer, tidier, more biddable little man never lived; 'n' 's far as my personal feelin's go, I sh'u'd think 't any woman might consider it nothin' but a joy to get a man's is always so long on the door-mat 'n' so busy with his tie 's the deacon is. He got some wore out toward the last o' her illness, fer she was give' up in September 'n' died in July; but even then I've heard Mrs. Allen say 's it was jus' pretty to see him putterin' aroun' busy 's a bee, tryin' to keep dusted up fer the funeral any minute." Susan paused to sigh.

"Seems like she didn't die but yesterday," she said reminiscently; "don't seem like it can possibly be over a year. I never can but remember them last days: they stand out afore me like a needle in a camel's eye. Nobody couldn't say 's everythin' wasn't done; they had two doctors 'n' a bill 't the drug-store, but the end come at last. She begin to sink 'n' sink, 'n' young Dr. Brown said that way o' sinkin' away was always, to his mind, one o' the most unfortunate features o' dyin'. He said he knowed lots o' people 's 'd be alive 'n' well now if they could just o' been kept from that sinkin' away. Old Dr. Carter told Mrs. Jilkins his theory was 't while the pulse beats there's life; but even he had to admit 's Mrs. White was about beat out. 'N' it was so, too; fer she died while they was talkin', 'n' the deacon just beginnin' on cleanin' the pantry shelves. He had to put all the dishes back on top o' the old papers; 'n' any one c'u'd see how hard it was for him, fer he'd counted on havin' everythin' spick 'n' span at the end.

"Well, that was a busy time! It's too bad you have to miss so much, Mrs. Lathrop; now, that day at Mrs. White's w'u'd 'a' done you a world o' good. There was a great deal o' company, 'n' the newspaper man led off, comin' to know what she died of. He explained he had to know right away, 'cause if she didn't die o' nothin' in particular, they needed the extra line for stars to show up a cod-liver oil advertisement. I said the deacon was the one to ask, 'n' we hunted high 'n' low for him until Mrs. Jilkins remembered 's he'd took them keys Mrs. White always had under her pillow 'n' gone up attic to see what trunks they fitted. Mrs. Macy had to holler him down; 'n', my! but he was snappy. He said, 'Ask Dr. Brown,' 'n'