"Don't you need any money, 'Zeke?" asked Uncle Ike.
"No," replied Ezekiel. "Alice wouldn't let me pay out a cent; she had
some money saved up in the bank and she insisted on paying for
everything herself. She wouldn't come home till I promised 'her I'd let
her pay her board when she got able to work again."
"She always was independent," said Uncle Ike, "and that was one reason
why I liked her. But more than that, she is the fairest-minded and
best-tempered woman I ever met in my life, and I have seen a good many."
Ezekiel shook hands again with Uncle Ike, and then started off briskly
with a much lighter heart than he had before the interview. Reaching
home he astonished Mandy Skinner by telling her that he was going to
bring his sister down from Boston and that Uncle Ike was coming to live
with them for a while.
"My Lord!" cried Mandy, "and do you expect me to do all this extra
work?"
"I don't expect nothing," said Ezekiel. "You can get old Mrs. Crowley to
come and do the heavy work, and I guess you can get along. You allus
said you liked her, she was such a nice washer and ironer.
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