Where be yer boardin' now?"
"I am boarding at Mr. Ezekiel Pettengill's. His sister has got home and
his Uncle Isaac has come back to live with him."
"Lord sakes, do tell!" said Mrs. Putnam. "I allus thought that old fool
would die out there in the woods and they'd bury him in his chicken
coop. But what on airth is Alice home for? Has she lost her job?"
"No," replied Quincy; "poor girl, she has almost lost her sight. She
has been very sick, and as a result she is almost blind, and had to give
up work and come home."
Mrs. Putnam sank back in her chair.
"If I didn't think you were a truthful man, Mr. Sawyer, I wouldn't
b'lieve a word you said. My poor Alice. Why, do you know, Mr. Sawyer, I
never saw a human being in all my life that I liked so much as I have
Alice Pettengill. Did you ever see her, Mr. Sawyer?"
"No," said Quincy, "she only arrived yesterday afternoon, and she did
not appear at supper nor at breakfast this morning. She was tired and
wished to rest, her brother told me."
"Well, I hope she won't die," said Mrs. Putnam. "I have left her every
dollar I've got in the world, and if she should die I shouldn't know who
on airth to give it to.
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