"That sort o' limbers a feller's
tongue a bit. Well, the secret is," said Hiram, lowering his voice,
"that when Huldy saw me gettin' ready to go out, sez she, 'Where are you
goin'?' 'Over to Mr. Pettengill's,' sez I. Then sez she, 'Will you wait
a minute till I write a note?' 'Certainly,' sez I. And when she brought
me the note, sez she, 'Please give that to Mr. Pettengill and don't let
anybody else see it.' Then sez I to her, 'No, ma'am;' but I sez to
myself, 'Nobody but Mandy.'" And Hiram took from an inside pocket an
envelope, addressed to Mr. Ezekiel Pettengill, and showed it to Mandy.
Then he put it back quickly in his pocket.
"Well, what of that?" asked Mandy. "That's no great secret."
"Well, not in itself," said Hiram; "but I am willing to bet a year's
salary agin a big red apple that those two people have made up and are
engaged reg'lar fashion."
"You don't say so," cried Mandy, "what makes you think so?"
"Well, a number of things," said Hiram. "I overheard the Deacon say to
Huldy, 'It will be pretty lonesome for us one of these days,' and then
you see Mrs.
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