“Is’poseI’llhafftouseit“；andthatendediti-Theywereafamiliarsightastheyrodedowntheroadtowardtownnextday。Asusual，Mrs。Ripleysatupstraightandstiffas“ahalf-drovewedgeinawhite-oaklog。“Thedaywascoldandraw。Therewassomesnowontheground，butnotenoughtowarranttheuseofsleighs。Itwas“neithersleddin’norwheelin’。“Theoldpeoplesatonaboardlaidacrossthebox，andhadanoldquiltortwodrawnupovertheirknees。Tewksburylayinthebackpartoftheboxwhichwasfilledwithhay，wherehejouncedupanddown，incompanywithaqueeroldtrunkandabrand-newimitation-leatherhandbag，Thereisnoridequitesodesolateanduncomfortableasarideinalumberwagononacolddayinautumn，whenthegroundisfrozenandthewindisstrongandrawwiththreateningsnow。Thewagonwheelsgrindalonginthesnow，thecoldgetsinundertheseatatthecalvesofone’slegs，andtheceaselessbumpingofthebottomoftheboxonthefeetisfrightful。
Therewasnotmuchtalkonthewaydown，andwhatlittletherewasrelatedmainlytocertaindomesticregulationstobestrictlyfollowedregardingchurning，pickles，pancakes，etc。Mrs。Ripleyworeashawloverherheadandcarriedherqueerlittleblackbonnetinherhand。Tewksburywasalsowrappedinashawl。Theboy’steethwerepoundingtogetherlikecastanetsbythetimetheyreachedCedarville，andeverymuscleachedwiththefatigueofshaking。Afterafewpurchasestheydrovedowntotherailwaystation，afrightfullittledencommonintheWestwhichwasalwaystoohotortoocold。Ithappenedtobehotjustnow-afactwhichrejoicedlittleTewksbury。
“Nowgitmytrunkstamped’rfixed，’rwhatevertheycallit，“shesaidtoRipleyinacommandingtone，whichgavegreatdelighttotheinevitablecrowdofloafersbeglimingtoassemble。“Nowremember，Tukey，haveGranddadkillthatbiggestturkeynightbeforeThanksgiving，an’thenyourunrightovertoMis’
Doudney’s-she’sgotanawfultongue，butshecanbakeaturkeyfirst-rate-an’she’llfixupsomesquashpiesforyeh。Youcanwarmupones’themmincepies。Iwishyecouldbewithme，butyecan’t，sodothebestyecan。“
Ripleyreturningnow，shesaid：“Waal，now，I’vefixedthingsupthebestIcould。I’vebakedbreadenoughtolastaweek，an’Mis’
Doudneyhaspromisedtobakeforyeh。“
“Idon’tlikeherbakin’。“
“Waal，you’llhafftostandittillIgetback，’n’you’llfindajaro’
sweetpicklesan’somecrabapplesaucedownsuller，’n’you’dbettermeltupbrownsugarfor’lasses，’n’forgoodness’sakedon’teatallthemmincepiesupthefustweek，’n’seethatTukeyain’tfrozegoin’toschool。An’nowyou’dbettergetoutforhome。Good-bye，an’rememberthempies。
Astheywereridinghome，Ripleyrousedupafteralongsilence。
“Didshe-a-kissyougoodbye，Tukey？“
“No，sir，“pipedTewksbury。
“Thunder!didn’tshe？“Afterasilence。“Shedidn’tme，neither。I
guessshekindofsortaforgotit，bein’sofrustrated，y’know。“
Onecold，windy，intenselybrightday，Mrs。Stacey，wholivesabouttwomilesfromCedarville，lookingoutofthewindow，sawaqueerlittlefigurestrugglingalongtheroad，whichwasblockedhereandtherewithdrifts。Itwasanoldwomanladenwithagoodhalf-dozenparcels，anyoneofwhichwasaload，whichthewindseemeddeterminedtowrenchfromher。Shewasdressedinblack，withafullskirt，andhercloakbeingshort，thewindhadexcellentopportunity。toinflatehergarmentsindsailheroffoccasionallyintothedeepsnowoutsidethetrack，butsheheldonbravelytillshereachedthegate。Assheturnedin，Mrs。Staceycried：
“Why!it’sGran’maRipley，justgettingbackfromhertrip。Why!
howdoyoudo？Comein。Why!youmustbenearlyfrozen。Letmetakeoffyourhatandveil。“
“No，thankyekindly，butIcan’tstop。Imustbeglttin’backtoRipley。Iexpec’thatmanhasjestletev’rythinggosixwaysf’rSunday。“
“Oh，youmustsitdownjustaminuteandwarm。“
“Waal，Iwill，butI’vegottogithomebysundown。SureIdon’ts’posethey’sathinginthehousetoeat。“
“Ohdear!IwishStaceywashere，sohecouldtakeyouhome。An’
theboysatschool。“
“Don’tneedanyhelp，if’twa’n’tforthesebundlesan’things。IguessI’lljestleavesomeof’emherean’-Here!takeoneoftheseapples。I
brought’emfromLizyJane’ssuller，backtoYaarkState。“
“Oh!they’redelicious!Youmusthavehadalovelytime。“
“Prettygood。ButIkep’thinkin’o’Ripleyan’Tukeyallthetime。I
s’posetheyhavehadagaytimeofit“shemeanttheoppositeofgay。“Waal，asItoldLizyJane，I’vehadmyspree，an’nowI’vegottogitbacktowork。Theyain’tnorestforsuchasweare。AsItoldLizyJane，themfolksinthebighouseshaveThanksgivin’dinnerseverydayuvtheirlives，andmenan’womeninsplendiddo’stowaiton’em，so’tThanksgivin’don’tmeananythingto’em；butwepoorcritters，wemakeagreatto-doifwehaveagooddinneroncetayear。I’vesawapileo’thisworld，Mrs。Stacey-apileofit!Ididn’tthinktheywassomanybighousesintheworldasIsawb’tweenherean’Chicago。Waal，Ican’tsetheregabbin’；ImustgethometoRipley。Jestkinderstowthembagsaway。I’lltaketwoan’leavethemthreeothers。Goodbye。Imustbegittin’hometoRipley。He’llwanthissupperontime。“Andoffuptheroadtheindomitablelittlefiguretrudged，headhelddowntothecuttingblast。Littlesnowfly，aspeckonameasurelessexpanse，crawlingalongwithpainfulbreathingandslipping，slidingsteps-“Gittin’hometoRipleyan’theboy。“
Ripleywasouttothebarnwhensheentered，butTewksburywasbuildingafireintheoldcookstove。Hesprangupwithacryofjoyandrantoher。Sheseizedhimandkissedhim，anditdidhersomuchgoodshehuggedhimcloseandkissedhimagainandagain，cryinghysterically。
“Oh，gran’ma，I’msogladtoseeyou!We’vehadanawfultimesinceyou’vebeengone。“
Shereleasedhimandlookedaround。Alotofdirtydisheswereonthetable，thetableclothwasa“sighttobehold，“andsowasthestove-kettlemarksalloverthetablecloth，splotchesofpancakebatteralloverthestove。
“Waal，Ish’dsayasmuch，“shedrylyvouchsafed，untyingherbonnetstrings。
WhenRipleycameinshehadonherregimentals，thestovewasbrushed，theroomswept，andshewaselbow-deepinthedishpan。
“Hullo，Mother!Gotback，hevyeh？“
“Ish’dsayitwasabouttime，“sherepliedbrieflywith-outlookinguporceasingwork。“Hasol’’Cruuipy’driedupyit？“Thiswashergreeting。
Hertripwasafactnow；nochancecouldrobherofit。Shehadlookedforwardtwenty-threeyearstowardit，andnowshecouldlookbackatitaccomplished。Shetookupherburdenagain，nevermorethinkingtolayitdown。
UNCLEETHANRIPLEY
“LiketheMain-TravelledRoadofLife，itistraversedbymanyclassesofpeople。“
UNCLEETHANhadatheorythataman’scharactercouldbetoldbythewayhesatinawagonseat。
“Ameanmansetsrightplumbinthemiddleo’theseat，asmuchastosay，’Walk，goldarnyeh，whocares!’Butamanthatsetsinthecornero’theseat，muchastosay，’Jumpin-cheapert’ride’ntowalk，’youcanjesttieto。“
UncleRipleywasprejudicedinfavorofthestranger，therefore，beforehecameoppositethepotatopatch，wheretheoldmanwas“bugginghisvines。“Thestrangerdroveajaded-lookingpairofcalicoponies，hitchedtoaclatteringdemocratwagon，andhesatontheextremeendoftheseat，withthelinesinhisrighthand，whilehisleftrestedonhisthigh，withhislittlefingergracefullycrookedandhiselbowsakimbo。Heworeablueshirt，withgay-coloredarmletsjustabovetheelbows，andhisvesthungunbuttoneddownhislankribs。Itwasplainhewaswellpleasedwithhimself。
Ashepulledupandthrewonelegovertheendoftheseat，UncleEthanobservedthattheleftspringwasmuchmorewornthantheother，whichprovedthatitwasnotaccidental，butthatitwasthedriver’shabittositonthatendoftheseat。
“Goodafternoon，“saidthestrangerpleasantly。
“Goodafternoon，sir。“
“Bugspurtyplenty？“
“Plentyenough，Igol!Idon’tseewheretheyallcomefum。“
“EarlyRose？“inquiredtheman，asifreferringtothebugs。
“No；Peachblowsan’CarterReds。MyEarlyRoseisovernearthehouse。Theoldwomanwants’emnear。Seethedarnedthings!“hepursued，rappingsavagelyontheedgeofthepantorattlethebugsback。
“Howdoyehkill’em-scald’em？“
“Mostly。SornetimcsI
“Goodpieceofoats，“yawnedthestrangerlistessly。
“That’sbarley。“
“So’tis。Didn’tnotice。“
UncleEthanwaswonderingwhothemanwas。Hehadsomepotsofblackpaintinthewagonandtwoorthreesquareboxes。
“Whatdoyehthinko’Cleveland’schancesforasecondterm？“
continuedtheman，asiftheyhadbeentalkingpoliticsallthewhile。
UncleRipleyscratchedhishead。“Waal-Idunn~bein’aRepublican-Ithink-“
“That’sso-it’sapurtyscalyoutlook。Idon’tbelieveinsecondtermsmyself，“themanhastenedtosay。
“Isthatyournewbarnacrosstthere？“beasked，point-ingwithhiswhip。
“Yes，sir，itis，“repliedtheoldmanproudly。Afteryearsofplanningandhardworkhehadmanagedtoerectalittlewoodenbarn，costingpossiblythreehundreddollars。Itwasplaintobeseenhetookachildishprideinthefactofitsnewness。
Thestrangermused。“Alovelyplaceforasign，“hesaidashiseyeswanderedacrossitsshiningyellowbroadside。
UncleEthanstared，unmindfulofthebugscrawlingovertheedgeofhispan。Hisinterestinthepotsofpaintdeepened。
“Couldn’tthinko’lettin’mepaintasignonthatbarn？“thestrangercontinued，puttinghislockedhandsaroundonekneeandgainingawayacrossthepigpenatthebuilding。
“Whatkindofasign？Goldarnyourskins!“UncleEthanpoundedthepanwithhispaddleandscrapedtwoorthreecrawlingabominationsoffhisleatherywrist。
Itwasabeautifulday，andthemaninthewagonseemedunusuallyloathtoattendtobusiness。Thetiredponiessleptintheshadeofthelombardies。Theplainwasdrapedinawarmmistandshadowedbyvast，vaguelydefinedmassesofclouds-alazyJuneday。
“Dodd’sFamilyBitters，“saidtheman，wakingoutofhisabstractionwithastartandresuminghisworkingmanner。“Thebestbitterinthemarket。“Healludedtoitinthesingular。“Liketolookatit？Notroubletoshowgoods，asthefellahsays，“hewentonhastily，seeingUncleEthan’shesitation。
Heproducedalargebottleoftriangularshape，likeabottleforpickledonions。Ithadaredsealontopandastrenuouscautioninredlettersontheneck，“Nonegenuineunless’Dodd’sFamilyBittem’isblowninthebottom。“
“Here’swhatitcures，“pursuedtheagent，pointingattheside，where；inaninvertedpyramid，thenamesofseveralhundreddiseaseswerearranged，runningfrom“gout“to“pulmonarycomplaints，“etc。
“Igol!Shecutsawideswath，don’tshe？“exclaimedUncleEthan，profoundlyimpressedwiththelist。
“Theyain’tnobetterbitterintheworld，“saidtheagentwithaconclusiveinflection。
“What’sitsspeshy-ality？Mostof’emhavesomespeshy-ality。“
“Well-summercomplaints-an’-an’-springan’falltroubles-tonesyeup，sortof。“
UncleEthan’sforgottenpanwasemptyofhisgatheredbugs。Hewasdeeplyinterestedinthisman。Therewassomethinghelikedabouthim。
“Whatdoesitsellfur？“heaskedafterapause。
“Samepriceasthemcheapmedicines-dollarabottle-bigbottles，too。Wantone？“
“Wal，motherain’ttohome，an’Idon’tknowasshe’dlikethiskind。
Weain’tbeensickfryears。Still，they’snotellln’，“headded，seeingtheanswertohisobjectionintheagent’seyes。“Timesispurtyclosetoo，withus，y’see；；we’vejustbuiltthatstable-“
’SayI’lltellyehwhatI’lldo，“saidthestranger，wakingupandspeakinginawarnilygeneroustone。“I’llgiveyoutenbottlesofthebitterifyou’llletmepaintasignonthatbarn。Itwon’thurtthebarnabit，andifyouwant’oyoucanpaintitOutayearfromdate。
Come，whatd’yesay？“
“IguessIhadn’tbetter。“