Susan Clegg and a Man in the House | Page 5

a printin'
press around the country.
"I told him he could count on you an' me takin' one between us before I
knowed what was really the main object of his visit, an' then when he
come out with what was the main object of his visit, an' when I sensed
what he was after I must say I considered as he should have made that
his first word an' give me my paper for nothin',--seein' as the whole of
the thing is got to rest right on me, for I don't know what is the bottom
of a newspaper if it ain't the woman as boards the editor. Yes, Mrs.
Lathrop, that's my view in a nutshell, the more so as Mr. Kimball
openly says as Elijah Doxey says he's a genius an' can't live in any
house where there's other folks or any noise but his own. Mr. Kimball
said it seemed as if a good angel had made me for the town to turn to in
its bitter need an' that it was on me as the new newspaper would have
to build its reputation in its first sore strait; an' he said too as he would
in confidence remark as my influence on Elijah's ideas would be what
he should be really lookin' to to make the paper a success, for he says
as Elijah is very young an' will be wax in my hands an' I can mold him

an' public opinion right along together. He said he really did n't look for
him to be any great trouble to feed because he'd be out pickin' up items
most of the time, an' then too, he says he can always give him a handful
of his new brand of dried apples as is advertised to be most puffin' an'
fillin'; why, do you know, Mrs. Lathrop, he told me as he'd developed
the process now to where if you eat two small pieces you feel like you
never wanted another Thanksgivin' dinner as long as you live."
"And so--" asked Mrs. Lathrop eagerly, Susan pausing an instant for
breath just here.
"Well, in the end I said I would, for three months. I don't know as I was
wise, but I thought it was maybe my duty for three months. I'm tired of
seein' the Clightville folks called 'Glimpses' an' us called 'Dabs' in that
Meadville Mixture, an' last week you remember how they spelt it wrong
an' called us 'Dubs,' which is far from my idea of politeness. It was
being mad over that as much as anythin' that made me up an' tell Mr.
Kimball as I'd take Elijah an' take care of him an' look to do what I
could to make the paper a success for three months. I told him as it was
trustin' in the dark, for Elijah was a unknown quantity to me an' I never
did like the idea of a man around my nice, clean house, but I said if he'd
name the Meadville items the 'Mud Spatters' an' so get even for our
feelin's last week I'd do my part by feedin' him an' makin' up his bed
mornin's. Mr. Kimball said I showed as my heart an' my brains was
both in the right place, an' then he got up an' shook hands an' told me as
he would in confidence remark as he expected to make a very good
thing all round for he was gettin' the printin' press awful cheap and
Elijah likewise."
"When--?" asked Mrs. Lathrop.
"Next Wednesday. Elijah's comin' up freight with the printin' press. Mr.
Kimball says he suggested that himself. He says it cuts two birds with
one knife for it makes it look as if the printin' press was extra fine
instead of second-hand, an' it gets Elijah here for nothin'."
"Dear--" said Mrs. Lathrop.

"I would, too," said Miss Clegg, "only you see I have n't got time. I
ought not to be here now. I ought to be over gettin' his room ready an'
takin' out the little comforts. As far as my order of thinkin' goes, little
comforts is lost on men, Mrs. Lathrop, they always trip over them an'
smash them in the dark."
CHAPTER II
ELIJAH DOXEY AND HIS LOCKED BOX
"Well," suggested Mrs. Lathrop one pleasant Saturday morning, a few
days later, when she and her friend met at the fence. Miss Clegg looked
slightly fretted and more than slightly warm, for she had been giving
her garden an uncommonly vigorous weeding on account of an
uncommonly vigorous shower which had fallen the afternoon before.
The weeding had been so strenuous that Miss Clegg was quite disposed
to stop and rest, and as she joined her neighbor and read the keen
interest that