It is not to be averred, however, that all this thrift was
established without much commotion or many stormy scenes; and, not
unfrequently, Mehitable Ross announced to her husband that "she
wouldn't stan' it nohow, to be nosed round this way by a gal not so
old as herself!" And Kitty "declared to gracious" that she "never
saw such a topping piece as that Hitty Ross since she was born;"
and, if "folks undertook to work for other folks, they ought to be
willing to do the way they were told;" and she'd "rather do the
whole alone than keep round after that contrary creature, seeing
that she didn't get the upper-hands as soon as her back was turned!"
But Dora, without appearing to listen or to look, heard all and saw
all. Dora, cheerful, energetic, and calm, knew how to heal, without
appearing to notice the wound; had a faculty, all her own, of
leading the mind, vexed with a thousand trifles, to the
contemplation of some aim so grand, some thought so high, some love
or beauty so serene, that it turned back to daily life calm and
refreshed, and strengthened to do or to endure, with new courage.
"Somehow I felt ashamed of jawing so about that wash, when Dora came
in, and put her hands into the tub, and, while she was rubbing away,
began to tell what a crop of corn we're going to have; and how the
folks down South, the freedmen and all, might have plenty to eat, if
every one did as well as we're doing," said Mehitable to her
husband.
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