"'My grandfather comes plenty near forfeitin' then good opinions of
the Gen'ral, though. It's the next day, an' that ancestor of mine
an' the Gen'ral is recoverin' themse'fs from the conversation of the
night before with a glass or two of tanzy bitters, when a lady, who
descends on the boat at Madison, comes bulgin' into the gents'
cabin. The captain an' two or three of the boat's folks tries to
herd her into the women's cabin; but she withers 'em with a look,
breshes 'em aside, an' stampedes along in among the men-people like
I explains. About forty of 'em's smokin'; an' as tobacco is a
fav'rite weakness of the tribe of Sterett, my grandfather is smokin'
too.
"'"I wants you-all to make these yere miscreants stop smokin'," says
the lady to the captain, who follows along thinkin' mebby he gets
her headed right after she's had her run out an' tires down some.
"You're the captain of this tub," says the lady, "an' I demands my
rights. Make these barb'rous miscreants stop smokin', or I leaves
the boat ag'in right yere."
"'The lady's plumb fierce, an' her face, which is stern an' heroic,
carries a capac'ty for trouble lurkin' 'round in it, same as one of
them bald hornet's nests on a beech limb.
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