He was silent so long at this occupation that they all laughed.
"Well, well!" said he, laying down his fork, and smiling innocently;
"what be you all laughin' at? Not but what I allers like to hev folks
laugh--but then--I didn't see nothin' to laugh at. Still perhaps, they
was suthin' to laugh at that I didn't see; sometimes one man'll be
lookin' down into his plate, all taken up with his vittles, and others
that's lookin' around the room, may see the kittens frolickin', or some
such thing. 'Tain't the fust time I've known all hands to laugh all to
onct, when I didn't see nothin'."
Susan helped him again, and secured another brief respite.
"Ephraim," said he, after awhile, "you ain't skilled to cook oysters
like this, I don' believe. You ought to get married! I was sayin' to
Susan t'other day--well, now, mother, have I said an'thing out o' the
way?--well, I don' s'pose 'twas just my place to hev said an'thing about
gittin' married, to Ephraim, seein's--"
"Come, come, father," said Aunt Lyddy, "that'll do, now. You must let
Ephraim alone, and not joke him about such things."
Meanwhile Susan had hastily gone into the pantry to look for a pie,
which she seemed unable at once to find.
"Pie got adrift?" called out Joshua. "Seems to me you don' hook on to it
very quick. Now that looks good," he added, when she came out.
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