The worst of it is , I 'll have to tell him so myself . He 'll never dare to mention the subject again , after what I said to him that night he proposed last . I wish I had n't been so dreadful emphatic . Now I 've got to say it myself if it is ever said . But I 'll not begin by quoting poetry , that 's one thing sure ! '' Josephine threw back her head , crowned with its shining braids of jet-black hair , and laughed heartily . She bustled back to the stove and poked up the fire . `` I 'll have a bit of corned beef and cabbage for dinner , '' she said , `` and I 'll make David that pudding he 's so fond of . After all , it 's kind of nice to have someone to plan and think for . It always did seem like a waste of energy to fuss over cooking things when there was nobody but myself to eat them . '' Josephine sang over her work all day , and David went about his with the face of a man who is going to the gallows without benefit of clergy . When he came in to supper at sunset his expression was so woe-begone that Josephine had to dodge into the pantry to keep from laughing outright . She relieved her feelings by pounding the dresser with the potato masher , and then went primly out and took her place at the table . The meal was not a success from a social point of view . Josephine was nervous and David glum . Mary Bell gobbled down her food with her usual haste , and then went away to carry Zillah hers . Then David said reluctantly : `` If you want to go home now , Josephine , I 'll hitch up Red Rob and drive you over . '' Josephine began to plait the tablecloth . She wished again that she had not been so emphatic on the occasion of his last proposal . Without replying to David 's suggestion she said crossly -LRB- Josephine always spoke crossly when she was especially in earnest -RRB- : `` I want to tell you what I think about Zillah .
She 's getting better , but she 's had a terrible shaking up , and it 's my opinion XXXXX she wo n't be good for much all winter .
at by for if like of over that up with