But I 'm not going to marry David Hartley , you can depend on that , Ida , my dear . I wish you could have heard him rhyming off that poetry last night . It does n't seem to matter much what piece he recites -- first thing that comes into his head , I reckon . I remember one time he went clean through that hymn beginning , ` Hark from the tombs a doleful sound , ' and two years ago it was ` To Mary in Heaven , ' as lackadaisical as you please . I never had such a time to keep from laughing , but I managed it , for I would n't hurt his feelings for the world . No , I have n't any intention of marrying anybody , but if I had it would n't be dear old sentimental , easy-going David . '' Mrs. Tom thumped a plucked goose down on the bench with an expression which said that she , for one , was n't going to waste any more words on an idiot . Easy-going , indeed ! Did Josephine consider that a drawback ? Mrs. Tom sighed . If Josephine , she thought , had put up with Tom Sentner 's tempers for fifteen years she would know how to appreciate a good-natured man at his real value . The cold snap which had set in on the day of David 's call lasted and deepened for a week . On Saturday evening , when Mrs. Tom came down for a jug of cream , the mercury of the little thermometer thumping against Josephine 's porch was below zero . The gulf was no longer blue , but white with ice . Everything outdoors was crackling and snapping . Inside Josephine had kept roaring fires all through the house but the only place really warm was the kitchen . `` Wrap your head up well , Ida , '' she said anxiously , when Mrs. Tom rose to go . `` You 've got a bad cold . '' `` There 's a cold going , '' said Mrs. Tom . `` Everyone has it .
David Hartley was up XXXXX our place to-day barking terrible -- a real churchyard cough , as I told him .
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