It made quite a commotion ; I had that much satisfaction out of it to begin with . Susanna was n't any too well pleased . I was only the old maid sister , but I was a good cook , and help was scarce in Northfield . All the neighbours shook their heads , and warned me I would n't like it . I was too old to change my ways , and I 'd be dreadfully homesick , and I 'd find the west too rough and boisterous . I just smiled and said nothing . Well , I came out here to Carleton , and from the time I got here I was perfectly happy . John Henry had a little rented house , and he was as poor as a church mouse , being the ne'er - do-well of our family , and the best loved , as ne'er - do-wells are so apt to be . He 'd nearly died of lonesomeness since his wife 's death , and he was so glad to see me . That was delightful in itself , and I was just in my element getting that little house fixed up cosy and homelike , and cooking the most elegant meals . There was n't much work to do , just for me and him , and I got a squaw in to wash and scrub . I never thought about Northfield except to thank goodness I 'd escaped from it , and John Henry and I were as happy as a king and queen . Then after awhile my activities began to sprout and branch out , and the direction they took was boys . Carleton was full of boys , like all the western towns , overflowing with them as you might say , young fellows just let loose from home and mother , some of them dying of homesickness and some of them beginning to run wild and get into risky ways , some of them smart and some of them lazy , some ugly and some handsome ; but all of them boys , lovable , rollicking boys , with the makings of good men in them if there was anybody to take hold of them and cut the pattern right , but liable to be spoiled just because there was n't anybody . Well , I did what I could . It began with John Henry bringing home some of them that worked in his office to spend the evening now and again , and they told other fellows and asked leave to bring them in too . And before long it got to be that there never was an evening there was n't some of them there , `` Aunt-Pattying '' me . I told them from the start I would not be called Miss. . When a woman has been Miss for forty-five years she gets tired of it . So Aunt Patty it was , and Aunt Patty it remained , and I loved all those dear boys as if they 'd been my own .
They told me all their troubles , and I mothered them and cheered them up and scolded them , and finally topped off XXXXX a jolly good supper ; for , talk as you like , you ca n't preach much good into a boy if he 's got an aching void in his stomach .
after for from if in like of that to with