Then I go in after the girls, and they quiet down the
babies in the drip-pan; and then the mothers I bring out,
and the boys and the fathers. Sometimes some of the men
make a dash out before the women, but you bet I lay them
back in a hurry. Then I set the ocean back on the stove,
and I rub the babies to get their blood circlin' again,
and I get them all put to bed on the second shelf and
they soon forget they were so near death's door."
Mary Ducker had finished the "Java March" and "Mary's
Pet Waltz," and had joined the interested group on the
lawn and now stood listening in dull wonder.
"I rub them all and shine them well," Pearl went on, "and
get them all packed off home into the china cupboard,
every man jack o' them singin' 'Are we yet alive and see
each other's face,' Mrs. Evans sings it for them when
she's there.
"Then I get the vegetable dishes and bowls and
silverware and all that, and that's an excursion, and
they're all drunk, not a sober man on board. They sing
'Sooper up old boys,' 'We won't go home till mornin' and
all that, and crash! a cry bursts from every soul on
board. They have struck upon a rock and are going down!
Water pours in at the gunnel (that's just me with more
water and soap, you know), but I ain't sorry for them,
for they're all old enough to know that 'wine is a
mocker, strong drink is ragin', and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise.' But when the crash comes
and the swellin' waters burst in they get sober pret'
quick and come rushin' up on deck with pale faces to see
what's wrong, and I've often seen a big bowl whirl
'round and 'round kind o' dizzy and say 'woe is me!' and
sink to the bottom.
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