Captain Elisha nodded.
"I thought so," he declared. "I was sartin sure I couldn't be mistaken.
What is it used to be in the song book? 'You can smash--you can--' Well,
I don't remember. Somethin' about your bein' able to smash the vase if
you wanted to, but the smell of the posies was there yet."
Mr. Ludlow, the bookseller, supplied the quotation.
"'You may break, you may shatter
The vase if you will,
But the scent of the roses
Will cling to it still,'
he said, smiling.
"That's it. Much obliged. You can warm up and rechristen the hash if you
will; but the corned beef and cabbage stay right on deck. Ain't that so,
Mr. Dickens?"
The illustrious "C." bowed.
"Moore?" he observed, with dignity.
"Yes. That's what _I_ said--'More!' Said it twice, I believe. Glad you
agree with me. The hymn says that weakness is sin, but there's no sin in
havin' a weakness for corned-beef hash."
Miss Sherborne and Mrs. Van Winkle Ruggles were at first inclined to
snub the new boarder, considering him a country boor whose presence in
their select society was almost an insult. The captain did not seem to
notice their hints or sneers, although Pearson grew red and wrathful.
"Laura, my dear," said Mrs.
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