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But loud as it wuz, Peter’ses clarion voice rung out loud and high above it.

It wuz a fearful time, very. But even at that moment I sez to myself agin:

“He is a relation on his side—be calm!” and I wuz calm.

“IT WUZ ‘HOLD THE FORT’ HE BELCHED OUT IN.”

Wall, I rubbed Melinda Ann and explained it to her, and poulticed her, and got her kinder settled down.

And I see it took up her mind some. She didn’t seem to dislike it now, after the first shock wuz over.

And I left her propped up on her piller a listenin’, and went down and got supper.

Wall, it wuz all I could do to get that man away from the instrument long enough to eat.

He seemed to be kinder absent-minded and lost like till he got back to it agin.

Wall, it had been still for some time; you couldn’t hear a thing from the dinin’ room up in Melinda’s room. And when he bust out agin imegiatly after supper, it wuz too much, too much, for I spoze she had been in a drowze.

It wuz “Hold the Fort” he belched out in, with all the steam on. He had a way, Peter had, of bustin’ out loudest when he begun, and then kinder dwindle down towards the last of the piece. (But it wuz one of ’em on his side, and I didn’t murmur, not out loud, I didn’t.)