Moreover, she had never been told of the way in
which her friends were contributing to pay the rent. I should have
liked to tell her this, but the mystery of the affair gave a
piquancy to their deed of kindness which the ladies were unwilling
to give up; and at first Martha had to shirk many a perplexed
question as to her ways and means of living in such a house, but
by-and-by Miss Matty's prudent uneasiness sank down into
acquiescence with the existing arrangement.
I left Miss Matty with a good heart. Her sales of tea during the
first two days had surpassed my most sanguine expectations. The
whole country round seemed to be all out of tea at once. The only
alteration I could have desired in Miss Matty's way of doing
business was, that she should not have so plaintively entreated
some of her customers not to buy green tea--running it down as a
slow poison, sure to destroy the nerves, and produce all manner of
evil. Their pertinacity in taking it, in spite of all her
warnings, distressed her so much that I really thought she would
relinquish the sale of it, and so lose half her custom; and I was
driven to my wits' end for instances of longevity entirely
attributable to a persevering use of green tea. But the final
argument, which settled the question, was a happy reference of mine
to the train-oil and tallow candles which the Esquimaux not only
enjoy but digest.
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