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 kill him, whar'll she be, if so be things is the wust?"

"Oh, they cayn't be!" roared Bill.

"I suspicion some they allers is," said George. "But say you'll make him merry her, and on'y kill him arterwards."

"I—I will," said Bill. He marched towards the house in which Amandy and her mother were. They were quite happy, because they had heard him singing, and when he sang before breakfast it usually meant a happy day. Now he came in like a whirlwind.

"Amandy, to your room, gal!" he yelled.

"Oh, Paw!"

"To your room, gal!" he repeated.

"Lord sakes, William!" said his wife.

"Silence, woman! Amandy, to your room!"

And Amandy fled like a lamb before a blizzard, while her father made horrid noises in his throat.

"George, that batten there," he said.

George brought him a short piece of wood.

"The hammer and nails, woman," said Bill. His wife brought them. He nailed Amandy's