And I whispered to Irena Flanders, and, sez I, "If a man is a duke, what
would his wife be called?" Sez I, "She'd feel hurt if I slighted her."

And sez she, "If one is a duke, the other would naterally be called a
drake."

I knew better than that--she hain't any too smart by nater, and her mind
runs to fowls, what there is of it.

But my Josiah heard the inquiry, and sez he--

"I should call her a duck;" and he continued, with his eyes riveted on
the beautiful face of the Duke's daughter--

"That pretty girl is a duck, and no mistake."

But I sez, "Hush; that would be too familiar and also too rural."

I hain't ashamed of the country--no, indeed, I am proud on't; still I
knew that it wuz, specially in June, noted for its tender greenness.

And sez I, "I'll trust to the hour to inspire me; I'll sail out as his
great ancestor did, and trust to Providence to help me out."

So I advanced onto 'em, and I thought, as I went, if you call a man by
the hull of his name he hadn't ort to complain; so I sez with a deep
curchey--I knew a plain curchey wouldn't do justice to the occasion.

So I gracefully took hold of my alpaca skirt with both hands and held it