That pump of theirs has been out of order all summer and
Carrie's been sick from nothing else but getting mad every time she'd
go out for a pail of water. Alexander promised to fix it but instead
of that he's repaired everybody else's all up and down Elm Street and
just can't seem to get started on his own. Carrie's going on a strike
to-morrow, ain't going to cook a mouthful of victuals, she says, until
that pump is fixed. The neighbors, much as they like Alexander, are
all on her side and have promised not to invite him in, even for a
drink of water from the pumps he's fixed. And his mother's away at
Barton, nursing her sick sister, so it looks as if Alexander will be
starved into fixing that pump of his.
"Debby Collins is going to give the minister one of her cats, the one
that has to have a cold potato for its lunch every day. She says it's
the most mannerly of all her cats and that she'd never think of giving
it to any one but the minister and not even to him but that now that
he's going to have a proper home and a housekeeper, why, it'll be safe.
"Everybody, of course, is crazy about the housewarming the minister is
going to give next week. I guess everybody is going. It'll be a fine
night for thieves, Bessie Williams says, with every soul gone.
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