What made it worse, too, it come on the coldest snap we'd had all winter.
Well, one of the main arguments by Jabez and Josiah wuz the speed with which this work wuz to be accomplished.

The hull thing wuz to be done and we settin' down fannin' ourselves inside of three days, but for over four weeks our house wuz a perfect pandemonium of noise and confusion.
Iron pipes lay round in every direction, screws and vises, nuts and hammers, wrenches and irons of all shapes and descriptions strewed the house from top to bottom, and ashes, dirt and dust wuz rampant, and Jabez rennin' up and down stairs, to and fro, talkin' loud about what a success he wuz makin' of it and how everything wuz workin' jest as he wanted it to, and boasted in particular every time he come acrost me, ashakin' with the cold, how perfectly still and noiseless it wuz goin' to be, and how luxurious and almost enervatin' would be the warmth.

And I sez, rubbin' my cold hands and pullin' my heavy woolen shawl closter round me, "It would be a little different than it is now if it wuz still, or if it wuz warm." And agin I shivered in the frigid air and sez: "You guaranteed we wouldn't be torn up here over three days, and it wuz four weeks yesterday." "That is because I have took such extra precautions to have it perfectly noiseless.

Never," sez he impressively, "from one year's end to the other will you ever hear a sound from that apparatus, not the least murmur or echo of a sound." "Well, I hope not," sez I, "and I hope to gracious it will be finished some time, for I'm most freezin' and Josiah is takin' cold, as I can see." "No I hain't nuther," sez Josiah, his voice soundin' real wheezy and husky out from under his heavy wool comforter.
Sez I, "You be cold, Josiah Allen, your nose is blue this minute." "Well, what if it is! I always liked that color anyway, I'd ruther have it blue that red as madder," sez he glancin' at my most prominent feature.
Sez I, "It is the bitter cold that has turned our noses, Josiah Allen, and when is it goin' to end ?" "It is going to end to-morrow mornin', at seven A.M.we start the fire, and then," sez he proudly, "I will set down in perfect summer heat, calm and happy, and you, too." For I spoze my oncomplainin' misery appealed to his latent manhood; and it had been latent in him for some time.

But he wuz driv most beyend his strength, and the cold wuz almost Klondikey, I could make allowance for him.