cold that his cousin's grandmother's second husband died of. When I saw you coming, I thought: 'Well, here's one that won't say "take something,"'—and you start right in with it, first thing, just like the rest."
Uncle Rob drummed his fingers on the floor beside him. "I wasn't going to suggest any of those things," he said.
"Oh, no! Every one knows something different. They're all simply trying to rub it in."
"Why don't you give them something in return?"
"I feel like giving them a punch!"
"How would it be if you were to give them a kind thought, in recognition that they are trying to help you, as well as they know how?"
"Well, they aren't succeeding, I can tell them that."
"You are sort of using them in lieu of the mustard plaster that you refused, aren't you?"
"What?"
"Well, you're using them for purposes of irritation. It's like a mustard plaster that has mustard on one side and dry, soft flannel on the other; one side stings you, and the other side
