In person Mrs. Waters was barber-pole-ish and ram-rod-y, and her taste in dress running mostly to stringy fabrics, assisted the bolster-y impression she created; her hands and wrists bore a strong resemblance to the yellow claws of defunct chickens, which children play "scare" with about Thanksgiving time; her feet were of turtle flatness, and her eyes--if you ever provoked a cat up to the bristling and scratching point, you may possibly form an idea of them.
Mrs. Waters condescended to allow Ruth to keep the quart of milk and loaf of bread, (which was to serve for her bill of fare for every day's three meals,) on a swing shelf in a corner of the cellar. As Ruth's room was at the top of the house, it was somewhat of a journey to travel up and down, and the weather was too warm to keep it up stairs; to her dismay she soon found that the cellar-floor was generally more or less flooded with water, and the sudden change from the heated air of her attic to the dampness of the cellar, brought on a racking cough, which soon told upon her health. Upon the first symptom of it, Mrs. Waters seized a box of pills and hurried to her room, assuring her that it was "a sure cure, and only three shillings a box."
"Thank you," said Ruth; "but it is my rule never to take medicine unless--"
"Oh, oh," said Mrs. Waters, bridling up; "I see--unless it is ordered by a physician, you were going to say; perhaps you don't know that _I_ am a physician--none the worse for being a female. I have investigated things; I have dissected several cats, and sent in an analysis of them to the Medical Journal; it has never been published, owing, probably, to the editor being out of town. If you will take six of these pills every other night," said the doctress, laying the box on the table, "it will cure your cough; it is only three shillings. I will take the money now, or charge it in your bill."
"Three shillings!" Ruth was aghast; she might as well have asked her three dollars. If there was anything Ruth was afraid of, it was Mrs. Waters' style of woman; a loaded cannon, or a regiment of dragoons, would have had few terrors in comparison. But the music must be faced; so, hoping to avoid treading on her landlady's professional toes, Ruth said, "I think I'll try first what dieting will do, Mrs. Waters."