Page:The Overland Monthly, Jan-June 1894.djvu/196

132 name 'lowed she must be a rale born lady what had met up with some gret misfortune, an' was 'bleeged to face the world fur the fust time. So his symp'thy got roused up middlin' soon. It 's a heap easier fer a man's symp'thy to git to workin' over a purty gal n 'tis over a humly one, ye know. So when she 'lowed he 'd noticed 'er a good bit, she spied out his fav'rite balc'ny whar he used ter set an' smoke arter supper, an' she made it in 'er way to let 'im find 'er thar accidental one evenin' in the moonlight, with her hankercher to 'er eyes, an' playin' the lone orphan to a dot.

So he made bold to speak to 'er an' ask 'er what was the matter, 'n ef he couldn't do nothin' fer 'er. An' so she tole 'im a pit'ful story—made up out of hull cloth—an' looked at 'im bashful an' pleadin' like out o' them big soft eyes, an' the job was done.

When the folks at the hotel suspicioned how the land lay, knowin' old Sanctuary, an' how like 'im Betty was, they 'lowed 'twas a plumb shame fer a rale gintleman like Goldrain to be tuk in that a-way. So they tried to put a flea in 'is ear an' let 'im know what 'er paw was like. But lawzee! 't was lockin' the stable arter the horse 's stolen. He was jest ravin' mad at 'em fer darin' to name 'er to him, an' told 'em flat-footed thet he did n't care a rap who 'er what 'er paw was; thet she was a lady as was too good to clean 'er feet on sech 's they was, an' he give 'em to un'erstan' thet ef he was a sick man he could han'le a shootin' iron yit, an' so 't would be plumb safe fer them to keep their jaws shet 'bout Miss Sanctuary.

They was married right soon, an' boarded at the hotel long 'nough fer Betty to queen it over them as had ben down on 'er, an show off 'er new silks an' jewelry, an' then they went back to Portland an' we did n't hear no more of Mrs. Bettina Goldrain fer quite a spell. (She'd named 'erself Bettina to him, thinkin' as Betty was too common, an' he nicknamed of 'er Tina.)

So 's I was sayin' we did n't hear no more of 'er either good er bad, tell one spring nigh a year 'n a half arter they was married, who should come ridin' up to our door in a shiny livery rig but Goldrain hisself. It seems the doctor hed tole 'im that his only chance fer livin' a spell longer was to summer up in the mountings some'ers, an' he 'lowed to s'prise Betty by buyin' back her paw's old place. He said she allus spoke with so much feelin' of her "old mounting home." My woman she hed all she could do to keep f'om crackin' a smile when he said thet, but he looked so pale an' sick like that she would n't hurt 'is feelin's fer nothin', so she jest kep' still an' let 'im go on.

Ye see its jinin' me, an' bem' a right good stawk ranch I 'd bought in the old man's place 'n I did n't care pertickler 'bout sellin', but knowin' he hed plenty o' money I named a whoppin' big price, 'lowin' to hev a margin to come down on, but I 'll be derned ef 'e did n't snap the offer right up an' come down with the spot cash, an' nigh smother me with 'is thanks into the bargain.

He felt plumb dis'pinted when he foun' I 'd tore down the old house, for he said he 'd 'lowed 'to "restore" it fer Miss Goldrain, an' he axed me to describe it to him so's't he could rebuild it near like it wuz. Waal I 'lowed I was in a fix, fer I could n't noways have the face to tell him what an ornery tumbledown old flea-roost it was,—but I pulled myself together an' tole Mm I wa'n't no hand to describe nothin' but I 'lowed 't was jest a plain five-room cottage finished in nat'ral wood. At thet my woman she couldn't stan' it no longer, 'n she jest stuffed 'er hankercher in 'er mouth an' coughed an' ran out the room. But Goldrain did n't suspicion nothin', an' he went right on an' wanted to know what the "style of architecture" was,—