Page:The Overland Monthly, Jan-June 1894.djvu/197

 was it " Queen Anne " or " Old C'lonial", or what. An I tole 'im 't I 'lowed 'ef 'twas either one o' them 'twas "Old C'lonial." Ye see I was mighty sure 'bout the "old," an' I knowed as no Queen would everhev tuk up a res'dence in a old shanty like thet.

So the very next week a hull lot of workmen came down from Portland, an' sech a house 's they built made the ken try stare. I reckon thar wa'n't an- other such nearer 'n Salem, an' tnebbe not short o' Portland. It hed seven rooms and he ruffed it all over, sides an' all.

["Roofed the sides?"]

Thet 's what, kivered the hull biz with shingles clean down to the ground an', Jimminy Crickets ! the number o' little balc'nys, an' gables, an' dormant winders, an' porches thet stuck all over it, was a caution to see. An' he hed a fire-place in nigh every room, with harths made o' little squar shinin' bricks all colors o' the rainbow, an' bigger ones up the sides, with flowers an' things stamped on 'em, an' shelves an' lookin' glasses an' all manner o' gimcracks to top 'em out. My woman an' me, we used to go over nights arter the work- men was gone an' set on the balc'nys an' 'low we was 'stocracy f rom way-back.

AT THIS juncture the old clock on the mantel with leisurely strokes as became a fifteen years' resident of Ore- gon tolled out the hour of nine. Old Teeters started.

"Jupiter Crickets!" he exclaimed, taking a fresh pull at the cider, and wip- ing the straggling gray hairs about his mouth with a red cotton bandana, " I must be gettin' on, I must so. I 'd no idee 't was so late, the gintlemen '11 be plumb tired out listenin'."

We assured him to the contrary, and he proceeded.

WA'AL, I 'll skip all thet 'bout ther movin' in, an' my woman goin' to see Betty an' comin' home plumb beat with the sight o' so much fine furniture an' style, and pass on to 'is las' sickness, fer thar was whar Betty's hered'ty come out strong. Thar 's one little sarcum- stance though I ought to tell, fer the cool gall of it. I did n't know nothin' 'bout it at the time. My woman kep' it to 'erself fer fear I 'd bust out an' make a rumpus ef I knowed it, but she 's boun' to keep peace with 'er neighbors ef she hez to lie down an' let 'em walk over 'er.

They hadn't ben moved in ther new house more'n a few days, when Betty come over one mornin' when I was gone to town, an' my woman was alone in the house, an' she says, smilin' sweet, " Miss Teeters, I 've got a little word o' busi- ness with ye, an' the sooner said the better."

An' my woman, 'lowin' 't was about milk an' eggs 'n sech, says kind o' laffin', " Well, I reckon our business won t amount to nogret thing, but, however, say on."

An' then Betty she says cool's a cucumber an' still a smilin':—

"I ain't got Goldrain to make 'is will yet, an' so I hed to come here to keep on the right side of 'im tell he does. 'T was mighty hard to keep in an' not let 'im see how mad I was at his foolin' away money an' draggin' me back to, this old rock-roost in the back-woods, but I hed to do it tell I git the will. Goldrain don't have no manner of sense 'bout spendin' money on his ' Tina ' 's he calls me, why the price o' thet house 'd pay all the expenses of as fine a fun'ral 's I 'd be called on to give 'im, an' buy me an elegant mourning outfit into the bar- gain. Besides all that, now that he 's come out here to the mountains he's like to get strong enough to hang on all winter, an' I '11 hev to nurse 'im agin, an' put up with 'is. disgustin' coughin' an' raisin' fer months yit. Ef I 'd hed any idee of 'is hangin' on this way an' bein' so stubborn about the will, I 'd never 'a'