Page:The Overland Monthly, Jan-June 1894.djvu/198

 married 'im. I 'd a waited 'a' bit longer feranother, an' mebbe bigger fish yit, to bite. Now what I want to say to you, Miss Teeters, is this : You know 's well 's I do thet thar 's things 'bout my paw 't I wouldn't want Goldrain to know, thet is tell I git the will, an' he don't know 't I 've got a relation in the world. I told 'im I hed n't when I was playin' the friendless orphan (thet was prime fun, Miss Teeters : when Goldrain dies and I git his money I 'm goin' on the stage, sure). Thet 's what I hated to come back here so fur, fur fear he 'd git to hear about the kids. I kin man- age 'bout all the outside talk purty well, fer I 'm sech a devoted wife 't I would- n't noways let a invalid like him stir out 'thout my bein' along o' him ; but you livin' neighbor so might git a chance at 'im when I was n't by. So I come to say thet ef Goldrain ever gits so much as a hent 'bout my fam'ly from you'uns you '11 be plumb likely to fin' all yer critters pizened off, an' like 's not yer buildin's burned down into the bargain, not to mention powder in yer cook stove or somethin' that-a-way. You knew my paw, an' ever' one says I take arter him 'cept in looks, an' so you know me ! "

An' with thet, my woman says she smiled jest as sweet's ef she'd been savin', "A pleasant mornin' to ye," an' says, "Goodby, Miss Teeters, I hope you '11 be real neighborly," an' sailed out o' the house 'thout givin' her sg much 's a chance to answer her.

But someway Betty could n't git Gold- rain to make 'is will, an' one day she got so riled thet she could n't hold herself no longer, an' she jest up an told 'im to 'is face thet ever'thing in the world she married 'im fur was 'is money, and she says,

" What d'ye 'low I wanted of a old, worn-out, coughin' rack-o'-bones like you be, ef it wa'n't fur the money ? "

My woman she heerd 'er say it, an' she 'lows she won't forgit right soon the way Goldrain looked. She says he

fell back jest like somebody 'd shot im| an' says, kind o.' gaspin' like, "Tins you 're crazy you don't mean what| you say."

An' Tina jest stood an' laffed, fer alii the world like 'er paw used to when he see some helpless critter gittin' worsted in a fight, an' she sez, " Yes, I do mean it, ever' single word."

An' he, still lookin' dazed-like, says, " But you 've been so kind an' lovin' to! me allus, it cayn't be."

An' she, still laffin' says, " W'y, you ole fool, how was I to git any money if I I was n't lovin' ? "

An' at that my woman says he jest straightened hisself up, an' looked like a ghost, with two balls of fire a burnin' in its head, an' he says, all hoarse-like, " Well, you won't spend no more, I kin tell you thet."

An' then the blood bust out of 'is mouth in a stream, an' my woman 'lowed | he 'd die right thar, but he did n't.

Waal, she went over ever' day to help nurse 'im, fer she 'lowed she never felt so plumb sorry fer any livin' thing's she did fer him ; an' arter hearin' Betty talk thet-a-way she was skeered lest she might try to make away with 'im. But I tole 'er she need n't be the least mite afraid o' thet, fer thar agin her hered- 'ty come in, fer she wuz a coward, same's 'er paw, an' she wa'n't goin' to let the law git a holt of 'er. She seen, too, that she hed overreached herself, lettin' her temper git the best of 'er, an' so she tried to make up fer it by bein' sweet 's ever ; and she 'lowed thet when he got 'round agin', ef he ever did, he'd forgit all about his threat of not givin' her money.

But he did n't. Ye see he had some hered'ty, too, an' it was the very stout- es' kir.d made ; fer it was Scotch. Ef you know any think 'bout thet blood, you know 't when the Scotch " worm once does " turn " nothink in the heav- ens above, or the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth, '11 turn it back