Page:The Overland Monthly, Jan-June 1894.djvu/199

 agin' tell it gits ready. Wa'al, thet was Goldrain's kind, an' I never see nothin' finer in the way of hered'ty than the fight thet went on between Betty's kind an' the Scotch kind of it.

He was good's 'is word, an' drew in the purse strings so tight thet Betty did n't get another new gownd or bit of finery tell he died, an' he went so fur as to make the housekeeper buy all the family supplies, so's't Betty could n't git no chance that-a-way.

Wa'al, he got up from thet sick spell, an' soon 's the fall rains set in they went back to Portland agin', an' we 'lowed we 'd seed the last o' Goldrain this time fer sure. But it beats all nater how a consumptive kin hang on, 'speshly ef he 's got 'is Scotch up, like he hed. Ye see, he could n't will away his wife's thirds, nohow, an' so he went to work to see how long he could live, an' how much money he could spen' afore he died, so 's t' make them thirds as scant as possible.

Lize Green worked fer 'im up in Portland thet winter an' she tole my woman about it. She says he tuk to drinkin' an' gamblin', an' Betty she 'd foller him to the s'loon, club, though, I b'lieve they called it thar, (an all-fired tony place. Goldrain would n't go to no other kind I reckon). Wa'al, she 'd go arter him an' fetch 'im home nigh ever' night. Lize asked 'er oncet why she follered 'im so, ef she did n't care nothin' 'bout 'im. An' she said she did n't want no old drunken hulk comin'in at midnight and trackin' mud over 'er carpets, an wakin' 'er up out of a soun' sleep with 'is coughin'. Besides thet, ef she got him home arly he 'd spend less money gamblin' an' a third of all she saved that-a-way was hers. Ya'as, Betty had a long head, you bet, 'speshly in lookin' out fer number one. Then she got a heap o' comfort showin' herself off before all them dudes at the club, an' posin' fer an injured down-trod wife. She did n't like nothin' better 'n to go thar 'n drop 'er eyes shy 'n sad like, with now an' then a side glance at some of 'em, like she was jest hungerin' an' thirstin' fer a bit o' symp'thy.

You might 'a' thought it strange thet Goldrain would 'a' come home with 'er ever' time, but he was thet proud thet he would n't hev no public row with 'is wife, an' he did n't dare resk what she might do ef he refused to go with 'er. So whenever she come he'd jest put on 'is hat an' offer her 'is arm, an' go out 's peaceable 's a spring lamb. Then he 'd forbid 'er ever to come agin, but course she didn't care a rap fer that, an' so it went on.

Well, he hung on tell Spring agin, an' they come back here; but the journey petered him clean out so 's 't he never lef 'is bed agin' arter he got here. Of course, bein' the nearest neighbor, my woman was over thar a good bit helpin' to nurse 'im an' takin jellies an' things. He would n't hev no hired nurse. My woman 'lows 't was bekase he could n't bar to hev no outsiders sense how 'is wife treated 'im; fer 't was plain to see thet spite of 'er meanness an' his stickin' it out 'bout the money thet he hed n't got all over lovin' of 'er by no means. I used ter 'low thet ef somethin' would happen to spite 'er purty face, he 'd git cured; fer 't was 'er face he loved so'n not the soul inside. But lawzee! it seemed the older she growed an' the meaner she got the purtier she was.

One day when the fever was high on 'im, an' he 'd ben a tossin' on the bed an' could n't seem to git no no rest, my woman says Betty come near 'im fer somethin' an' he put out 'is han' pleadin'-like, an' says: "Tina, won't you please kiss me jess once? It 's such a long spell since you kissed me, an' I sha'n't bother ye much longer."

An' Betty laffed, an' tuk a holt of 'is hand an' she says, "Ef you '11 pay me fer it, I will."

An' at thet he growed pale in spite o' the fever, but I reckon the touch of 'er