Page:Wilson - The Boss of Little Arcady (1905).djvu/97

 Ah come off. Then afteh while Little Miss she git resty an' tehible fractious an she go off t' Baltimoah t' teach in th' young ladies' educationals, an' Miss Cahline she still theah waitin' fo' me. Yes, seh, sh' ain't doin' nothin' but livin' on huh secon' cousin an' he ain' got nothin'—an' Ah lay Ah ain't go'n' a' have that kind a' doin's. No, seh—a-livin' on Cunnel Looshe Peavey. Ah'm go'n' a git huh yeh whah she kin be independent—"

Again he stopped to see visions.

"An' then, afteh a tehible shawt while, Ah git Little Miss fum the educationals an they both be independent. Yes, seh, Ah'm gittin th' money— reglah gole money—none a' this yeh Vaginyah papah-rags money. Ah ain't stahted good when Ah come, but Ah wagah ten hund'ed thousan' dollehs Ah finish up good!"

The last was a pointed reference to the Colonel.

"Have you seen Colonel Potts lately?" I asked. Clem sniffed.

"Yes, seh, on that tavehn cohnah, a-settin' on a cheer an' a-chestin' out his chest lahk a ole ma'ash frawg. Peahs like the man ain't got hawg sense, ack'in' that a-way."

A concluding sniff left it plain that Potts had been put beyond the pale of gentility by Clem.

He left me then to do his work in the kitchen—left me back on a battle-field, lying hurt beside an officer from his land who tried weakly to stanch a wound in his side as he addressed me.