United States or Republic of the Congo ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
So the critter crawled! Nobody knows how he gin the strikers the slip, but he got through ter old man Byars's house. An' thar he staid till Loralindy an' the old 'oman Byars nussed him up so ez he could bear the pain o' bein' moved.
"Oh, Lord!" she would wail as she fell back among the pillows. "I'm a-losin' all my religion amongst these hyar rheumatics. I wish I war a man jes' ter say 'damn 'em' once! An' come good weather I'll sca'cely be able ter look Loralindy in the face, considering how I hector her whilst I be in the grip o' this misery."
An' them fellers at the mill, listenin' ter the letter, could sca'cely git thar consent ter wait fur old man Bates ter git through his talk ter Loralindy, that he kin talk ter every day in the year! But arter awhile he settled his spectacles agin, an' tuk another tussle with the spellin, an' then he rips out the main p'int o' the letter.
"I reckon ye know, too, ez Loralindy hed no eyes nor ears fur ennybody else whilst he war hyar but then he war good-lookin' an' saaft-spoken fur true! An' now he hev writ a letter ter her!" Crann grinned as Kinnicutt inadvertently gasped. "How do you uns know that!" the young man hoarsely demanded, with a challenging accent of doubt, yet prescient despair.
He would jes' stop an' push his spectacles back on his slick bald head an' say, 'Ye hear me, Loralindy! he 'lows he'll never furget the keer ye tuk o' him whenst he war shot an' ailin' an' nigh ter death. An' no mo' he ought, nuther. But some do furget sech ez that, Loralindy some do!"
"'Kase, bubby, that's the way the story 'bout the lily got out. I was at the mill this actial day. The miller hed got the letter hevin' been ter the post-office at the Crossroads an' he read it ter her, bein' ez Loralindy can't read writin'. She warn't expectin' it. He writ of his own accord."
'Pete ter holp dig an' tote ef the box be heavy. An' you ter find out edzac'ly whar it be hid. You uns an' Loralindy hev been keepin' company right smart, an' ye kin toll Loralindy along till she lets slip jes' whar that lily air growin'. I'll be bound ez she likes ye a sight better 'n that Renfrow leastwise ef 't warn't fur his letter, honeyin' her up with complimints, an' she hevin' the chance o' tollin' him on through doin' him sech faviors, savin' his life, an' now his money shucks it's mo' our money 'n his'n; 't ain 't his 'n!
"Loralindy," he said with a turbulent impulse of rage and grief; "whenst ye promised to marry me ye an' me war agreed that we would never hev one thought hid from one another ain't that a true word!"
He had turned listlessly away, evidently meditating departure, his hand on his horse's mane, one foot in the stirrup. "Ye know that gal named Loralindy Byars?" Crann said craftily. Kinnicutt paused abruptly. Then as the schemer remained silent he demanded, frowning darkly, "What's Loralindy Byars got ter do with it?" "Mighty nigh all!" Crann exclaimed, triumphantly.
"Hy're Rufe!" he swung uneasily posed on his crutch stick in the doorway, and mechanically shaded his eyes with one hand, as from the sun, as he gazed dubiously at the young man, "hain't ye in an' about finished yer visit t or yer visitation, ez the pa'son calls it He, he, he! Wall, Loralindy hev gone up steers ter the roof-room, an' it's about time ter bar up the doors.
Word Of The Day