Mrs. Cullom was sitting at one corner of the fire, and David drew a
chair opposite to her.
"Feelin' all right now? whisky hain't made ye liable to no disorderly
conduct, has it?" he asked with a laugh.
"Yes, thank you," was the reply, "the warm things are real comfortin',
'n' I guess I hain't had licker enough to make me want to throw things.
You got a kind streak in ye, Dave Harum, if you did send me this here
note--but I s'pose ye know your own bus'nis," she added with a sigh of
resignation. "I ben fearin' fer a good while 't I couldn't hold on t'
that prop'ty, an' I don't know but what you might's well git it as 'Zeke
Swinney, though I ben hopin' 'gainst hope that Charley 'd be able to do
more 'n he has."
"Let's see the note," said David curtly. "H'm, humph, 'regret to say
that I have been instructed by Mr. Harum'--wa'al, h'm'm, cal'lated to
clear his own skirts anyway--h'm'm--'must be closed up without further
delay' (John's eye caught the little white stocking which still lay on
his desk)--wa'al, yes, that's about what I told Mr. Lenox to say fur's
the bus'nis part's concerned--I might 'a' done my own regrettin' if I'd
wrote the note myself." (John said something to himself.) "'T ain't the
pleasantest thing in the world fer ye, I allow, but then you see,
bus'nis is bus'nis."
John heard David clear his throat, and there was a hiss in the open
fire. Mrs. Cullom was silent, and David resumed:
"You see, Mis' Cullom, it's like this. I ben thinkin' of this matter fer
a good while. That place ain't ben no real good to ye sence the first
year you signed that morgidge. You hain't scurcely more'n made ends
meet, let alone the int'rist, an' it's ben simply a question o' time,
an' who'd git the prop'ty in the long run fer some years. I reckoned,
same as you did, that Charley 'd mebbe come to the front--but he hain't
done it, an' 't ain't likely he ever will. Charley's a likely 'nough boy
some ways, but he hain't got much 'git there' in his make-up, not more'n
enough fer one anyhow, I reckon. That's about the size on't, ain't it?"
Mrs. Cullom murmured a feeble admission that she was "'fraid it was."
"Wa'al," resumed Mr. Harum, "I see how things was goin', an' I see that
unless I played euchre, 'Zeke Swinney 'd git that prop'ty, an' whether I
wanted it myself or not, I didn't cal'late he sh'd git it anyway. He put
a spoke in my wheel once, an' I hain't forgot it. But that hain't
neither here nor there. Wa'al," after a short pause, "you know I helped
ye pull the thing along on the chance, as ye may say, that you an' your
son 'd somehow make a go on't."
"You ben very kind, so fur," said the widow faintly.
"Don't ye say that, don't ye say that," protested David. "'T wa'n't no
kindness. It was jest bus'nis: I wa'n't takin' no chances, an' I s'pose
I might let the thing run a spell longer if I c'd see any use in't. But
the' ain't, an' so I ast ye to come up this mornin' so 't we c'd settle
the thing up without no fuss, nor trouble, nor lawyer's fees, nor
nothin'. I've got the papers all drawed, an' John--Mr. Lenox--here to
take the acknowlidgments. You hain't no objection to windin' the thing
up this mornin', have ye?"
"I s'pose I'll have to do whatever you say," replied the poor woman in a
tone of hopeless discouragement, "an' I might as well be killed to once,
as to die by inch pieces."
"All right then," said David cheerfully, ignoring her lethal suggestion,
"but before we git down to bus'nis an' signin' papers, an' in order to
set myself in as fair a light 's I can in the matter, I want to tell ye
a little story."
"I hain't no objection 's I know of," acquiesced the widow graciously.
"All right," said David, "I won't preach more 'n about up to the
sixthly--How'd you feel if I was to light up a cigar? I hain't much of a
hand at a yarn, an' if I git stuck, I c'n puff a spell. Thank ye. Wa'al,
Mis' Cullom, you used to know somethin' about my folks. I was raised on
Buxton Hill. The' was nine on us, an' I was the youngest o' the lot. My
father farmed a piece of about forty to fifty acres, an' had a small
shop where he done odd times small jobs of tinkerin' fer the neighbors
when the' was anythin' to do. My mother was his second, an' I was the
only child of that marriage. He married agin when I was about two year
old, an' how I ever got raised 's more 'n I c'n tell ye. My sister Polly
was 'sponsible more 'n any one, I guess, an' the only one o' the whole
lot that ever gin me a decent word. Small farmin' ain't cal'lated to
fetch out the best traits of human nature--an' keep 'em out--an' it
seems to me sometimes that when the old man wa'n't cuffin' my ears he
was lickin' me with a rawhide or a strap. Fur 's that was concerned, all
his boys used to ketch it putty reg'lar till they got too big. One on
'em up an' licked him one night, an' lit out next day. I s'pose the old
man's disposition was sp'iled by what some feller said farmin' was,
'workin' all day, an' doin' chores all night,' an' larrupin' me an' all
the rest on us was about all the enjoyment he got. My brothers an'
sisters--'ceptin' of Polly--was putty nigh as bad in respect of cuffs
an' such like; an' my step-marm was, on the hull, the wust of all. She
hadn't no childern o' her own, an' it appeared 's if I was jest pizen to
her. 'T wa'n't so much slappin' an' cuffin' with her as 't was tongue.
She c'd say things that 'd jest raise a blister like pizen ivy. I s'pose
I _was_ about as ord'nary, no-account-lookin', red-headed, freckled
little cuss as you ever see, an' slinkin' in my manners. The air of our
home circle wa'n't cal'lated to raise heroes in.
"I got three four years' schoolin', an' made out to read an' write an'
cipher up to long division 'fore I got through, but after I got to be
six year old, school or no school, I had to work reg'lar at anything I
had strength fer, an' more too. Chores before school an' after school,
an' a two-mile walk to git there. As fur 's clo'es was concerned, any
old thing that 'd hang together was good enough fer me; but by the time
the older boys had outgrowed their duds, an' they was passed on to me,
the' wa'n't much left on 'em. A pair of old cowhide boots that leaked
in more snow an' water 'n they kept out, an' a couple pairs of woolen
socks that was putty much all darns, was expected to see me through the
winter, an' I went barefoot f'm the time the snow was off the ground
till it flew agin in the fall. The' wa'n't but two seasons o' the year
with me--them of chilblains an' stun-bruises."
The speaker paused and stared for a moment into the comfortable glow of
the fire, and then discovering to his apparent surprise that his cigar
had gone out, lighted it from a coal picked out with the tongs.
"Farmin' 's a hard life," remarked Mrs. Cullom with an air of being
expected to make some contribution to the conversation.
"An' yit, as it seems to me as I look back on't," David resumed
pensively, "the wust on't was that nobody ever gin me a kind word, 'cept
Polly. I s'pose I got kind o' used to bein' cold an' tired; dressin' in
a snowdrift where it blowed into the attic, an' goin' out to fodder
cattle 'fore sun-up; pickin' up stun in the blazin' sun, an' doin' all
the odd jobs my father set me to, an' the older ones shirked onto me.
That was the reg'lar order o' things; but I remember I never _did_ git
used to never pleasin' nobody. 'Course I didn't expect nothin' f'm my
step-marm, an' the only way I ever knowed I'd done my stent fur 's
father was concerned, was that he didn't say nothin'. But sometimes the
older ones 'd git settin' 'round, talkin' an' laughin', havin' pop corn
an' apples, an' that, an' I'd kind o' sidle up, wantin' to join 'em, an'
some on 'em 'd say, 'What _you_ doin' here? time you was in bed,' an'
give me a shove or a cuff. Yes, ma'am," looking up at Mrs. Cullom, "the
wust on't was that I was kind o' scairt the hull time. Once in a while
Polly 'd give me a mossel o' comfort, but Polly wa'n't but little older
'n me, an' bein' the youngest girl, was chored most to death herself."
It had stopped snowing, and though the wind still came in gusty blasts,
whirling the drift against the windows, a wintry gleam of sunshine came
in and touched the widow's wrinkled face.
"It's amazin' how much trouble an' sorrer the' is in the world, an' how
soon it begins," she remarked, moving a little to avoid the sunlight. "I
hain't never ben able to reconcile how many good things the' be, an' how
little most on us gits o' them. I hain't ben to meetin' fer a long spell
'cause I hain't had no fit clo'es, but I remember most of the preachin'
I've set under either dwelt on the wrath to come, or else on the Lord's
doin' all things well, an' providin'. I hope I ain't no wickeder 'n than
the gen'ral run, but it's putty hard to hev faith in the Lord's
providin' when you hain't got nothin' in the house but corn meal, an'
none too much o' that."
"That's so, Mis' Cullom, that's so," affirmed David. "I don't blame ye a
mite. 'Doubts assail, an' oft prevail,' as the hymn-book says, an' I
reckon it's a sight easier to have faith on meat an' potatoes 'n it is
on corn meal mush. Wa'al, as I was sayin'--I hope I ain't tirin' ye with
my goin's on?"
"No," said Mrs. Cullom, "I'm engaged to hear ye, but nobody 'd suppose
to see ye now that ye was such a f'lorn little critter as you make out."
"It's jest as I'm tellin' ye, an' more also, as the Bible says,"
returned David, and then, rather more impressively, as if he were
leading up to his conclusion, "it come along to a time when I was 'twixt
thirteen an' fourteen. The' was a cirkis billed to show down here in
Homeville, an' ev'ry barn an' shed fer miles around had pictures stuck
onto 'em of el'phants, an' rhinoceroses, an' ev'ry animul that went into
the ark; an' girls ridin' bareback an' jumpin' through hoops, an'
fellers ridin' bareback an' turnin' summersets, an' doin' turnovers on
swings; an' clowns gettin' hoss-whipped, an' ev'ry kind of a thing that
could be pictered out; an' how the' was to be a grand percession at ten
o'clock, 'ith golden chariots, an' scripteral allegories, an' the hull
bus'nis; an' the gran' performance at two o'clock; admission twenty-five
cents, children under twelve, at cetery, an' so forth. Wa'al, I hadn't
no more idee o' goin' to that cirkis 'n I had o' flyin' to the moon, but
the night before the show somethin' waked me 'bout twelve o'clock. I
don't know how 't was. I'd ben helpin' mend fence all day, an' gen'ally
I never knowed nothin' after my head struck the bed till mornin'. But
that night, anyhow, somethin' waked me, an' I went an' looked out the
windo', an' there was the hull thing goin' by the house. The' was more
or less moon, an' I see the el'phant, an' the big wagins--the drivers
kind o' noddin' over the dashboards--an' the chariots with canvas
covers--I don't know how many of 'em--an' the cages of the tigers an'
lions, an' all. Wa'al, I got up the next mornin' at sun-up an' done my
chores; an' after breakfust I set off fer the ten-acre lot where I was
mendin' fence. The ten-acre was the farthest off of any, Homeville way,
an' I had my dinner in a tin pail so't I needn't lose no time goin'
home at noon, an', as luck would have it, the' wa'n't nobody with me
that mornin'. Wa'al, I got down to the lot an' set to work; but somehow
I couldn't git that show out o' my head nohow. As I said, I hadn't no
more notion of goin' to that cirkis 'n I had of kingdom come. I'd never
had two shillin' of my own in my hull life. But the more I thought on't
the uneasier I got. Somethin' seemed pullin' an' haulin' at me, an'
fin'ly I gin in. I allowed I'd see that percession anyway if it took a
leg, an' mebbe I c'd git back 'ithout nobody missin' me. 'T any rate,
I'd take the chances of a lickin' jest once--fer that's what it
meant--an' I up an' put fer the village lickity-cut. I done them four
mile lively, I c'n tell ye, an' the stun-bruises never hurt me once.
"When I got down to the village it seemed to me as if the hull
population of Freeland County was there. I'd never seen so many folks
together in my life, an' fer a spell it seemed to me as if ev'rybody was
a-lookin' at me an' sayin', 'That's old Harum's boy Dave, playin'
hookey,' an' I sneaked 'round dreadin' somebody 'd give me away; but I
fin'ly found that nobody wa'n't payin' any attention to me--they was
there to see the show, an' one red-headed boy more or less wa'n't no
pertic'ler account. Wa'al, putty soon the percession hove in sight, an'
the' was a reg'lar stampede among the boys, an' when it got by, I run
an' ketched up with it agin, an' walked alongside the el'phant, tin pail
an' all, till they fetched up inside the tent. Then I went off to one
side--it must 'a' ben about 'leven or half-past, an' eat my dinner--I
had a devourin' appetite--an' thought I'd jest walk round a spell, an'
then light out fer home. But the' was so many things to see an'
hear--all the side-show pictures of Fat Women, an' Livin' Skelitons; an'
Wild Women of Madygasker, an' Wild Men of Borneo; an' snakes windin'
round women's necks; hand-orgins; fellers that played the 'cordion, an'
mouth-pipes, an' drum an' cymbals all to once, an' such like--that I
fergot all about the time an' the ten-acre lot, an' the stun fence, an'
fust I knowed the folks was makin' fer the ticket wagin, an' the band
begun to play inside the tent. Be I taxin' your patience over the
limit?" said David, breaking off in his story and addressing Mrs. Cullom
more directly.
"No, I guess not," she replied; "I was jest thinkin' of a circus I went
to once," she added with an audible sigh.
"Wa'al," said David, taking a last farewell of the end of his cigar,
which he threw into the grate, "mebbe what's comin' 'll int'rest ye more
'n the rest on't has. I was standin' gawpin' 'round, list'nin' to the
band an' watchin' the folks git their tickets, when all of a suddin I
felt a twitch at my hair--it had a way of workin' out of the holes in my
old chip straw hat--an' somebody says to me, 'Wa'al, sonny, what you
thinkin' of?' he says. I looked up, an' who do you s'pose it was? It was
Billy P. Cullom! I knowed who he was, fer I'd seen him before, but of
course he didn't know me. Yes, ma'am, it was Billy P., an' wa'n't he
rigged out to kill!"
The speaker paused and looked into the fire, smiling. The woman started
forward facing him, and clasping her hands, cried, "My husband! What'd
he have on?"
"Wa'al," said David slowly and reminiscently, "near's I c'n remember, he
had on a blue broad-cloth claw-hammer coat with flat gilt buttons, an'
a double-breasted plaid velvet vest, an' pearl-gray pants, strapped down
over his boots, which was of shiny leather, an' a high pointed collar
an' blue stock with a pin in it (I remember wonderin' if it c'd be real
gold), an' a yeller-white plug beaver hat."
At the description of each article of attire Mrs. Cullom nodded her
head, with her eyes fixed on David's face, and as he concluded she broke
out breathlessly, "Oh, yes! Oh, yes! David, he wore them very same
clo'es, an' he took me to that very same show that very same night!"
There was in her face a look almost of awe, as if a sight of her
long-buried past youth had been shown to her from a coffin.
Neither spoke for a moment or two, and it was the widow who broke the
silence. As David had conjectured, she was interested at last, and sat
leaning forward with her hands clasped in her lap.
"Well," she exclaimed, "ain't ye goin' on? What did he say to ye?"
"Cert'nly, cert'nly," responded David, "I'll tell ye near 's I c'n
remember, an' I c'n remember putty near. As I told ye, I felt a twitch
at my hair, an' he said, 'What be you thinkin' about, sonny?' I looked
up at him, an' looked away quick. 'I dunno,' I says, diggin' my big toe
into the dust; an' then, I dunno how I got the spunk to, for I was shyer
'n a rat, 'Guess I was thinkin' 'bout mendin' that fence up in the
ten-acre lot's much's anythin',' I says.
"'Ain't you goin' to the cirkis?' he says.
"'I hain't got no money to go to cirkises,' I says, rubbin' the dusty
toes o' one foot over t' other, 'nor nothin' else,' I says.
"'Wa'al,' he says, 'why don't you crawl under the canvas?'
"That kind o' riled me, shy 's I was. 'I don't crawl under no canvases,'
I says. 'If I can't go in same 's other folks, I'll stay out,' I says,
lookin' square at him fer the fust time. He wa'n't exac'ly smilin', but
the' was a look in his eyes that was the next thing to it."
"Lordy me!" sighed Mrs. Cullom, as if to herself. "How well I can
remember that look; jest as if he was laughin' at ye, an' wa'n't
laughin' at ye, an' his arm around your neck!"
David nodded in reminiscent sympathy, and rubbed his bald poll with the
back of his hand.
"Wa'al," interjected the widow.
"Wa'al," said David, resuming, "he says to me, 'Would you like to go to
the cirkis?' an' with that it occurred to me that I did want to go to
that cirkis more'n anythin' I ever wanted to before--nor since, it seems
to me. But I tell ye the truth, I was so far f'm expectin' to go't I
really hadn't knowed I wanted to. I looked at him, an' then down agin,
an' began tenderin' up a stun-bruise on one heel agin the other instep,
an' all I says was, bein' so dum'd shy, 'I dunno,' I says. But I guess
he seen in my face what my feelin's was, fer he kind o' laughed an'
pulled out half-a-dollar an' says: 'D' you think you could git a couple
o' tickits in that crowd? If you kin, I think I'll go myself, but I
don't want to git my boots all dust,' he says. I allowed I c'd try; an'
I guess them bare feet o' mine tore up the dust some gettin' over to the
wagin. Wa'al, I had another scare gettin' the tickits, fer fear some one
that knowed me 'd see me with a half-a-dollar, an' think I must 'a'
stole the money. But I got 'em an' carried 'em back to him, an' he took
'em an' put 'em in his vest pocket, an' handed me a ten-cent piece, an'
says, 'Mebbe you'll want somethin' in the way of refreshments fer
yourself an' mebbe the el'phant,' he says, an' walked off toward the
tent; an' I stood stun still, lookin' after him. He got off about a rod
or so an' stopped an' looked back. 'Ain't you comin'?' he says.
"'Be I goin' with _you_?" I says.
"'Why not?' he says, ''nless you'd ruther go alone,' an' he put his
finger an' thumb into his vest pocket. Wa'al, ma'am, I looked at him a
minute, with his shiny hat an' boots, an' fine clo'es, an' gold pin, an'
thought of my ragged ole shirt, an' cotton pants, an' ole chip hat with
the brim most gone, an' my tin pail an' all. 'I ain't fit to,' I says,
ready to cry--an'--wa'al, he jest laughed, an' says, 'Nonsense,' he
says, 'come along. A man needn't be ashamed of his workin' clo'es,' he
says, an' I'm dum'd if he didn't take holt of my hand, an' in we went
that way together."
"How like him that was!" said the widow softly.
"Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am, I reckon it was," said David, nodding.
"Wa'al," he went on after a little pause, "I was ready to sink into the
ground with shyniss at fust, but that wore off some after a little, an'
we two seen the hull show, I _tell_ ye. We walked 'round the cages, an'
we fed the el'phant--that is, he bought the stuff an' I fed him. I
'member--he, he, he!--'t he says, 'mind you git the right end,' he says,
an' then we got a couple o' seats, an' the doin's begun."