The widow was looking at David with shining eyes and devouring his
words. All the years of trouble and sorrow and privation were wiped out,
and she was back in the days of her girlhood. Ah, yes! how well she
remembered him as he looked that very day--so handsome, so splendidly
dressed, so debonair; and how proud she had been to sit by his side that
night, observed and envied of all the village girls.
"I ain't goin' to go over the hull show," proceeded David, "well 's I
remember it. The' didn't nothin' git away from me that afternoon, an'
once I come near to stickin' a piece o' gingerbread into my ear 'stid o'
my mouth. I had my ten-cent piece that Billy P. give me, but he wouldn't
let me buy nothin'; an' when the gingerbread man come along he says,
'Air ye hungry, Dave? (I'd told him my name), air ye hungry?' Wa'al, I
was a growin' boy, an' I was hungry putty much all the time. He bought
two big squares an' gin me one, an' when I'd swallered it, he says,
'Guess you better tackle this one too,' he says, 'I've dined.' I didn't
exac'ly know what 'dined' meant, but--he, he, he, he!--I tackled it,"
and David smacked his lips in memory.
"Wa'al," he went on, "we done the hull programmy--gingerbread,
lemonade--_pink_ lemonade, an' he took some o' that--pop corn, peanuts,
pep'mint candy, cin'mun candy--scat my ----! an' he payin' fer
ev'rythin'--I thought he was jest made o' money! An' I remember how we
talked about all the doin's; the ridin', an' jumpin', an' summersettin',
an' all--fer he'd got all the shyniss out of me for the time--an' once I
looked up at him, an' he looked down at me with that curious look in his
eyes an' put his hand on my shoulder. Wa'al, now, I tell ye, I had a
queer, crinkly feelin' go up an' down my back, an' I like to up an'
cried."
"Dave," said the widow, "I kin see you two as if you was settin' there
front of me. He was alwus like that. Oh, my! Oh, my! David," she added
solemnly, while two tears rolled slowly down her wrinkled face, "we
lived together, husban' an' wife, fer seven year, an' he never give me a
cross word."
"I don't doubt it a mossel," said David simply, leaning over and poking
the fire, which operation kept his face out of her sight and was
prolonged rather unduly. Finally he straightened up and, blowing his
nose as it were a trumpet, said:
"Wa'al, the cirkis fin'ly come to an end, an' the crowd hustled to git
out 's if they was afraid the tent 'd come down on 'em. I got kind o'
mixed up in 'em, an' somebody tried to git my tin pail, or I thought he
did, an' the upshot was that I lost sight o' Billy P., an' couldn't make
out to ketch a glimpse of him nowhere. An' _then_ I kind o' come down to
earth, kerchug! It was five o'clock, an' I had better 'n four mile to
walk--mostly up hill--an' if I knowed anything 'bout the old man, an' I
thought I _did_, I had the all-firedist lickin' ahead of me 't I'd ever
got, an' that was sayin' a good deal. But, boy 's I was, I had grit
enough to allow 't was wuth it, an' off I put."
"Did he lick ye much?" inqured Mrs. Cullom anxiously.
"Wa'al," replied David, "he done his best. He was layin' fer me when I
struck the front gate--I knowed it wa'n't no use to try the back door,
an' he took me by the ear--most pulled it off--an' marched me off to the
barn shed without a word. I never see him so mad. Seemed like he
couldn't speak fer a while, but fin'ly he says, 'Where you ben all day?'
"'Down t' the village,' I says.
"'What you ben up to down there?' he says.
"'Went to the cirkis,' I says, thinkin' I might 's well make a clean
breast on't.
"'Where 'd you git the money?' he says.
"'Mr. Cullom took me,' I says.
"'You lie,' he says. 'You stole the money somewheres, an' I'll trounce
it out of ye, if I kill ye,' he says.
"Wa'al," said David, twisting his shoulders in recollection, "I won't
harrer up your feelin's. 'S I told you, he done his best. I was willin'
to quit long 'fore he was. Fact was, he overdone it a little, an' he had
to throw water in my face 'fore he got through; an' he done that as
thorough as the other thing. I was somethin' like a chickin jest out o'
the cistern. I crawled off to bed the best I could, but I didn't lay on
my back fer a good spell, I c'n tell ye."
"You poor little critter," exclaimed Mrs. Cullom sympathetically. "You
poor little critter!"
"'T was more'n wuth it, Mis' Cullom," said David emphatically. "I'd had
the most enjoy'ble day, I might say the only enjoy'ble day, 't I'd ever
had in my hull life, an' I hain't never fergot it. I got over the
lickin' in course of time, but I've ben enjoyin' that cirkis fer forty
year. The' wa'n't but one thing to hender, an' that's this, that I
hain't never ben able to remember--an' to this day I lay awake nights
tryin' to--that I said 'Thank ye' to Billy P., an' I never seen him
after that day."
"How's that?" asked Mrs. Cullom.
"Wa'al," was the reply, "that day was the turnin' point with me. The
next night I lit out with what duds I c'd git together, an' as much grub
's I could pack in that tin pail; an' the next time I see the old house
on Buxton Hill the' hadn't ben no Harums in it fer years."
Here David rose from his chair, yawned and stretched himself, and stood
with his back to the fire. The widow looked up anxiously into his face.
"Is that all?" she asked after a while.
"Wa'al, it is an' it ain't. I've got through yarnin' about Dave Harum at
any rate, an' mebbe we'd better have a little confab on your matters,
seein' 't I've got you 'way up here such a mornin' 's this. I gen'ally
do bus'nis fust an' talkin' afterward," he added, "but I kind o' got to
goin' an' kept on this time."
He put his hand into the breast pocket of his coat and took out three
papers, which he shuffled in review as if to verify their identity, and
then held them in one hand, tapping them softly upon the palm of the
other, as if at a loss how to begin. The widow sat with her eyes
fastened upon the papers, trembling with nervous apprehension.
Presently he broke the silence.
"About this here morgidge o' your'n," he said, "I sent ye word that I
wanted to close the matter up, an' seein' 't you're here an' come fer
that purpose, I guess we'd better make a job on't. The' ain't no time
like the present, as the sayin' is."
"I s'pose it'll hev to be as you say," said the widow in a shaking
voice.
"Mis' Cullom," said David solemnly, "_you_ know, an' I know, that I've
got the repitation of bein' a hard, graspin', schemin' man. Mebbe I be.
Mebbe I've ben hard done by all my hull life, an' have had to be; an'
mebbe, now 't I've got ahead some, it's got to be second nature, an' I
can't seem to help it. 'Bus'nis is bus'nis' ain't part of the golden
rule, I allow, but the way it gen'ally runs, fur 's I've found out, is,
'Do unto the other feller the way he'd like to do unto you, an' do it
fust.' But, if you want to keep this thing a-runnin' as it's goin' on
now fer a spell longer, say one year, or two, or even three, you may,
only I've got somethin' to say to ye 'fore ye elect."
"Wa'al," said the poor woman, "I expect it 'd only be pilin' up wrath
agin' the day o' wrath. I can't pay the int'rist now without starvin',
an' I hain't got no one to bid in the prop'ty fer me if it was to be
sold."
"Mis' Cullom," said David, "I said I'd got somethin' more to tell ye,
an' if, when I git through, you don't think I've treated you right,
includin' this mornin's confab, I hope you'll fergive me. It's this, an'
I'm the only person livin' that 's knowin' to it, an' in fact I may say
that I'm the only person that ever was really knowin' to it. It was
before you was married, an' I'm sure he never told ye, fer I don't doubt
he fergot all about it, but your husband, Billy P. Cullom, that was,
made a small investment once on a time, yes, ma'am, he did, an' in his
kind of careless way it jest slipped his mind. The amount of cap'tal he
put in wa'n't large, but the rate of int'rist was uncommon high. Now, he
never drawed no dividends on't, an' they've ben 'cumulatin' fer forty
year, more or less, at compound int'rist."
The widow started forward, as if to rise from her seat. David put his
hand out gently and said, "Jest a minute, Mis' Cullom, jest a minute,
till I git through. Part o' that cap'tal," he resumed, "consistin' of a
quarter an' some odd cents, was invested in the cirkis bus'nis, an' the
rest on't--the cap'tal, an' all the cash cap'tal that I started in
bus'nis with--was the ten cents your husband give me that day, an'
here," said David, striking the papers in his left hand with the back of
his right, "_here_ is the _dividends_! This here second morgidge, not
bein' on record, may jest as well go onto the fire--it's gettin'
low--an' here's a satisfaction piece which I'm goin' to execute now,
that'll clear the thousan' dollar one. Come in here, John," he called
out.
The widow stared at David for a moment speechless, but as the
significance of his words dawned upon her, the blood flushed darkly in
her face. She sprang to her feet and, throwing up her arms, cried out:
"My Lord! My Lord! Dave! Dave Harum! Is it true?--tell me it's true! You
ain't foolin' me, air ye, Dave? You wouldn't fool a poor old woman that
never done ye no harm, nor said a mean word agin ye, would ye? Is it
true? an' is my place clear? an' I don't owe nobody anythin'--I mean, no
money? Tell it agin. Oh, tell it agin! Oh, Dave! it's too good to be
true! Oh! Oh! Oh, _my_! an' here I be cryin' like a great baby, an',
an'"--fumbling in her pocket--"I do believe I hain't got no
hank'chif--Oh, thank ye," to John; "I'll do it up an' send it back
to-morrer. Oh, what made ye do it, Dave?"
"Set right down an' take it easy, Mis' Cullom," said David soothingly,
putting his hands on her shoulders and gently pushing her back into her
chair. "Set right down an' take it easy.--Yes," to John, "I acknowledge
that I signed that."
He turned to the widow, who sat wiping her eyes with John's
handkerchief.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, "It's as true as anythin' kin be. I wouldn't no
more fool ye, ye know I wouldn't, don't ye? than I'd--jerk a hoss," he
asseverated. "Your place is clear now, an' by this time to-morro' the'
won't be the scratch of a pen agin it. I'll send the satisfaction over
fer record fust thing in the mornin'."
"But, Dave," protested the widow, "I s'pose ye know what you're
doin'--?"
"Yes," he interposed, "I cal'late I do, putty near. You ast me why I
done it, an' I'll tell ye if ye want to know. I'm payin' off an old
score, an' gettin' off cheap, too. That's what I'm doin'! I thought I'd
hinted up to it putty plain, seein' 't I've talked till my jaws ache;
but I'll sum it up to ye if you like."
He stood with his feet aggressively wide apart, one hand in his
trousers pocket, and holding in the other the "morgidge," which he waved
from time to time in emphasis.
"You c'n estimate, I reckon," he began, "what kind of a bringin'-up I
had, an' what a poor, mis'able, God-fersaken, scairt-to-death little
forlorn critter I was; put upon, an' snubbed, an' jawed at till I'd come
to believe myself--what was rubbed into me the hull time--that I was the
most all-'round no-account animul that was ever made out o' dust, an'
wa'n't ever likely to be no diff'rent. Lookin' back, it seems to me
that--exceptin' of Polly--I never had a kind word said to me, nor a
day's fun. Your husband, Billy P. Cullom, was the fust man that ever
treated me human up to that time. He give me the only enjoy'ble time 't
I'd ever had, an' I don't know 't anythin' 's ever equaled it since. He
spent money on me, an' he give me money to spend--that had never had a
cent to call my own--_an'_, Mis' Cullom, he took me by the hand, an' he
talked to me, an' he gin me the fust notion 't I'd ever had that mebbe I
wa'n't only the scum o' the earth, as I'd ben teached to believe. I told
ye that that day was the turnin' point of my life. Wa'al, it wa'n't the
lickin' I got, though that had somethin' to do with it, but I'd never
have had the spunk to run away's I did if it hadn't ben for the
heartenin' Billy P. gin me, an' never knowed it, an' never knowed it,"
he repeated mournfully. "I alwus allowed to pay some o' that debt back
to him, but seein' 's I can't do that, Mis' Cullom, I'm glad an'
thankful to pay it to his widdo'."
"Mebbe he knows, Dave," said Mrs. Cullom softly.
"Mebbe he does," assented David in a low voice.
Neither spoke for a time, and then the widow said: "David, I can't thank
ye 's I ought ter--I don't know how--but I'll pray for ye night an'
mornin' 's long 's I got breath. An', Dave," she added humbly, "I want
to take back what I said about the Lord's providin'."
She sat a moment, lost in her thoughts, and then exclaimed, "Oh, it
don't seem 's if I c'd wait to write to Charley!"
"I've wrote to Charley," said David, "an' told him to sell out there an'
come home, an' to draw on me fer any balance he needed to move him. I've
got somethin' in my eye that'll be easier an' better payin' than
fightin' grasshoppers an' drought in Kansas."
"Dave Harum!" cried the widow, rising to her feet, "you ought to 'a' ben
a king!"
"Wa'al," said David with a grin, "I don't know much about the kingin'
bus'nis, but I guess a cloth cap 'n' a hoss whip 's more 'n my line than
a crown an' scepter. An' now," he added, "'s we've got through 'th our
bus'nis, s'pose you step over to the house an' see Polly. She's
expectin' on ye to dinner. Oh, yes," replying to the look of deprecation
in her face as she viewed her shabby frock, "you an' Polly c'n prink up
some if you want to, but we can't take 'No' fer an answer Chris'mus day,
clo'es or no clo'es."
"I'd really like ter," said Mrs. Cullom.
"All right then," said David cheerfully. "The path is swep' by this
time, I guess, an' I'll see ye later. Oh, by the way," he exclaimed,
"the's somethin' I fergot. I want to make you a proposition, ruther an
onusual one, but seein' ev'rythin' is as 't is, perhaps you'll consider
it."
"Dave," declared the widow, "if I could, an' you ast for it, I'd give ye
anythin' on the face o' this mortal globe!"
"Wa'al," said David, nodding and smiling, "I thought that mebbe, long 's
you got the int'rist of that investment we ben talkin' about, you'd let
me keep what's left of the princ'pal. Would ye like to see it?"
Mrs. Cullom looked at him with a puzzled expression without replying.
David took from his pocket a large wallet, secured by a strap, and,
opening it, extracted something enveloped in much faded brown paper.
Unfolding this, he displayed upon his broad fat palm an old silver dime
black with age.
"There's the cap'tal," he said.