"I don't believe he'll bite," said Florence. "I bet he likes me. He
looks like he was taking a fancy to me, Kitty Silver. What's his name?"
"Gammire."
"What?"
"Gammire."
"What a funny name! Are you sure, Kitty Silver?"
"Gammire whut you' Aunt Julia tole _me_," Mrs. Silver insisted. "You kin
go on in the house an' ast her; she'll tell you the same."
"Well, anyway, I'm not afraid of him," said Florence; and she stepped
closer to the poodle, extending her hand to caress him. Then she shouted
as the dog, at her gesture, rose to his hind legs, and, as far as the
leash permitted, walked forward to meet her. She flung her arms about
him rapturously.
"Oh, the lovely thing!" she cried. "He walks on his hind legs! Why, he's
crazy about me!"
"Let him go," said Herbert. "I bet he don't like you any more than he
does anybody else. Leave go of him, and I bet he shows he likes me
better than he does you."
But when Florence released him, Gammire caressed them both impartially.
He leaped upon one, then upon the other, and then upon Kitty Silver with
a cordiality that almost unseated her.
"Let him off the leash," Florence cried. "He won't run away, 'cause the
gates are shut. Let him loose and see what he'll do."
Mrs. Silver snapped the catch of the leash, and Gammire departed in the
likeness of a ragged black streak. With his large and eccentric ears
flapping back in the wind and his afterpart hunched in, he ran round and
round the little orchard like a dog gone wild. Altogether a comedian,
when he heard children shrieking with laughter, he circled the more
wildly; then all upon an unexpected instant came to a dead halt, facing
his audience, his nose on the ground between his two forepaws, his
hindquarters high and unstooping. And, seeing they laughed at this, too,
he gave them enough of it, then came back to Kitty Silver and sat by
her feet, a spiral of pink tongue hanging from a wide-open mouth roofed
with black.
Florence resumed the peeling of her orange.
"Who do you _think_ gave Gammire to Aunt Julia?" she asked.
"I ain't stedyin' about it."
"Yes, but who do you _guess_?"
"I ain't----"
"Well, but if you had to be burned to death or guess somebody, who would
you guess?"
"I haf to git burn' up," said Kitty Silver. "Ev'y las' caller whut comes
here _is_ give her some doggone animal awready. Mista Sammerses, he give
her them two Berjum cats, an' ole Mister Ridgways whut los' his wife, he
give you' Aunt Julia them two canaries that tuck an' hopped out the cage
an' then out the window, las' week, one day, when you' grampaw was alone
in the room with 'em; an' Mista George Plummers, he give her that
Airydale dog you' grampaw tuck an' give to the milkman; an' Mista
Ushers, he give her them two pups whut you' grampaw tuck an' skeer off
the place soon as he laid eyes on 'em, an' thishere Mista Clairidge, he
give her that ole live allagatuh from Florida whut I foun' lookin' at
me over the aidge o' my kitchen sink--ugly ole thing!--an' you' grampaw
tuck an' give it to the greenhouse man. Ain't none nem ge'lmun goin' try
an' give her no _mo'_ animals, I bet! So how anybody goin' guess who
sen' her thishere Gammire? Nobody lef' whut ain't awready sen' her one
an' had the gift spile."
"Yes, there is," said Florence.
"Who?"
"Noble Dill."
"That there li'l young Mista Dills?" Kitty Silver cried. "Listen me!
Thishere dog 'spensive dog."
"I don't care; I bet Noble Dill gave him to her."
Mrs. Silver hooted. "Go way! That there young li'l Mista Dills, he ain'
nev' did show no class, no way nor no time. He be hunderd year ole b'fo'
you see him in autamobile whut b'long to him. Look at a way some nem
fine big rich men like Mista Clairidge an' Mista Ridgways take an' th'ow
they money aroun'! New necktie ev'y time you see 'em; new straw hat
right spang the firs' warm day. Ring do' bell. I say, I say: 'Walk right
in, Mista Ridgways.' Slip me dollah bill dess like that! Mista Sammerses
an' Mista Plummers, an' some nem others, they all show class. Look Mista
Sammerses' spectickles made turtle back; fancy turtle, too. I ast Miss
Julia; she tell me they fancy turtle. Gol' rim spectickles ain't in it;
no ma'am! Mista Sammerses' spectickles--jes' them rims on his
spectickles alone--I bet they cos' mo'n all whut thishere young li'l
Mista Dills got on him from his toes up an' his skin out. I bet Mista
Plummers th'ow mo' money aroun' dess fer gittin' his pants press' than
whut Mista Dills afford to spen' to buy his'n in the firs' place! He
lose his struggle, 'cause you' Aunt Julia, she out fer the big class.
Thishere Gammire, he dog cos' money; he show class same you' Aunt Julia.
Ain't neither one of 'em got to waste they time on nobody whut can't
show no mo' class than thishere li'l young dish-cumbobbery Mista Dills!"
"I don't care," Florence said stubbornly. "He could of saved up and
saved up, and if he saved up long enough he could of got enough money to
buy a dog like Gammire, because you can get money enough for anything if
you're willing to save up long enough. Anyway, I bet he's the one gave
him to her."
Herbert joined Kitty Silver in laughter. "Florence is always talkin'
about Noble Dill," he said. "She's sort of crazy, anyway, though."
[Illustration: _"Herbert attempted to continue the drowning out. He
bawled, 'She made it up! It's somep'n she made up herself! She----'"_]
"It runs in the family," Florence retorted, automatically. "I caught it
from my cousins. Anyhow, I don't think there's a single one of any that
wants to marry Aunt Julia that's got the slightest co'parison to Noble
Dill. I admire him because he's so uncouth."
"He so who?" Kitty Silver inquired.
"Uncouth."
"Yes'm," said Mrs. Silver.
"It's in the ditchanary," Florence explained. "It means rare, elegant,
exquisite, obs, unknown, and a whole lot else."
"It does not," Herbert interposed. "It means kind of countrified."
"You go look in the ditchanary," his cousin said severely. "Then, maybe,
you'll know what you're talkin' about just for once. Anyhow, I _do_ like
Noble Dill, and I bet so does Aunt Julia."
Kitty Silver shook her head. "He lose his struggle, honey! Miss Julia,
she out fer the big class. She ain't stedyin' about him 'cept maybe dess
to let him run her erran's. She treat 'em all mighty nice, 'cause the
mo' come shovin' an' pushin' each other aroun', class or no class, why,
the mo' harder that big class got to work to git her--an' the mo' she
got after her the mo' keeps a-comin'. But thishere young li'l Mista
Dills, I kine o' got strong notion he liable not come no mo' 'tall!" Her
tone had become one of reminiscent amusement, which culminated in a
burst of laughter. "Whee!" she concluded. "After las' night, I reckon
thishere Mista Dills better keep away from the place--yes'm!"
Florence looked thoughtful, and for the time said nothing. It was
Herbert who asked: "Why'd Noble Dill better stay away from here?"
"You' grampaw," Mrs. Silver said, shaking her head. "You' grampaw!"
"What about grandpa?" said Herbert. "What'd he do last night?"
"'Do'? Oh, me!" Then Mrs. Silver uttered sounds like the lowing of kine,
whereby she meant to indicate her inability to describe Mr. Atwater's
performance. "Well, ma'am," she said, in the low and husky voice of
simulated exhaustion, "all I got to say: you' grampaw beat hisse'f! He
beat hisse'f!"
"How d'you mean? How could he----"
"He beat hisse'f! He dess out-talk hisse'f! No, ma'am; I done hear him
many an' many an' many's the time, but las' night he beat hisse'f."
"What about?"
"Nothin' in the wide worl' but dess thishere young li'l Noble Dills whut
we talkin' about this livin' minute."
"What started him?"
"Whut _start_ him?" Mrs. Silver echoed with sudden loudness. "My
goo'niss! He _b'en_ started ev' since the very firs' time he ev' lay
eyes on him prancin' up the front walk to call on Miss Julia. You'
grampaw don' like none nem callers, but he everlas'n'ly did up an' take
a true spite on thishere li'l Dills!"
"I mean," said Herbert, "what started him last night?"
"Them cigareets," said Kitty Silver. "Them cigareets whut thishere Noble
Dills smoke whiles he settin' out on the front po'che callin' on you'
Aunt Julia. You' grampaw mighty funny man about smellin'! You know's
well's I do he don't even like the smell o' violet. Well, ma'am, if he
can't stan' _violet_, how in the name o' misery he goin' stan' the smell
nem cigareets thishere Dills smoke? I can't hardly stan' 'em myse'f.
When he light one on the front po'che, she sif' all through the house,
an' come slidin' right the whole way out to my kitchen, an' _bim_! she
take me in the nose! You' grampaw awready tole Miss Julia time an' time
again if that li'l Dills light dess one mo' on his front po'che he goin'
to walk out there an' do some harm! Co'se she nev' tuck an' pay no
'tention, 'cause Miss Julia, she nev' pay no 'tention to nobody; an' she
like caller have nice time--she ain' goin' tell 'em you' grampaw make
such a fuss. 'Yes, 'deed, kine frien',' she say, she say, when they ast
her: 'Miss Julia, ma'am,' they say, 'I like please strike a match fer to
light my cigareet if you please, ma'am.' She say: 'Light as many as you
please, kine frien',' she say, she say. She say: 'Smell o' cigareet dess
deligh'ful li'l smell,' she say. 'Go 'head an' smoke all you kin stan','
she say, ''cause I want you injoy you'se'f when you pay call on me,' she
say. Well, so thishere young li'l Dills settin' there puffin' an'
blowin' his ches' out and in, an' feelin' all nice 'cause it about the
firs' time this livin' summer he catch you' Aunt Julia alone to hisse'f
fer while--an' all time the house dess fillin' up, an' draf' blowin'
straight at you' grampaw whur he settin' in his liberry. Ma'am, he sen'
me out an' tell her come in, he got message mighty important fer to
speak to her. So she tell thishere Dills wait a minute, an' walk in the
liberry. Oh, ladies!"
"What'd he say?" Herbert asked eagerly.
"He di'n' say nothin'," Mrs. Silver replied eloquently. "He hollered."
"What did he holler?"
"He want know di'n' he never tell her thishere Dills can't smoke no mo'
cigareets on his property, an' di'n' he tell her he was'n' goin' allow
him on the place if he did? He say she got to go back on the po'che an'
run thishere li'l Dills off home. He say he give her fair choice; she
kin run him off, or else he go on out and chase him away hisse'f. He
claim li'l Dills ain' got no biznuss roun' callin' nowhere 't all,
'cause he on'y make about eighteen dollars a week an' ain't wuth it. He
say----"
She was confirmed in this report by an indignant interruption from
Florence. "That's just what he did say, the old thing! I heard him,
myself, and if you care to ask _me_, I'll be glad to inform you that I
think grandpa's conduck was simply insulting!"
"'Deed it were!" said Mrs. Silver. "An' dess whut he claim hisse'f he
mean it fer! But you tell me, please, how you hear whut you' grampaw
say? He mighty noisy, but you nev' could a-hear him plumb to whur you
live."
"I wasn't home," said Florence. "I was over here."
"Then you mus' 'a' made you'se'f mighty skimpish, 'cause _I_ ain't seen
you!"
"Nobody saw me. I wasn't in the house," said Florence, "I was out in
front."
"Whurbouts 'out in front'?"
"Well, I was sitting on the ground, up against the latticework of the
front porch."
"Whut fur?"
"Well, it was dark," said Florence. "I just kind of wanted to see what
might be going on."
"An' you hear all whut you' grampaw take on about an' ev'ything?"
"I should say so! You could of heard him _lots_ farther than where I
was."
"Lan' o' misery!" Kitty Silver cried. "If you done hear him whur you
was, thishere li'l Dills mus' a-hear him _mighty_ plain?"
"He did. How could he help it? He heard every word, and pretty soon he
came down off the porch and stood a minute; then he went on out the
gate, and I don't know whether he went home or not, because it was too
dark to see. But he didn't come back."
"Yo' right he didn'!" exclaimed Mrs. Silver. "I reckon he got fo'thought
'nough fer that, anyhow! I bet he ain't nev' _goin'_ come back neither.
You' grampaw say he goin' be fix fer him, if he do."
"Yes, that was while he was standing there," said Florence ruefully. "He
heard all that, too."
"Miss Julia, she s'picion' he done hear somep'm 'nother, I guess," Kitty
Silver went on. "She shet the liberry do' right almos' on you' grampaw's
nose, whiles he still a-rampin', an' she slip out on the po'che, an'
take look 'roun'; then go on up to her own room. I 'uz up there, while
after that, turn' down her bed; an' she injoyin' herse'f readin' book.
She feel kine o' put out, I reckon, but she ain't stedyin' about no
young li'l Dills. She want 'em all to have nice time an' like her, but
she goin' lose this one, an' she got plenty to spare. She show too much
class fer to fret about no Dills."
"I don't care," said Florence. "I think she ought to whether she does or
not, because I bet he was feeling just awful. And I think grandpa
behaved like an ole hoodlum."
"That'll do," Herbert admonished her sternly. "You show some respect for
your relations, if you please."
But his loyalty to the Atwater family had a bad effect on Florence. "Oh,
_will_ I?" she returned promptly. "Well, then, if you care to inquire
_my_ opinion, I just politely think grandpa ought to be hanged."
"See here----"
But Florence and Kitty Silver interrupted him simultaneously.
"Look at _that_!" Florence cried.
"My name!" exclaimed Kitty Silver.
It was the strange taste of Gammire that so excited them. Florence had
peeled her orange and divided it rather fairly into three parts, but the
vehemence she exerted in speaking of her grandfather had caused her to
drop one of these upon the ground. Gammire promptly ate it, "sat up" and
adjusted his paws in prayer for more.
"Now you listen me!" said Kitty Silver. "I ain't see no dog eat orange
in all my days, an' I ain't see nobody else whut see dog eat orange! No,
ma'am, an' I ain't nev' hear o' nobody else whut ev' see nobody whut see
dog eat orange!"
Herbert decided to be less impressed. "Oh, I've heard of dogs that'd eat
apples," he said. "Yes, and watermelon and nuts and things." As he
spoke he played with the tennis ball upon his racket, and concluded by
striking the ball high into the air. Its course was not true; and it
descended far over toward the orchard, where Herbert ran to catch
it--but he was not quick enough. At the moment the ball left the racket
Gammire abandoned his prayers: his eyes, like a careful fielder's,
calculating and estimating, followed the swerve of the ball in the
breeze, and when it fell he was on the correct spot. He caught it.
Herbert shouted. "He caught it on the _fly_! It must have been an
accident. Here----" And he struck the ball into the air again. It went
high--twice as high as the house--and again Gammire "judged" it;
continuously shifting his position, his careful eyes never leaving the
little white globe, until just before the last instant of its descent he
was motionless beneath it. He caught it again, and Herbert whooped.
Gammire brought the ball to him and invited him to proceed with the
game. That there might be no mistaking his desire, Gammire "sat up" and
prayed; nor did he find Herbert anything loth. Out of nine chances
Gammire "muffed" the ball only twice, both times excusably, and
Florence once more flung her arms about the willing performer.
"_Who_ do you s'pose trained this wonderful, darling doggie?" she cried.
Mrs. Silver shook her marvelling head. "He mus' 'a' _come_ thataway,"
she said. "I bet nobody 't all ain' train him; he do whut he want to
hisse'f. That Gammire don' ast nobody to train him."
"Oh, goodness!" Florence said, with sudden despondency. "It's awful!"
"Whut is?"
"To think of as lovely a dog as this having to face grandpa!"
"'Face' him!" Kitty Silver echoed forebodingly. "I reckon you' grampaw
do mo'n dess 'face' him."
"That's what I mean," Florence explained. "I expect he's just brute
enough to drive him off."
"Yes'm," said Mrs. Silver. "He git madder ev'y time somebody sen' her
new pet. You' grampaw mighty nervous man, an' everlas'n'ly do hate
animals."
"He hasn't seen Gammire, has he?"
"Don't look like it, do it?" said Kitty Silver. "Dog here yit."
"Well, then I----" Florence paused, glancing at Herbert, for she had
just been visited by a pleasant idea and had no wish to share it with
him. "Is Aunt Julia in the house?"
"She were, li'l while ago."
"I want to see her about somep'n I ought to see her about," said
Florence. "I'll be out in a minute."