第21章

Hisexpressionchanged。Heknockedtheashesfromhiscigarandfrowned。

"Isee，"hesneered。"Humph！Well，I’vetriedtomakeitplaintoyoufellowsdownherethatIcouldn’tbeheldup。IthoughtI’ddoneit，butevidentlyIhaven’t。Fivehundredisagoodpriceforthatland。Fivethousandisridiculous，butIgaveyoumyreasonsforbeingwillingtoberobbedthatmuch。That，however，isthelimit。I’llgiveyoufivethousand，butnotanothercent。Youcantakeitorgetout。"

Thiswasbetter。WhenhetalkedlikethatIcouldanswerhimandenjoyit。

"I’llgetoutveryshortly，"Isaid。"YouarenomoreanxioustohavethathappenthanIam。Idon’twantyourothercent。Idon’twantyourfivethousanddollars。I’llsellyouthelandononecondition——no，ontwo。Thefirstisthatyoupaymethirty—fivehundreddollarsforit。"

"WHAT？"

Ihadupsethiscomposurethistime。Heforgottosneer；heevenforgottosmoke。

"What？"hecriedagain。"Thirty—fivehundred！Why，Iofferedyou——"

"Iknowyouroffer。Thisismine：Iwillsellyouthelandforthirty—fivehundred，andnotanothercent。That，asyousay，isthelimit。Youcantakeitor——orIwillfollowyoursuggestionandgetout。"

Welookedateachother。Hisfingersmovedtowardthematchboxonthetable。Hetookamatch，scratchedit，andheldittotheendofhiscigar。Thenhetookthecigarfromhislips，blewoutthematchandtossedthelatterintothefireplace。

"Whatisthesecondcondition？"heasked，abruptly。

"Thatyoupaymeincash，inmoneyandnotbycheck，atonce。"

"Atonce？Now，doyoumean？"

"Yes，now。To—nightifpossible；ifnot，nolaterthannineo’clockto—morrowmorning。"

"Humph！DoyouthinkIcarrythirty—fivehundredlooseinmychangepocket？"

"Idon’tknow。Butthatisthesecondcondition。"

"Humph！……Lookhere，Paine；what——？Iofferedyouthefivethousand。Thatofferholdsgood。"

"Idon’tacceptit。Iwillsellforthirty—fivehundred；nomoreandnoless。"

"Butwhynotmore？"

"Idon’tknow。Yes，Ido，too。Yousaidoncethatyouwerewillingtopayforty—fivehundredfortheprivilegeofhavingyourownway。PerhapsIamwillingtosacrificefifteenhundredfortheprivilegeofhavingmine。AtalleventsImeanwhatIsay。"

"Butwhyjustthirty—five？Wouldn’tyoutakethirty—six？"

"No。Itisuselesstoargue，Mr。Colton，anduselesstoaskmyreasons。Ihavethem，andthatisenough。WillyouacceptMY

offer？"

Hehesitated。Thesneerhadlefthisfaceandhistonewhenheaddressedmewasrespectful，thoughtherewasacuriousnoteofchagrinordissatisfactioninit。Ihadexpectedhimtobeeagerand，perhaps，mockinglytriumphant。Hewasnot。Heseemedreluctant，almostdisappointed。

"IsupposeI’llhaveto，"hesaid。"But，Paine，whatisup？Whyareyoudoingthis？You’renotafraidofme？No，ofcourseyou’renot。You’renotthekindtosquealandliedownbecauseyouthinktheoddsareagainstyou……Confoundyou！"withasuddenburstofimpatience，"youareenoughtoupsetalltheself—conceitaman’sgotinhim。JustasIthinkI’mbeginningtosizeyouupyoubreaklooseinanewplace。"

"Pardonme，"Iputin，"butIdon’tseethatyouarehelpingtosavethatvaluabletimeofyours。Iunderstandthatyouaccept。

Willyoupaymenow？"

Herose，threwawayhiscigar，and，withhishandsinhispockets，stoodregardingme。

"Yourmindismadeup，isit？"heasked。

"Yes。"

"Humph！HaveyouthoughtofwhatourmutualfriendDeanandtherestofthepatriotsmaysaywhentheyfindthisout？"

Ihadthoughtoflittleelseallthewayfromthebanktohisdoor。

Iwasthinkingofitthen。

"Ofcourse，"headded，"thatisnotmyaffair，but——"

"Itisnot。"

"You’reright；itisn’t。Still——hangitall，Paine！Idon’toftenfeelanycompunctionswhenIbeatafellowinagamelikethis，andIdidintendtohavemyownwayinthisone——"

"Well，you’rehavingit，aren’tyou？"Iputin。"Whytalksomuchaboutit？"

"BecauseIamnotsosureIamhavingit。OfcourseIcanseethat，forsomereasonorother，youneedthirty—fivehundreddollars。Anyonebutyou，iftheyweregoingtosell，wouldgetthelastdimetheycouldsqueeze。Youwon’t，becauseyouareaspig—

headedas——as——"

"Oh，docutitshort，"Isnapped。Andthen，atrifleashamedofmyrudeness，"Excuseme，Mr。Colton，butthisisn’texactlypleasantformeandIwanttogetitover。Willyoupaymenow？"

"Holdon；letmefinish。Iwasgoingtosaythat，ifyouneededthethirty—five，perhapsIcouldmanagetoletyouhaveit。"

Istaredathim。"Letmehaveit！"Icried。"Doyoumeanyou’lllendittome？"

"Why，yes，maybe。YouandIhavehadsuchafirst—rate，square，standupfightthatIratherhatetohaveitend。Iwanttolickyou，nothaveyouquitbeforeI’vereallybeguntofight。There’snofoolphilanthropyinthis，understand；itisjustformyownsatisfaction。"

IwassotakenabackbythistotallyunexpectedofferfromthemanwhomIhadinsultedadozentimessinceIenteredhishouse，thatI

founditalmostimpossibletoanswer。

"Whatdoyousay？"heasked。

"No，"Ifaltered。Andthenmorefirmly，"No；certainlynot。I——I

ammuchobligedtoyou，Mr。Colton，but——no。"

"Allright。Youknowbest。I’lltakeyourofferandIwillhandyouthemoneyatthebankto—morrowmorning。Willthatdo？"

"Notatthebank，Mr。Colton。Senditovertothehouse，ifyoucanconveniently。"

"I’llhaveitherebeforeten。Mylawyerwilldrawupthepapersandarrangefortransferoftitleinafewdays。What？Going，areyou？Goodnight。Oh——er——Paine，rememberthatmyotheroffer，thatoftheplaceinmyoffice，isopenwhenyou’rereadytotakeit。"

Ishookmyhead。Ihadturnedtogo，butnowIturnedback，feelingthat，perhaps，Ishouldapologizeagainformyrudeness。

Afterall，hehadbeenkind，verykind，andIhadscarcelythankedhim。SoIturnedbacktosaysomething，Ihardlyknewwhat。

Mydoingsowasamistake。Thedoorbehindmeopenedandavoicesaidreproachfully，"Father，areyoustillhere？Thedoctorsaid……Oh，Ibegpardon。"

Irecognizedthevoice。OfallvoicesintheworldIwishedleasttohearitjustthen。MybackwastowardthedoorandIkeptitso。Ifshewouldonlygo！Ifshewouldonlyshutthatdoorandgoaway！

Ithinkshewouldhavegonebutherfathercalledher。

"Mabel，"hecried，"Mabel，don’tgo。It’sallright。Comein。

PaineandIhavefinishedourtalk。Nothingmoreyouwishedtosay，wasthere，Paine？"

"No，"saidI。Iwasobligedtoturnnow；Icouldnotgetoutofthatroomwithoutdoingit。SoturnIdid，andwefacedeachother。

"Goodevening，MissColton，"Isaid，withallthecalmnessIcouldmuster。

Shesaid，"Goodevening，"distantlyandwithoutanyenthusiasm，butIsawherglanceatherfatherandthenatmeandIknewshewaswonderingwhatourbeingtogethercouldpossiblymean。

"Painehasbeenmakingmealittlecall，"explainedColton，hiseyetwinkling。"Mabel，I’llriskanotherbetthatyoucan’tguesswhyhecame。"

"Ishallnottry，"shesaid，disdainfully。

"Oh，you’dbetter！No？Youwon’t？Well，then，I’lltellyou。Hehasjustsoldmethatlandofhis……Don’tlookatmelikethat；hehas。Wehadalittledisagreementastoprice，but，"withagrin，"Imethisfiguresandweclosedthedeal。Aren’tyougoingtocongratulatehimonhavingcometohissensesatlast？

Come！he’swaitingforcongratulations。"

Thiswasnottrue。Iwaswaitingfornothing；Iwasonmywaytothedoor。But，toreachitIwasobligedtopassherandoureyesmet。Myglancewavered，Iknow，buthersdidnot。Foramomentshelookedatme。Thenshesmiled。WheneverIamtemptedtobevain，evennow，Irememberthatsmile。

"Icongratulatehim，"shesaid。"Come，Father；youmustgotobednow。"

CHAPTERXVII

Iamnotgoingtoattemptadescriptionofmythoughtsthatnight。

Itwouldtaketoolongandthedescriptionwouldbewearisome。

Otherpeople’smiseriesarenotinterestingandIshallnotcatalogmine。MorningcameatlastandIrose，bathedmyhotfaceincoldwater，andwentdownstairs。Earlyasitwas，notyetsix，IheardDorindainthekitchenand，havingnodesireforconversation，I

wentoutandwalkedupanddownthebeachuntilbreakfasttime。I

hadtopretendtoeat，butIatesolittlethatbothLuteandDorindaoncemorecommenteduponmylackofappetite。Lute，whohadneverbecomefullyreconciledtomybecomingamemberoftheworkingclass，hastenedtolaytheblameformyconditionuponmylaborsatthebank。

"Thetroubleis，"heannounced，dogmatically，"thetroubleis，Roscoe，thatyouain’tfittedforbein’shutupasternofadeck。

Lookatyourselfnow！JustgointoComfort’sroomandstandinfrontofherlookin’glassandlookatyourself。Thereyoube，paleandpeakedandworeout。LookforalltheworldjustasI

donewhenIhadthetonsilstwowintersago。Ain’tthatso，Dorindy？"

Hiswife’sanswerwasacontemptuoussniff。

"Ifyoumeantosaythatyoulookedpeakedwheny

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