第25章

Mycalmaffirmativeseemedtoastonishhim。Ithinkheexpectedadenial。Hishandleftthedoorknobandhesteppedtowardme。

"You——HAVE！"hecried。"Youdon’teventakethetroubleto——Youhavethefacetostandthereandtellme——"

Healmostchoked。

"CaptainDean，"Iinterrupted，quickly，"waitamoment。Listentome。IhavesoldColtontheland。Ididnotintendsellingitatall，leastofalltohim，butcircumstancescompelledmetochangemymind。IdiditbecauseIwasobligedto。Itisdone。IamsorryIhadtodoit，but，underthesameconditions，Ishoulddoitagain。Iamnotashamed。"

Heleanedforward，steadyinghimselfwithahanduponthetable，andstaredatme。

"Youain’tashamed？"herepeated。"Youain’tashamed！Why，you——

Didn’tyoutellmeyou’dneversellthatland？Didn’tyoupromiseme？"

"Ididnotpromiseanything。AtfirstIpromisednottosellwithoutlettingyouknowofmyintention。AfterwardItookbackthatpromise。"

"Butwhydidyousell？Yousaiditwan’taquestionofpriceatall。Youmadeyourbragsthatitwan’t！Tome，overandover，youmade’em。Andthenyousneakoffand——"

"Stop！Ididthinkitwasnotaquestionofprice。ThenIfoundoutthatitwas。"

Heclenchedhisfist。

"Damnyou！"heshouted，furiously。"Youliar！Yousneak！AfterI——"

"Thatisenough，Captain。Thishasgonefarenough。Ihavesoldtheland——forwhatseemedtomeagoodreason——andyourcallingmenameswillnotchangethesituation。Idon’tcaretohearthem。

Youhadbettergo。"

"WHAT？"

"Isayyouhadbettergo。"

"_I_go？You’llputmeout？"

"No，certainlynot。Butthereisnothingtobegainedbyaquarrel，andso，forbothoursakes，Ithinkyouhadbettergoaway。"

ForamomentIthoughthewouldstrikeme。Thenhisfistfellheavilyuponthetable。Hislipswerequiveringlikethoseofaninfirmperson。Helookedold，andIhadneverbeforeconsideredhimanoldman。

"Whatmadeyoudoit？"hecried，desperately。"Whatmadeyoudoit？Isitallsettled？Can’tyoubackout？"

"No。"

"But——butwhydidn’tyouselltome——tothetown？Ifyouhadtosellwhydidn’tyoudothat？Whydidyougotohim？"

"BecausehewouldpaymewhatIneeded；becausehispricewashigherthananyyouorthetowncouldoffer。"

"Howdidyouknowthat？Myheavensabove！I’dhavepaid——I’dhavepaidmostanything——outofmyownpocket，Iwould。Itellyouthismeanteverythingtome。I’mgettin’alonginyears。Iain’tbeenanytoowelllikedhereinDenboro，andIknewit。Youthinkthatdidn’tmakenodifferencetome，maybeIpretendeditdidn’t，butitdid；bytheAlmighty，itdid！Iintendedforfolkstobethankfultomefor——I——Oh，WHYdidyoudoit，Ros？"

Ishookmyhead。Iwassorryforhimnow——sorryandastonished。

HehadgivenmeaglimpseoftherealJedediahDean，notthepompous，loud—voicedtownpoliticianandboss，butthemandesirousoffightinghiswayintotheesteemandlikingofhisneighbors。

"I’msorry，Captain，"Isaid。"IfIhadknown——ifIhadhadtimetothink，perhapsImighthaveacteddifferently。ButIhadnotime。IfoundthatImusthavethemoneywhichthatlandwouldbringandthatIhadtohaveitimmediately。SoIwentwhereI

knewIcouldgetit。"

"Money？Youneededmoney？Whydidn’tyoucometome？I’dhavelentittoyou。"

"You？"

"Yes，me。Whatdoyoucal’lateI’vebeenbackin’youallthissummerfor？WhatdidIgetyouthatjobinmybankfor？"

"YOU？GeorgeTaylorengagedmeforthatplace。"

"Maybeso。Butdoyousupposehediditonhisownhook？HE

couldn’thireyouunlessthedirectorssaidsoandthedirectorsdon’tsayanything，themajorityof’em，unlessIsayitfirst。

_I_putthenotioninGeorge’shead。Hedidn’tknowit，butIdid。

AndIputitinthedirectors’heads，too。RosPaine，Ialwayslikedyou，thoughIdidusetothinkyouwasagentlemanloafer。

Therewasasomethin’aboutyoueventhen，akindofhands—off，mindyourownbusinessindependenceaboutyouthatIliked，thoughIknewmightywellyouneverlikedme。AndafteryouandmegottogetheronthisLanethingIlikedyoumoreandmore。Youcouldtellmetogotothedevilaswellasyoucouldanybodyelse，andI’llshakehandswithafellerthat’lldothat。Ialwayswantedaboyofmyown。Nellie’sagoodgirl，nobetterafloatorashore，butsheisagirl。Georgeisagoodfeller，too，butsomehow，or’nother，I’dcometothinkofyouasthekindofsonI’dhavehad，iftheAlmightyhadgivemeone。Oh，whatdidyoudothisfor？"

Icouldnotanswer。Hehadoverwhelmedme。Ineverfeltmeanerormorewicked。Ihadbeenreadytofacehim，readyfortheinterviewwithhimwhichIknewwasinevitableandwhichIhadforeseen，butnotthiskindofaninterview。

Hetookhishandfromthetableandstooderect。

"Money！"hesaid。"Youwantedmoney。Youmusthavewanteditbad。

Whatdidyouwantitfor？"

"Ican’ttellyou。"

"Youhadbetter。It’syouronlychance，Itellyouthat！"

"Ican’thelpit，CaptainDean。Ican’ttellyou。IwishI

could。"

Heregardedmeinsilenceforamoment。Then："Allright，"hesaid，solemnly。"I’mthroughwithyou，RosPaine。InonewayI’mthroughwithyou。InanotherIain’t。Ical’lateyouwasfiggerin’togostraightuptothebank，asboldasbrass，andsetdownatGeorgeTaylor’sdeskanddrawyourwageslikeanhonestman。Don’tyoueverdaresetfootinthatbankagain。You’refired！bounced！kickedout！Doyouunderstand？"

"Verywell；Iunderstand。"

"Youwillunderstand，whetheryoudonowornot。Colton’sgottheShoreLaneandyou’vegothisdirtymoneyinyourpocket。He’spaidyou，butthetownain’t。Thetownyousoldoutain’tpaidyou——butI’mgoin’toseethatitdoes。RosPaine，I’mgoin’todriveyououtofDenboro。"

Heturnedonhisheel，strodetothedoor，wentout，andslammeditbehindhim。

Iwentbacktothedining—room。Lutewasnowhereinsight，butDorindawasstandingbythemantel，dusting，asusual，wheretherewasnodust。Ididnotspeakbutwalkedtowardthedoorleadingtothestairs。Dorindasteppedinfrontofme。

"Roscoe，"shesaid，sharply，"canhedoit？"

"Doit？"Irepeated。"Whatdoyoumean？"

"Canhegiveyouyourwalkin’papersatthatbank？Oh，Iheardhim！Itriednotto，butheholleredsoIcouldn’thelpit。Thatkitchendoorain’tmuchthicker’nasheetofpaper，anyhow。Canhedoit？"

"Iguessso。Heseemstobebossofthatinstitution。"

"Butcan’t’LishaWarrenorsomeoftheotherdirectorshelpyou？

JedDeandon’tboss’LishaWarren——notmuch。"

"Ishan’taskforhelp。Pleasedon’ttroubleme，Dorinda。"

Itriedtopassher，butshewouldnotpermitit。

"Ishan’ttroubleyou，Ros，"shesaid。"Iguessyou’vegottroublesenoughwithoutme。Butyouletmeaskyouthis：Areyougoin’tolethimdriveyououtoftown？"

Ishruggedmyshoulders。"Itmaynottakemuchdriving，"I

announced，listlessly，"ifitwerenotforMotherIshouldbeonlytoogladtogo。"

AgainItriedtopass，butthistimesheseizedmyarm。

"RoscoePaine，"shecried，"don’tyoutalklikethat。Idon’twanttohearanotherwordlikethat。Don’tyouletJedDeanornobodyelsedriveyououtofDenboro。Youain’tdonenothin’tobeashamedof，haveyou？"

"IsoldthatlandtoMr。Colton。Idon’tknowhowCaptainJedfounditout，butitistrueenough；IdidexactlywhathesaidI

did。"

"Foundout！HefoundoutfromsomebodyovertoOstablewherethedeedwasrecorded，thatishowhefoundout。Hesaidso。ButI

don’tcareforthat。AndIdon’tcareifyousoldtheLanetentimesover。Youdidn’tdoitforanymeanorselfishreason，thatIknow。Thereain’taselfishboneinyourbody，Roscoe。I’velivedalongwithyoualltheseyearsandIknow。Nobodythatwasmeanorselfishwouldgiveuptheirchancesinlifeandstayhereinthisone—hosstownbecausehismawassickandhadtookanotionthatshecouldn’tbeartopartwithhim。Don’tyoumindJedDean——

pig—headedoldthing！——oranybodyelseinDenboro。Holdupyourheadandshow’emyoudon’tcareforthewholecaboodleof’em。

Let’emtalkandactlikefools，iftheywantto。Itcomesnaturaltomostof’em，Ical’late，andthey’llbesorrysomeday。Don’tyou

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