human
Hmm-mm--how bad is it--in the house? he countered.
gpt
The real crime has been committed there, it seems to me. A few head of cattle, more or less, don't count for much against the broken heart of an old woman.
human
Oh! Billy Louise, her hands clenched upon the gate, stared up wide-eyed into his face. And this was the real Seabeck, whom she had known impersonally all her life! This was the real man of him, whom she had never known; a flawless diamond of a soul behind those bright blue eyes and that pointed, graying beard; poet, philosopher, gentleman to the bone.
gpt
Oh! You saw that, too! And they're your cattle that were stolen! You saw it--oh, you're--you're--
human
Hmm-mm--a human being, I hope, Miss MacDonald, as well as a mere cattleman. How is the old lady?
gpt
Crying, said Billy Louise, with brief directness.
human
Crying over the picture of that--swine. Think of his running off and leaving her here all alone--and not even doing the chores first! (Here, you must know, was broken an unwritten law of the ranch.)
gpt
And Marthy's got rheumatism, too, so she can hardly walk--
human
I'll attend to the chores, Miss MacDonald. Seabeck's lips quirked under the fingers that pulled at his whiskers.
gpt
You say--over his picture?
human
Yes, over his picture! Billy Louise spoke with a suppressed fury.
gpt
With that honest look in his eyes--oh, I could kill him!
human
Hmm-mm--it does seem a pity that one can't. But if she can cry--
gpt
I see. You believe too that tears are a necessary kind of weakness for a woman, like smoking tobacco is for a man--or swearing. Well, I can just tell you, Mr. Seabeck, that some tears pull the very soul out of a person; they're the red-hot pinchers of the torture-chamber of life, Mr. Seabeck. Every single, slow tear that Marthy sheds right now is taking that much away from her life. Why, she--she idolized that--that devil. She hadn't much that was lovable in poor old Jase; he was just her husband; he wasn't even a real man. And she never had any children to love, except a little girl that died. And she's worked here and scrimped and saved till she got just fairly comfortable, and then Charlie Fox came and patted her on the back and called her a game little lady, and poor old Marthy just poured out all the love and all the trust she had in her, on him! And she's old, and she had starved all her life for a little love--a little affection and a few kind words. I don't suppose Jase kissed her once in twenty years; I couldn't imagine him getting up steam enough to kiss anybody! And Charlie petted her and did little things for her that nobody had ever done in her life. It meant a whole lot to Marthy to have a man take the water bucket away from her and give her a little hug and tell her she mustn't think of carrying water; oh, you're a man, and I don't suppose you can realize; I didn't myself, till lately--
human
And so Marthy just leaned more and more on him and let him take care of her and pet her; and she never once dreamed he was doing anything crooked. I thought she did, I know, Mr. Seabeck. I thought she was in it, too; but I see now that Marthy has been living the woman in her, these last two years; she'd never had a chance before. And now to have him--to know he's just a common thief and to have him go off and leave her--Mr. Seabeck, I'd be willing to bet all I've got that Marthy would have forgiven his stealing cattle, if he had just stayed. She'd have done anything on earth for him; and the bigger the sacrifice she made for him, the more she would have loved him; women are like that. But to have him go off--and--leave her--and not bother his head about what happened to her, just so he got out of it--Mr. Seabeck, that's going to kill Marthy. It's going to kill her by inches.
gpt
I--see,