human
I said.
gpt
Isn't it too bad? I thought it well for Ev'leen Ann to be dragged out of her black cave of silence once in a while, even if it could be done only by force. As she made no answer, I went on.
human
Everybody who knows Niram thinks it splendid of him to do so much for his stepmother.
gpt
Well, it ain't any more than what he should. She was awful good to him when he was little and his father got so sick. I guess 'Niram wouldn't ha' had much to eat if she hadn't ha' gone out sewing to earn it for him and Mr. Purdon. She added firmly, after a moment's pause,
human
No, ma'am, I don't guess it's any more than what 'Niram had ought to do.
gpt
But it's very hard on a young man to feel that he's not able to marry, I continued. Once in a great while we came so near the matter as this. Ev'leen Ann made no answer. Her face took on a pinched look of sickness. She set her lips as though she would never speak again. But I knew that a criticism of 'Niram would always rouse her, and said:
human
And really, I think 'Niram makes a great mistake to act as he does. A wife would be a help to him. She could take care of Mrs. Purdon and keep the house.
gpt
I guess 'Niram knows what's right for him to do! He can't afford to marry when he can't even keep up with the doctor's bills and all. He keeps the house himself, nights and mornings, and Mrs. Purdon is awful handy about taking care of herself, for all she's bedridden. That's her way, you know. She can't bear to have folks do for her. She'd die before she'd let anybody do anything for her that she could anyways do for herself!
human
It seems to me it's asking a good deal of 'Niram to spoil his life in order that his stepmother can go on pretending she's independent.
gpt
Oh, 'Niram doesn't tell her anything about--She doesn't know he would like to--he don't want she should be worried--and, anyhow, as 'tis, he can't earn enough to keep ahead of all the: doctors cost.
human
But the right kind of a wife--a good, competent girl--could help out by earning something, too.
gpt
Aunt Emeline? I repeated, surprised at her absence of mind.
human
You mean Mrs. Purdon, don't you?
gpt
Well, she _is_ my Aunt Em'line, Mrs. Purdon is, though I don't hardly ever call her that. You see, Aunt Emma brought me up, and she and Aunt Em'line don't have anything to do with each other. They were twins, and when they were girls they got edgeways over 'Niram's father, when 'Niram was a baby and his father was a young widower and come courting. Then Aunt Em'line married him, and Aunt Emma never spoke to her afterward.