human
If I had a son like that, she said,
gpt
I should be immensely proud of him.
human
You have a fine daughter,
gpt
Yes, but you know we always want that which we have not. Yet they say that envy is among the mortal sins.
human
Well, a sin's a sin, I reckon,
gpt
Oh, no! there are degrees in sin. I used to know a preacher who could run the scale of evil-doing and thinking, just as I can trip along the notes on the piano.
human
They once tried to make a preacher out of me, remarked Silas,
gpt
They make them larger now, said the lady,
human
Did Paul ever see my picture there?
gpt
Why, I think so, replied the lady placidly.
human
I think he asked about it, and I told him that we had known each other long ago, which was not at all the truth.
gpt
What did Paul say to that?
human
He said that while some people might think you were queer, you had been a good dad to him. I think he said dad, but I'll not be sure.
gpt
Yes, yes, he said it, cried Silas, all in a glow.
human
That's Paul all over; but what will the poor boy think when he finds out what you know?
gpt
Why, he'll enjoy the situation, said the lady, laughing.
human
As you Georgians say, he'll be tickled to death.
gpt
Do you think, Madam, that it is a matter for a joke? You women----
human
Can't I have my own views? You have yours, and I make no objection.
gpt
But think of what a serious matter it is to me. Do you realise that there is nothing but a whim betwixt me and disgrace--betwixt Paul and disgrace?
human
A whim? Why, you are another Daniel O'Connell! Call me a hyperbole, a rectangled triangle, a parenthesis, or a hyphen.
gpt
I meant to say that if the notion seized you, you would fetch us down as a hunter bags a brace of doves.
human
Doves!
gpt
Buzzards, then!
human
Oh, you overdo everything,
gpt
Well, there's nobody hurt but me,
human
And Paul,
gpt
Well, when I say Paul, I mean myself. I've been called worse names than buzzard by people who were trying to walk off with my money. Oh, they didn't call me that to my face, said Silas, noticing a queer expression in the lady's eyes.
human
And people who should have known better have hated me because I didn't fling my money away after I had saved it.
gpt
Well, you needn't worry about that, Mrs. Claiborne remarked.
human
You will have plenty of company in the money-grabbing business before long. I can see signs of it now, and every time I think of it I feel sorry for our young men, yes, and our young women, and the long generations that are to come after them. In the course of a very few years you will find your business to be more respectable than any of the professions. You remember how, before the war, we used to sneer at the Yankees for their money-making proclivities? Well, it won't be very long before we'll beat them at their own game; and then our politicians will thrive, for each and all of them will have their principles dictated by Shylock and his partners.
gpt
Why, you talk as if you were a politician yourself. But why are you sorry for our young women?
human
That was a hasty remark. I am sorry for those who will grow weary and fall by the wayside. The majority of them, and the best of them, will make themselves useful in thousands of ways, and new industries will spring up for their benefit. They will become workers, and, being workers, they will be independent of the men, and finally begin to look down on them as they should.
gpt
Well! exclaimed Silas, and then he sat and gazed at the lady for the first time with admiration.
human
Where'd you learn all that?
gpt
Oh, I read the newspapers, and such books as I can lay my hands on, and I remember what I read. Didn't you notice that I recited my piece much as a school-boy would?
human
No, I didn't, replied Silas.
gpt
I do a good deal of reading myself, but all those ideas are new to me.
human
Well, they'll be familiar to you just as soon as our people can look around and get their bearings. As for me, I propose to become an advanced woman, and go on the stage; there's nothing like being the first in the field. I always told my husband that if he died and left me without money, I proposed to earn my own living.
gpt
You told your husband that? When did you tell him?
human
Oh, long before he died,
gpt
Do you mean to tell me that your husband is dead?
human
Why, certainly, replied Mrs. Claiborne.
gpt
What possible reason could I have for denying or concealing the fact?
human
Then why did you come here and pretend--pretend--ain't you Ritta Rozelle, that used to be?
gpt
There were two of them, the lady replied.
human
They were twins. One was named Clarita, and the other Floretta, but both were called Ritta by those who could not distinguish them apart. I had reason to believe that you hadn't treated my sister as you should have done, and I came here to see if you would take the bait. You snapped it up before the line touched the water. It was not even necessary for me to try to deceive you. You simply shut your eyes and declared that I was your wife and that I had come.
gpt
You are the sister who was going to school in--wasn't it Boston?
human
Yes; that is why I am broad-minded and free from guile,
gpt
Then you have never been married to me,
human
I thank you kindly, sir, I never have been.
gpt
Well, you never denied it,
human
You never gave me an opportunity,
gpt
You simply sat back, and watched me make a fool of myself.
human
You express it very well.
gpt
Why, you knew me the minute you saw me!
human
Therefore you are still sure I am the woman you married in Louisiana. Well, the man who was driving the hack the day of my arrival, saw you in the fields, and he made a remark I have never forgotten. He said--she mimicked Mr. Goodlett as well as she could--'Well, dang my hide! ef thar ain't old Silas Tomlin out huntin'! Ef he shoots an' misses he'll pull all his ha'r out.' 'Why?' I asked. 'Bekaze he can't afford to waste a load of powder an' shot.'
gpt
You did all you could to humour my mistake,
human
I certainly did, said Mrs. Claiborne, very seriously.
gpt
I had good reason to believe that your treatment of my sister was not what it should have been.
human
Good Lord! she wouldn't let me treat her well. Why, we hadn't been married three months before she took a dislike to me, and she never got over it. The truth is, she couldn't bear the sight of me. I did what any other young man would have done. I packed up my things and came back home. I told Dorrington about it when I came back, and he said the trouble was a form of hysterics that finally develops into insanity.
gpt
Yes, that was what happened to my poor sister, said Mrs. Claiborne,
human
Well, well! here I have been going on for years under the impression that I was partly responsible for that poor girl's troubles; and it has been a nightmare riding me every minute that I had time to think. He stood up, stretched his arms above his head, and drew a long breath.
gpt
I thank you for laying my ghost, and I'll bid you good-night.