'That landlord of
yours is worth all the rent you pay and more. 'Tain't everybody
that has a dime museum right on the premises.' All hands laughed
and then Colonel Davidson said: 'I thought you'd appreciate him,'
he says. 'We'll have another session with him before you leave.
Perhaps we can get him into the house here this evenin'. My wife
is pretty good at that, she jollies him along. Oh, he swallows it
all; the poor simpleton don't know when he's bein' shown off.'"
Mrs. Armstrong uttered an exclamation.
"Oh!" she cried. "The brute!"
"Yes'm," said Jed, quietly, "that was what he said. You see," with
an apologetic twitch of the lip, "it came kind of sudden to me and--
and it hurt. Fact is, I--I had noticed he and his wife was--er--
well, nice and--er--folksy, as you might say, but I never once
thought they did it for any reason but just because they--well,
liked me, maybe. Course I'd ought to have known better. Fine
ladies and gentlemen like them don't take much fancy to dime museum
folks."
There was just a trace of bitterness in his tone, the first Mrs.
Armstrong had ever noticed there. Involuntarily she leaned toward
him.
"Don't, Mr. Winslow," she begged. "Don't think of it again. They
must have been beasts, those people, and they don't deserve a
moment's thought. And DON'T call them ladies and gentlemen.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163