"You don't seem to be quite so sassy and talky as you was when I
first came in, Shavin's," he sneered. "Guess likely YOU ain't
feelin' well now . . . eh? Do you remember what I told you last
time I was in this shop? I told you I'd pay my debts to you and
Sam Hunniwell if I waited fifty year. Well, here's Hunniwell's pay
comin' to him now. He's praised that Phillips thief from one end
of Ostable county to the other, told how smart he was and how
honest and good he was till--Lord A'mighty, it's enough to turn a
decent man's stomach! And not only that, but here's the feller
courtin' his daughter. Oh, ho, ho, ho! that's the best of the
whole business. That was another thing made me hang off and wait;
I wanted to see how the courtin' came along. And it's come along
all right. Everybody's onto 'em, hangin' over each other, and
lookin' soft at each other. She's just fairly heavin' herself at
his head, all hands says so. There ain't been anybody in this town
good enough for her till he showed up. And now it's comin' out
that he's a crook and a jailbird! And he'll be jailed for stealin'
THIS time, too. Ho, ho!"
He stopped, out of breath, to indulge in another long chuckle. Jed
leaned forward.
"What are you talkin' about, Phin?" he demanded. "Even allowin'
all this--this rigmarole of yours about--about Middleford business--
was true--"
"It is true and you know it is.
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