"Five dollars air a mighty heap to spen' fer sech foolishness,
Newt," replied his wife, turning the squalling baby over on its
stomach and pounding it vigorously on the back. "Mo'over," she
added, after a pause, "I don't see ez ye've got the five dollars,
nohow." Mr. Pinson stretched out one long leg and thrust a hand
into his trousers-pocket. "Ye're mighty right, Nance, I 'ain't," he
admitted, blowing the loose tobacco from the handful of coin
fetched up from the honest home-made depths; "I've got jes three
dollars and a half lef' outn what Sam Leggett paid me fer the
yearlin'. But me an' the childern hev been a-talkin' of it over,
an' they hev conclusioned to th'ow in ther aigg money; Dan fo'
bits, an' Pete fo'; Joe an' Jed hez two bits betwix 'em, an' Polly
M'riar says ez how she hev fifteen cents. I'm lackin' of a dime,
but I reckin I kin scratch thet up somewhers." "Thar's my two bits
up yan in the clock," Mrs. Pinson remarked, with pretended
indifference; "ye kin take that ef ye air sech a plumb fool ez to
pike the whole passel of us inter town to see the circus." "Shucks,
Nance " he returned, indignantly; "I ain't agoin' to tech yo' two
bits." Nevertheless he got up and fumbled about in the clock-case
on the high mantel-shelf until he found it. "Anyhow," he added, as
he reseated himself, "I kin pay it back when ye git ready fer yo'
nex' bottle o' snuff." "Will they be a el'phunt?" demanded one of
the freckle-faced urchins gathered around the heads of the family,
listening, breathless, to the discussion. "A dollar fer Nance, en'
a dollar fer me," Mr. Pinson counted, gravely, taking no notice of
the interruption, "an' fo' bits apiece fer Beck an' Dan an' Pete
an' Polly M'riar an' Joe an' Jed. Childern half price" - he glanced
casually at the flaming circus poster tacked against the chinked
wall in the chimney corner - "not countin' of the baby. An' fifteen
cents lef', by jing " "Do ye reckin I kin git in fer half price,
paw?" This question, which came from Becky, the oldest of the
Pinson brood, who stood five feet six and a half inches in her bare
feet, might have been meant as a bit of covert sarcasm, had not the
eager voice belied any such intention. Her father's eyes travelled
slowly up from the hem of her homespun frock, as she stood leaning
against the chimney jamb, to her pretty round face framed in its
shock of frizzly red hair. "Waal, I be dinged, Beck " he exclaimed,
in dismay, "I keep fergittin' ez how ye air growed up " His face
clouded, and he looked ruefully at the pile of dimes and half-dimes
lying in his large palm. "An' Sam Leggett's gone to Kansas on a
cattle drive," murmured the twelve-year-old Dan, with a meaning
leer at Becky. A vivid blush overspread her face; she dropped her
eyelids and squirmed her shapely toes. But Mr. Pinson was absorbed
in a mute recalculation, which ended presently in a beat-out
whistle and a mournful shake of the head. Mrs. Pinson, with the
colicky baby laid over her shoulder, was jolting her rockerless
chair to and fro, and singing, in a sweet, drawling undertone:
"Far-ye-well, oh, far-ye-well; When ye git to hev-ven ye will
pa-art n-o-o m-o-o' " She interrupted herself to observe, quietly,
"Ye kin tote the baby, Beck; an' I kin tote Joe; an' yo' paw he kin
tote Jed, twel we git inside the tent. They ain't no charge fer
children in arms. It says so." "Lord, Nance " exclaimed her
husband, in an ecstasy of admiration, "ye air the beatenes' white
woman on Jim-Ned Creek Thet settles it oncet mo' Fetch me a coal
fer my pipe, Polly M'riar." Becky heaved a deep sigh of relief, and
sank down on her heels, reaching under her mother's chair at the
same time for the snuff-bottle.
General
Imprint: |
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2013 |
First published: |
May 2013 |
Authors: |
M.E.M. Davis
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 9mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
160 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4895-1740-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Historical fiction
|
LSN: |
1-4895-1740-5 |
Barcode: |
9781489517401 |
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