"Mary Embry, Job's sister-in-law, was settin' right behind me, and I
heard her say, 'Amen!' as fervent as if somebody had been prayin'. Job
set there, lookin' like a sheep-killin' dog, and Sally Ann went right
on. 'I know,' says she, 'the law gives you the right to your wives'
earnin's and everything they've got, down to the clothes on their
backs; and I've always said there was some Kentucky law that was made
for the express purpose of encouragin' men in their natural
meanness,--a p'int in which the Lord knows they don't need no
encouragin'. There's some men,' says she, 'that'll sneak behind the
'Postle Paul when they're plannin' any meanness against their wives,
and some that runs to the law, and you're one of the law kind. But
mark my words,' says she, 'one of these days, you men who've been
stealin' your wives' property and defraudin' 'em, and cheatin' 'em out
o' their just dues, you'll have to stand before a Judge that cares
mighty little for Kentucky law; and all the law and all the Scripture
you can bring up won't save you from goin' where the rich man went.'
"I can see Sally Ann right now," and Aunt Jane pushed her glasses up
on her forehead, and looked with a dreamy, retrospective gaze through
the doorway and beyond, where swaying elms and maples were whispering
softly to each other as the breeze touched them. "She had on her old
black poke-bonnet and some black yarn mitts, and she didn't come nigh
up to Job's shoulder, but Job set and listened as if he jest _had to_.
I heard Dave Crawford shufflin' his feet and clearin' his throat while
Sally Ann was talkin' to Job. Dave's farm j'ined Sally Ann's, and they
had a lawsuit once about the way a fence ought to run, and Sally Ann
beat him. He always despised Sally Ann after that, and used to call
her a 'he-woman.' Sally Ann heard the shufflin', and as soon as she
got through with Job, she turned around to Dave, and says she: 'Do you
think your hemmin' and scrapin' is goin' to stop me, Dave Crawford?
You're one o' the men that makes me think that it's better to be a
Kentucky horse than a Kentucky woman. Many's the time,' says she,
'I've seen pore July with her head tied up, crawlin' around tryin' to
cook for sixteen harvest hands, and you out in the stable cossetin' up
a sick mare, and rubbin' down your three-year-olds to get 'em in trim
for the fair. Of all the things that's hard to understand,' says she,
'the hardest is a man that has more mercy on his horse than he has on
his wife. July's found rest at last,' says she, 'out in the graveyard;
and every time I pass your house I thank the Lord that you've got to
pay a good price for your cookin' now, as there ain't a woman in the
country fool enough to step into July's shoes.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account