Nance pondered the matter, her chin on her palm. Considering the chronic
fallibility of Mrs. Snawdor's judgment, she would have been more
comfortable if she had met with some opposition.
"Mr. Demry thinks it's wrong," said Nance, taking upon herself the role
of counsel for the prosecution. "He took on something fierce when he saw
me last night."
"He never knowed what he was doin'," Mrs. Snawdor said. "They tell me he
can play in the orchestry, when he's full as a nut."
"And there's Uncle Jed," continued Nance uneasily. "What you reckon he's
going to say?"
"You leave that to me," said Mrs. Snawdor, darkly. "Mr. Burks ain't
goin' to git a inklin' 'til you've went. There ain't nobody I respect
more on the face of the world than I do Jed Burks, but some people is
so all-fired good that livin' with 'em is like wearin' new shoes the
year round."
"'T ain't as if I was doing anything wicked," said Nance, this time
counsel for the defense.
"Course not," agreed Mrs. Snawdor. "How much they goin' to pay you?"
The incredible sum was mentioned, and Mrs. Snawdor's imagination took
instant flight.
"You'll be gittin' a autymobile at that rate. Say, if I send Lobelia
round to Cemetery Street and git yer last week's pay, can I have it?"
Nance was counting on that small sum to finish payment on her spring
suit, but in the face of imminent affluence she could ill afford to be
niggardly.
"I'll buy Rosy V. some shoes, an' pay somethin' on the cuckoo clock,"
planned Mrs. Snawdor, "an' I've half a mind to take another policy on
William J. That boy's that venturesome it wouldn't surprise me none to
see him git kilt any old time!"
Nance, who had failed to convince herself, either as counsel for the
defense or counsel for the prosecution, assumed the prerogative of judge
and dismissed the case. If older people had such different opinions about
right and wrong, what was the use in her bothering about it? With a shrug
of her shoulders she set to work sorting her clothes and packing the ones
she needed in a box.
"The gingham dresses go to Fidy," she said with reckless generosity, "the
blue skirt to Lobelia, and my Madonna--" Her eyes rested wistfully on her
most cherished possession. "I think I'd like Rosy to have that when she
grows up."
"All right," agreed Mrs. Snawdor. "There ain't no danger of anybody
takin' it away from her."
Nance was kneeling on the floor, tying a cord about her box when she
heard steps on the stairs.
"Uncle Jed?" she asked in alarm.
"No. Just Snawdor. He won't ast no questions. He ain't got gumption
enough to be curious."
"I hate to go sneaking off like this without telling everybody good-by,"
said Nance petulantly, "Uncle Jed, and the children, and the Levinskis,
and Mr. Demry, and--and--Dan."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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