"Now, Betsy, you jest git out'n here faster'n ye come in, for I'm not
goin' to stan' no foolin' at all, now. These 'ere's my clothes and paid
for out'n my money, an' I'm the jedge of what I need. I ha'n't had any
good duds for a long time, and I'm tired o' lookin' like a scarecrow
made out'n a salt bag. I've been thinkin' for a long time I'd git these
'ere things, an' now I've got'm. You kin git you some if ye like, but I
don't want ye a standin' round here gawpin' at me on 'count o' my
clothes; so you go off an' mind yer own affairs. It's no great sight to
see some shirts, an' coats, and pants, an' collars, an' vests, an' sich
like, is it?"
Before this speech was finished Betsy had backed out of the room and
closed the door. As she did so she let go a sigh that came back to Luke
like a Parthian arrow; but it happened just then that he was holding up
in front of him a buff linen vest which kept the missile from his heart.
He dressed himself with great care, and an hour later he slipped out of
the house unseen, and took his way towards the rather pretentious
residence of Judge Barnett, the gables of which, a mile away, gleamed
between rows of Lombardy poplars. The Judge was one of those half
cultivated men who, in every country neighborhood, pass for prodigies of
learning and ability. He was the autocrat of the county in political and
social affairs--one of those men who really know a great deal, but who
arrogate more. He got his title from having been County Commissioner
when the court house was building. Some said he made money out of the
transaction, but our story is silent there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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