"And if the gate sticks, Rose Mary, I believe you"ll climb the fence and pull us all over, whether or no," answered Uncle Tucker with a slightly comforted expression coming into his eyes. "You"re one of the women who knot a bridle out of a horse"s own tail to drive him with.
Have you got this scheme already geared up tight, ready to start?"
"It"s only that Mr. Crabtree brought word from town that the big grocery he sells my b.u.t.ter to would agree to take any amount I could send them at a still larger price. If we could hold on to the place, buy more cows and all the milk other people in Sweetbriar have to sell I believe I could make the interest and more than the interest every year. But if Mr. Newsome needs the money, I am afraid--he might not like to wait. It would be a year before I could see exactly how things succeed--and that"s a long time."
"Yes, and it would mean for you to just be a-turning yourself into meat and drink for the family, nothing more or less, Rose Mary. You work like you was a single filly hitched to a two-horse wagon now, and that would be just piling fence rails on top of the load of hay you are already a-drawing for all of us old live stock. You couldn"t work all that b.u.t.ter."
"Don"t you know that love mixed in the bread of life makes it easy for the woman to work a large batch for her family, Uncle Tucker?--and why not b.u.t.ter? Will you talk to Mr. Newsome the next time he comes and see what he thinks of the plan? I would tell him about it myself--only I--I don"t know why, but I don"t--want to." Rose Mary blushed and looked away across the Road, but her confusion was all unnoticed by Uncle Tucker, who was busily lighting a second pipeful of tobacco.
"Yes, I"ll talk to him and Crabtree both about it," he answered slowly. "I can"t hardly bear the idea of your doing it, child, and if it was just me I wouldn"t hear tell of it, but Sister Viney and Sister Amandy--moved they"d be like a couple of sprouts of their own honeysuckle vine that you had pulled up and left in the sun to wilt.
Home was a place to grow in for women of their day, not just a-kinder waiting shack between stations like it has come to be in these times of women"s uprising--in the newspapers."
"We don"t get much new woman excitement out here in Harpeth Valley, Uncle Tucker," laughed Rose Mary, glad to see him rise once more from the depth of his depression to his usual philosophic level. "You wouldn"t call--er--er Mrs. Poteet a modern woman, would you?"
"Fly-away, Peggy Poteet is the genuine, original mossback and had oughter be expelled from the s.e.x by the confederation president herself," answered Uncle Tucker as they both glanced down past the milk-house where they saw the comely mother of the seven at her gate administering refreshment in the form of bread and jam to all of her own and quite a number of the other members of the Swarm, including the General and the reclothed and shriven Tobe. "If there is another Poteet output next April we"ll have to report her," he added with a laugh.
"But there never was a baby since Stonie like little Tucker," answered Rose Mary in quick defense of the small namesake of whom Uncle Tucker was secretly but inordinately proud.
"Yes, and I"m a-going to report you to the society of suppression of men folks as a regular spiler, Rose Mary Alloway, if you don"t keep more stern than you are at present with me and Stonie, to say nothing of all the men members of Sweetbriar from Everett clean on through Crabtree down to that very young Tucker Poteet. You are one of the women that feed and clothe and blush on men like you were borned a hundred years ago and n.o.body had told you they wasn"t worth shucks.
Are you a-going to reform?"
"I"ll try when I get time," answered Rose Mary with a smile as she bestowed both a fleeting kiss and the old hat on Uncle Tucker"s forelock over the wall. "Now I want to run in and make a few cup custards, so I can save one for Mr. Mark when he gets home to-night.
He loves them cold. Little cooking attentions never spoil men, they just nourish them. Anyway, what is a woman going to have left to do in life if she sheds the hovering feathers she keeps to tuck her nesties underneath?"
CHAPTER VII
THE SATSUMA VASE
"Well, howdy to-day, Mis" Poteet!" exclaimed Mrs. Rucker as she came across her side yard and leaned over the Poteet fence right opposite the Poteet back porch. "I brought you this pan of rolls to set away for Mr. Poteet"s supper. When I worked out the sponge looked like my pride over "em riz with the dough and I just felt bound to show "em off to somebody; I know I can always count on a few open mouths in this here nest."
"That you can and thanky squaks, too, Mis" Rucker. I don"t know however I would feed "em all if it wasn"t for the drippings from your kitchen," answered the placid and always improvident Mrs. Poteet as she picked up Shoofly and came over to the fence, delighted at a chance for a few minutes parley with the ever busy and practical Mrs.
Rucker. She balanced the gingham-clad bunch on its own wobbly legs beside her, while through the pickets of the fence in greeting were thrust the pink hands of Petie, the bond, who had followed in the wake of his own maternal skirts. Shoofly responded to this attention with a very young feminine gurgle of delight and licked at the chubby fist thrust toward her like an overjoyed young kitten.
"Well, Monday is always a sc.r.a.p day, so I try to kinder perk up my Monday supper. Singing in the quire twict on Sunday and too much confab with the other men on the store steps always kinder tires Mr.
Rucker out so he can"t hardly get about with his sciatica on Monday, and I have to humor him some along through the day. That were a mighty good sermon circuit rider preached last night."
"Yes, I reckon it were, but my mind was so took up with the way Louisa Helen flirted herself down the aisle with Bob on one side of her and Mr. Crabtree on the other, I couldn"t hardly get my mind down to listening. And when she contrived Mr. Crabtree into the pew next to Mis" Plunkett, as she moved down for "em, I most gave a snort out loud. Didn"t Mis" Plunkett look nice in that second mourning tucker it took Louisa Helen and all of Sweetbriar to persuade her into?"
"Lou Plunkett is as pretty as a chiny aster that blooms in September and what she"s having these number-two conniptions over Mr. Crabtree for is more than I can see. I look on a second husband as a good dessert after a fine dinner and a woman oughter swallow one when offered without no mincing. I wouldn"t make two bites of taking Mr.
Crabtree after poor puny Mr. Plunkett if it was me. Of course there never was such a man as Mr. Satterwhite, but he was always mighty busy, while Cal Rucker is a real pleasure to me a-setting around the house on account of his soft const.i.tution. Mr. Satterwhite, I"m thankful to say, left me so well provided for that I can afford Mr.
Rucker as a kind of play ornament."
"Yes, they ain"t nothing been thought up yet to beat marrying,"
answered Mrs. Poteet. "Now didn"t Emma Satterwhite find a good chanct when Todd Crabtree married her and took her away after all that young Tucker Alloway doings? It were a kind of premium for flightiness, but I for one was glad to get her gone off"en Rose Mary"s hands. I couldn"t a-bear to see her tending hand and foot a woman she were jilted for."
"Well, a jilt from some men saves a woman from being married with a bra.s.s ring outen a popcorn box, in my mind, and Tucker Alloway were one of them kind of men. But talking about marrying, I"m kinder troubled in my mind about something, and I know I can depend on you not to say nothing to n.o.body. Mr. Gid Newsome stopped at my gate last week and got me into a kinder hinting chavering that have been a-troubling me ever since. Now that"s where Mr. Rucker is such a comfort to me, he"ll stay awake and worry as long as I have need of, while I wouldn"t a-dared to speak to Mr. Satterwhite after he put out the light. But this is about what I"ve pieced outen that talk with the Senator, with Cal"s help. That mortgage he has got on the Briars about covers it, like a double blanket on a single bed, and with the interest beginning to pile up it"s hard to keep the ends tucked in.
The time have come when Mr. Tucker can"t make it no more and something has got to be done. But they ain"t no use to talk about moving them old folks. I gather from a combination of what Mr. Gid looked and _didn"t_ say that he were entirely willing to take over the place and make some sorter arrangement about them all a-staying on just the same. That"d be mighty kind of him."
"You don"t reckon he"d do no such take-me-or-get-out co"ting to Rose Mary, do you?" asked the soft-natured little Mrs. Poteet with alarmed sympathy in her blue eyes.
"Oh, no, he ain"t that big a fool. Every man knows in marrying an unwilling woman he"s putting himself down to eat nothing but sc.r.a.ps around the kitchen door. But I wisht Rose Mary could make up her mind to marry Mr. Newsome. She might as well, for in the end a woman can"t tell nothing about taking a man; she just has to choose a can of a good brand and then be satisfied, for they all season and heat up about alike. I never gave him no satisfaction about talking his praises to her, but I reckon I"m for the tie-up if Rose Mary can see it that way." And Mrs. Rucker glanced along the Road toward Rose Mary"s milk-house with a kindly, though calculating matchmaking in her practical eyes.
"I"m kinder for Mr. Mark," ventured the more sentimental Mrs. Poteet with a smile. "He"s as handsome as Rose Mary are, and wouldn"t they have pretty--"
"Oh, shoo, I don"t hold with no marrying outen the Valley for Rose Mary! She"s needed here and ain"t got no call to gallivant off to New York and beyont with a strange man, beauty or no beauty. Besides she"s pretty enough herself to hand it down even to the third and fourth generation. But I must go and see to helping Granny out on the side porch in the sun. I never want to neglect her, for she"s the only child poor Mr. Satterwhite left me. Now Mr. Rucker--Why there comes Mis" Amandy down the front walk! Let"s you and me go to meet her and see what she wants. We can help her across the Road if she is a-going to see anybody but us!" And with eager affection the two strong young women with their babies in their arms hurried across the street in order to serve if need be the delicate little old lady who, with her gray skirts fluttering and the little shawl streaming out behind, was coming at her tottering full speed in that direction. In her hand she held carefully a bit of sheer, yellow, old muslin, and her bright eyes were beaming with delight as she met the two neighbors at the gate.
"It"s the dress," she exclaimed, all out of breath and her sweet little voice all a-tremble. "Sister and me and Tucker were all baptized in it when we were babies. Sister Viney has had me a-going through boxes and bundles for it ever since little Tucker was named for us, and here it is! It"s hand-made and fine linen, brought all the way from New York down to the city in a wagon before the railroad run.
It"s all the present we have got for little Tucker, but we thought maybe--" And Miss Amanda paused with a shy diffidence in offering her gift.
"Gracious me, Miss Amandy, they didn"t nothing ever happen to me like this little dress being gave to one of my children. I am going to let him be named in it and then keep it in the box with my Bible, where it won"t be disturbed for nothing," exclaimed Mrs. Poteet in a tone of voice that was tear-choking with reverence as she took the dainty yellow little garment into her hand. "And to think how you all have wored yourself out a-looking for it!" she further exclaimed.
"Oh, me and Sister Viney have had a good time a-going through things; we haven"t seen some of them for thirty or forty years. We found the flannel petticoat Ma was a-making for me when she died over forty-five years ago. The needle is a-sticking in it, and I"m a-going to finish it to wear next winter. I"ll feel like it is a comfort for my old age she just laid by for me. I"ve got a little lace collar Ma"s mother wore when she come over from Virginy, and it"s in the very style now, so we"re going to bleach it out to give to Rose Mary. Come on up to the house with me and see it and set with Sister Viney a spell, can"t you? She"s got mighty sore joints this morning, though Rose Mary rubbed her most a hour last night" And in response to the eager invitation they all three went back up the front walk together. The thrifty Mrs. Rucker cast a satisfied glance back towards her own side yard, where upturned tub and drying wash were in plain view. Mrs.
Poteet had put off the task of the wash until a later day of the week and thus could make her visit with a mind unharra.s.sed by the vision of suds boiling over on the stove and soap melting in the tub.
And there ensued several hours of complete absorption for the four women closeted in Miss Lavinia"s room in reviewing the events of the last half century by means of the reminiscences which were inspired by one unearthed heirloom after another. Pete and Shoofly were happy on the floor enveloping themselves and each other in long wisps of moth-eaten yarn that Miss Amandy had unearthed in a bureau drawer and donated to their amus.e.m.e.nt. Mrs. Poteet had with her usual happy forgetfulness of anything but the very immediate occupation, lost sight of the fact that she had left young Tucker asleep on the bed in her room, which location, counting the distance across the two yards and down the Road, was at least slightly remote from aid in case of a sudden restoration to consciousness for the young sleeper.
And in the natural course of events the young Alloway namesake did awaken and gave l.u.s.ty vent to a demand for human companionship, which was answered promptly by the General, who happened to be pa.s.sing the front gate in pursuits of his own. Finding the house deserted, with his usual decision of action Stonie picked up the baby and kept on his way, which led past the garden up the hill to the barn. Young Tucker accepted this little journey in the world with his usual imperturbability, and his st.u.r.dy little neck made unusual efforts to support his bald head over the General"s shoulders as if in pride at being in the company of one of his peers and not in the usual feminine thraldom.
Finding the barn also deserted, Stonie laid young Tucker on the straw in the barrel with two of Sniffer"s sleeping puppies and began to attend to his errand, which involved the extraction of several long, stout pieces of string from a storehouse of his own under one of the feed bins and the plaiting of them into the cracker of a whip which he had brought along with him.
Down below the store the rest of the Swarm were busy marking out a large circus ring and discussing with considerable heat their individual rights to the various star parts to be performed in the coming exhibition. The ardors of their several ambitions were not at all dampened by the knowledge of the fact that the audience that would be in attendance to witness their triumphs would in all probability consist of only Granny Satterwhite, whom little Miss Amanda always coaxed to attend in her company, with perhaps a few moments of encouragement from Mr. Crabtree if he found the time. To which would always be added the interested and jocular company of Mr. Rucker, who always came, brought a chair to sit in and stayed through the entire performance. And in the talented aggregation of performers there was of course just one role that could have been a.s.sumed by General Jackson, that of ringmaster; so to that end he sat on the floor of the barn beside the sleeping puppies and young Tucker and plaited the lash by means of which he intended to govern the courses of his stars.
And it was here that Everett found him a few minutes later as he walked rapidly up the milk-house path and stood in the barn door in evident hurried search for somebody or some thing.
"h.e.l.lo, General," he said with a smile at the barrel full of sleepers at Stonie"s side, "do you know where Rose Mary is?"
"Yes," answered the General, "she are in her room putting b.u.t.termilk on the five freckles that comed on her nose when she hoed out in the garden without no sunbonnet. I found "em all for her this morning, and she don"t like "em. You can go on in and see if they are any better for her, I ain"t got the time to fool with "em now."
"Not for worlds!" exclaimed Everett as he sat down on an upturned peck measure in close proximity to the barrel. "Have you decided to have Mrs. Poteet and Mrs. Sniffer swap--er--puppies, Stonie?" he further remarked.
"No, I didn"t," answered Stonie with one of his rare smiles which made him so like Rose Mary that Everett"s heart glowed within him. Stonie was, as a general thing, as grave as a judge, with something hauntingly, almost tragically serious in his austere young face, but his smiles when they came were flashes of the very divinity of youth and were a strange incarnation of the essence of Rose Mary"s cousinly loveliness. "He was crying because he was by hisself and I bringed him along to wait till his mother came home. He belongs some to us, "cause he"s named for Uncle Tuck, and I oughter pester with him same as Tobe have to. It"s fair to do my part."
"Yes, General, you always do your part--and always will, I think,"
said Everett, as he looked down at the st.u.r.dy little chap so busy with his long strings, weaving them over and over slowly but carefully. "A man"s part," he added as two serious eyes were raised to his.
"In just a little while I"ll be a man and have Uncle Tucker and Aunt Viney and Aunt Amandy to be mine to keep care of always, Rose Mamie says," answered Stonie in his most practical tone of voice as he began to see the end of the long strings draw into his weaving of the cracker.
"What about Rose Mamie herself?" asked Everett softly, his voice thrilling over the child"s name for the girl with reverent tenderness.
"When I get big enough to keep care of everything here I"m going to let Rose Mamie get a husband and a heap of children, like Mis"
Poteet--but I"m a-going to make "em behave theyselves better"n Tobe and Peggie and the rest of "em do. Aunt Viney says Mis" Poteet spares the rod too much, but I"ll fix Rose Mamie"s children if they don"t mind her and me." The General"s mouth a.s.sumed its most commanding expression as he glanced down at the little Poteet sleeping beside him, unconscious of the fact that he was, in the future, to be the victim of a spared rod.
"Stonie," asked Everett meekly, "have you chosen a husband for Rose Mary yet?"
"No," answered Stonie as he wove in the last inch of string. Then he paused and raised his eyes to Everett thoughtfully. "It"s jest got to be the best man in the world, and I"m a-going to find him for her. If I can"t I"ll keep care of her as good as I can myself."