"Not a bit," replied Eskew. "He went East to college last fall."
"Do they MAKE the boys wear them clothes?" persisted Bradbury. "Is it some kind of uniform?"
"I don"t care what it is," said Jonas Tabor. "If I was Henry Louden I wouldn"t let him wear "em around here."
"Oh, you wouldn"t, wouldn"t you, Jonas?" Mr. Arp employed the accents of sarcasm. "I"d like to see Henry Louden try to interfere with "Gene Bantry. f.a.n.n.y"d lock the old fool up in the cellar."
The lofty vision lurched out of view.
"I reckon," said the Colonel, leaning forward to see the last of it--"I reckon Henry Louden"s about the saddest case of abused step-father I ever saw."
"It"s his own fault," said Mr. Arp--"twice not havin" sense enough not to marry. Him with a son of his own, too!"
"Yes," a.s.sented the Colonel, "marryin" a widow with a son of her own, and that widow f.a.n.n.y!"
"Wasn"t it just the same with her first husband--Bantry?" Mr. Davey asked, not for information, as he immediately answered himself. "You bet it was! Didn"t she always rule the roost? Yes, she did. She made a G.o.d of "Gene from the day he was born. Bantry"s house was run for him, like Louden"s is now."
"And look," exclaimed Mr. Arp, with satisfaction, "at the way he"s turned out!"
"He ain"t turned out at all yet; he"s too young," said Buckalew.
"Besides, clothes don"t make the man."
"Wasn"t he smokin" a cigareet!" cried Eskew, triumphantly. This was final.
"It"s a pity Henry Louden can"t do something for his own son," said Mr.
Bradbury. "Why don"t he send him away to college?"
"f.a.n.n.y won"t let him," chuckled Mr. Arp, malevolently. "Takes all their spare change to keep "Gene there in style. I don"t blame her.
"Gene certainly acts the fool, but that Joe Louden is the orneriest boy I ever saw in an ornery world-full."
"He always was kind of misCHEEvous," admitted Buckalew. "I don"t think he"s mean, though, and it does seem kind of not just right that Joe"s father"s money--Bantry didn"t leave anything to speak of--has to go to keepin" "Gene on the fat of the land, with Joe gittin" up at half-past four to carry papers, and him goin" on nineteen years old."
"It"s all he"s fit for!" exclaimed Eskew. "He"s low down, I tell ye.
Ain"t it only last week Judge Pike caught him shootin" c.r.a.ps with Pike"s n.i.g.g.e.r driver and some other n.i.g.g.e.r hired-men in the alley back of Pike"s barn."
Mr. Schindlinger, the retired grocer, one of the silent members, corroborated Eskew"s information. "I heert dot, too," he gave forth, in his fat voice. "He blays dominoes pooty often in der room back off Louie Farbach"s tsaloon. I see him myself. Pooty often. Blayin" fer a leedle money--mit loafers! Loafers!"
"Pretty outlook for the Loudens!" said Eskew Arp, much pleased. "One boy a plum fool and dressed like it, the other gone to the dogs already!"
"What could you expect Joe to be?" retorted Squire Buckalew. "What chance has he ever had? Long as I can remember f.a.n.n.y"s made him fetch and carry for "Gene. "Gene"s had everything--all the fancy clothes, all the pocket-money, and now college!"
"You ever hear that boy Joe talk politics?" asked Uncle Joe Davey, crossing a cough with a chuckle. "His head"s so full of schemes fer running this town, and state, too, it"s a wonder it don"t bust. Henry Louden told me he"s see Joe set around and study by the hour how to save three million dollars for the state in two years."
"And the best he can do for himself," added Eskew, "is deliverin" the Daily Tocsin on a second-hand Star bicycle and gamblin" with n.i.g.g.e.rs and riff-raff! None of the nice young folks invite him to their doin"s any more."
"That"s because he"s got so shabby he"s quit goin" with em," said Buckalew.
"No, it ain"t," snapped Mr. Arp. "It"s because he"s so low down. He"s no more "n a town outcast. There ain"t ary one of the girls "ll have a thing to do with him, except that rip-rarin" tom-boy next door to Louden"s; and the others don"t have much to do with HER, neither, I can tell ye. That Arie Tabor--"
Colonel Flitcroft caught him surrept.i.tiously by the arm. "SH, Eskew!"
he whispered. "Look out what you"re sayin"!"
"You needn"t mind me," Jonas Tabor spoke up, crisply. "I washed my hands of all responsibility for Roger"s branch of the family long ago.
Never was one of "em had the energy or brains to make a decent livin", beginning with Roger; not one worth his salt! I set Roger"s son up in business, and all the return he ever made me was to go into bankruptcy and take to drink, till he died a sot, like his wife did of shame. I done all I could when I handed him over my store, and I never expect to lift a finger for "em again. Ariel Tabor"s my grandniece, but she didn"t act like it, and you can say anything you like about her, for what I care. The last time I spoke to her was a year and a half ago, and I don"t reckon I"ll ever trouble to again."
"How was that, Jonas?" quickly inquired Mr. Davey, who, being the eldest of the party, was the most curious. "What happened?"
"She was out in the street, up on that high bicycle of Joe Louden"s.
He was teachin" her to ride, and she was sittin" on it like a man does.
I stopped and told her she wasn"t respectable. Sixteen years old, goin"
on seventeen!"
"What did she say?"
"Laughed," said Jonas, his voice becoming louder as the recital of his wrongs renewed their sting in his soul. "Laughed!"
"What did you do?"
"I went up to her and told her she wasn"t a decent girl, and shook the wheel." Mr. Tabor ill.u.s.trated by seizing the lapels of Joe Davey and shaking him. "I told her if her grandfather had any s.p.u.n.k she"d git an old-fashioned hidin" for behavin" that way. And I shook the wheel again." Here Mr. Tabor, forgetting in the wrath incited by the recollection that he had not to do with an inanimate object, swung the gasping and helpless Mr. Davey rapidly back and forth in his chair. "I shook it good and hard!"
"What did she do then?" asked Peter Bradbury.
"Fell off on me," replied Jonas, violently. "On purpose!"
"I wisht she"d killed ye," said Mr. Davey, in a choking voice, as, released, he sank back in his chair.
"On purpose!" repeated Jonas. "And smashed a straw hat I hadn"t had three months! All to pieces! So it couldn"t be fixed!"
"And what then?" pursued Bradbury.
"SHE ran," replied Jonas, bitterly--"ran! And Joe Louden--Joe Louden--" He paused and gulped.
"What did he do?" Peter leaned forward in his chair eagerly.
The narrator of the outrage gulped again, and opened and shut his mouth before responding.
"He said if I didn"t pay for a broken spoke on his wheel he"d have to sue me!"
No one inquired if Jonas had paid, and Jonas said no more. The recollection of his wrongs, together with the ill.u.s.trative violence offered to Mr. Davey, had been too much for him. He sank back, panting, in his chair, his hands fluttering nervously over his heart, and closed his eyes.
"I wonder why," ruminated Mr. Bradbury--"I wonder why "Gene Bantry walked up from the deepo. Don"t seem much like his style. Should think he"d of rode up in a hack."
"Sho!" said Uncle Joe Davey, his breath recovered. "He wanted to walk up past Judge Pike"s, to see if there wasn"t a show of Mamie"s bein" at the window, and give her a chance to look at that college uniform and banjo-box and new walk of his."
Mr. Arp began to show signs of uneasiness.
"I"d like mighty well to know," he said, shifting round in his chair, "if there"s anybody here that"s been able to answer the question I PUT, yesterday, just before we went home. You all tried to, but I didn"t hear anything I could consider anyways near even a fair argument."
"Who tried to?" asked Buckalew, sharply, sitting up straight. "What question?"