FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   >>  
, they hinted to me that they'd like to square it. JOE. Compromise. JIM. [_Nodding his head._] I worked it up for him. Said Bollinger was a regular terror. EM'LY. Will the express company have to pay Sam? JIM. Well, rather. And after they do, Sam ought to go down to their president's office and kick 'em all around the back-yard. _Exit_ KATE. JOE. What's ailing Kate? MRS. VERNON. Seems out o' sorts--mebbe she'll tell me alone. [_Exit._ DAVE. [_Protesting._] You can't move backwards. LIZBETH. Well? DAVE. That's cornered. JOE. He's got you, Lizbeth. JIM. Dave! DAVE. Yes? JIM. I saw the Wabash folks. DAVE. Have a talk with them? JIM. [_Hands_ DAVE _a paper._] Yes--there's a memorandum agreement--they'll take all I can give 'em at thirty dollars a car-load. JOE. What's that? JIM _takes a piece of gumbo from pocket and hands it to_ JOE. JIM. [_To_ DAVE.] Now I've got a proposition for you. DAVE. What? JIM. You superintend the burnin' of the stuff, and I'll take you in. DAVE. Why, Jim--[_Rises in delight._ JOE. What's this fur? JIM. Ballast. JOE. Ballast? JIM. Yes, that road-bed that washes out. [_Pause._] Thirty dollars a car. JOE. What! JIM. Me an' Dave. DAVE. Why, Jim, I ain't got no claim on you. JIM. You pumped the bellows this morning while I burned it. DAVE. Well-- JIM. And you want a steady job, don't you? DAVE. Well--[_"I should say so," understood; turns to him._ JOE. But see here--[JIM _looks at him--waits._]--You goin' into this? JIM. Wouldn't you, if you got the contract? JOE. But Dave--Dave's helpin' me! JIM. You told him to git a job, didn't you? JOE. Yes--but-- LIZBETH. [_Ready for a fight._] An' that's what you told me. JIM. [_Abetting_ LIZBETH.] Yes. JOE. But my business needs somebody. JIM. Then why don't you let them git married? JOE. An' me support them? JIM. [_In disgust._] Hell!-- JOE. What's the matter? JIM. Ain't he worth his wages? JOE. I never said he wasn't. JIM. [_In superlative display._] And he's made nearly a whole set of furniture. JOE. But if I went to Jefferson, I was goin' to leave this shop with Dave. LIZBETH. [_With pride._] Dave! JIM. Well, that's different. See here! You let 'em get married. I only want Dave to superintend this burnin'--it won't take two half-days a week to kind a-look it over--we kin get niggers to do the work, and Dave kin stay here. LIZBETH
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   >>  



Top keywords:

LIZBETH

 

dollars

 

married

 
Ballast
 
superintend
 

burnin

 
helpin
 

burned

 

steady

 

morning


bellows
 

pumped

 

Wouldn

 

understood

 

contract

 
support
 

furniture

 

Jefferson

 

niggers

 
disgust

Abetting

 
business
 

matter

 

superlative

 

display

 

office

 

president

 
VERNON
 

ailing

 

Nodding


worked

 

Compromise

 

square

 

hinted

 

Bollinger

 

express

 

company

 

regular

 

terror

 

proposition


pocket

 

Thirty

 

washes

 

delight

 

Lizbeth

 

Wabash

 
cornered
 

Protesting

 

backwards

 

agreement