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The Duplicity Of Hargraves · Classic Humorous Short Stories from America

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Speaker 1: Story fourteen of the Best American Humorous short Stories by
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Speaker 1: Alexander Jessop editor. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: Story fourteen, The Duplicity of Hargraves nineteen o two by O.
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Speaker 1: Henry from the Junior Monsea, February nineteen o two. Republished
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Speaker 1: in the volume Sixes and Sevens nineteen eleven by O. Henry,
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Speaker 1: copyright nineteen eleven by Doubleday Page and Company. Reprinted by
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Speaker 1: their permission. When Major Pendleton Talbot of Mobile, Alabama and
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Speaker 1: his daughter, Miss Lydia Talbot came to Washington to reside,
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Speaker 1: they selected for a boarding place a house that stood
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Speaker 1: fifty yards back from one of the quietest avenues. It
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Speaker 1: was an old fashioned brick building with a porticle upheld
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Speaker 1: by tall white pill The yard was shaded by stately
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Speaker 1: locusts and elms, and a catalpa tree in season rained
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Speaker 1: its pink and white blossoms upon the grass. Rows of
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Speaker 1: high box bushes lined the fence and walks. It was
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Speaker 1: the Southern style and aspect of the place that pleased
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Speaker 1: the eyes of the Talbots. In this pleasant private boarding
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Speaker 1: house they engaged rooms, including a study for Major Talbot
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Speaker 1: who was adding the finishing chapters to his book, Anecdotes
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Speaker 1: and Reminiscences of the Alabama Army Bench and Bar. Major
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Speaker 1: Talbot was of the old Old South. The present day
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Speaker 1: had little interest or excellence in his eyes. His mind
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Speaker 1: lived in that period before the Civil War, when the
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Speaker 1: Talbots owned thousands of acres of fine cotton land and
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Speaker 1: the slaves to till them, when the family mansion was
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Speaker 1: the scene of princely hospitality and drew its guests from
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Speaker 1: the aristocracy of the South. Out of that period he
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Speaker 1: had brought all its old pride and scruples of honor,
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Speaker 1: an antiquated and punctilious politeness, and you would think its
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Speaker 1: wardrobe such clothes were surely never made within fifty years.
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Speaker 1: The Major was tall, but whenever he made that wonderful
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Speaker 1: archaic genuflection he called a bow, the corners of his
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Speaker 1: frock coat swept the floor. That garment was a surprise
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Speaker 1: even to Washington, which has long ago ceased to shy
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Speaker 1: at the frocks and broad brimmed hats of Southern congressmen.
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Speaker 1: One of the Borders christened it a father Hubbard, and
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Speaker 1: it certainly was high in the waist and full in
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Speaker 1: the skirt, but the Major, with all his queer clothes,
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Speaker 1: his immense area of plaited raveling shirt bosom and the
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Speaker 1: little black string tie with the bow always slipping on
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Speaker 1: one side, both was smiled at and liked. In missus
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Speaker 1: Vardeman's select boarding house, some of the young department clerks
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Speaker 1: would often string him, as they called it, getting him
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Speaker 1: started upon the subject dearest to him, the traditions and
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Speaker 1: history of his beloved Southland. During his talks he would
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Speaker 1: quote freely from the anecdotes and reminiscences, but they were
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Speaker 1: very careful not to let him see their designs, for
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Speaker 1: in spite of his sixty eight years, he could make
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Speaker 1: the boldest of them uncomfortable under the steady regard of
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Speaker 1: his piercing gray eyes. Miss Lydia was a plump, little
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Speaker 1: old maid of thirty five, with smoothly drawn, tightly twisted
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Speaker 1: hair that made her look still older, old fashioned too.
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Speaker 1: She was but ante bellum. Glory did not radiate from
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Speaker 1: her as it did from the Major. She possessed a
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Speaker 1: thrifty common sense, and it was she who handed the
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Speaker 1: finances of the family and met all comers when there
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Speaker 1: were bills to pay. The Major regarded board bills and
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Speaker 1: wash bills as contemptible nuisances. They kept coming in so
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Speaker 1: persistently and so often. Why the Major wanted to know?
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Speaker 1: Could they not be filed and paid in a lump
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Speaker 1: sum at some convenient period, say, when the anecdotes and
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Speaker 1: reminiscences had been published and paid for. Miss Lydia would
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Speaker 1: calmly go on with her sewing and say, we'll pay
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Speaker 1: as we go as long as the money lasts, and
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Speaker 1: then perhaps they'll have to lump it. Most of Missus
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Speaker 1: Vardeman's boarders were away during the day, being nearly all
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Speaker 1: department clerks and business men, But there was one of
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Speaker 1: them who was about the house a great deal from
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Speaker 1: morning to night. This was a young man named Henry
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Speaker 1: Hopkins Hargraves. Every one in the house addressed him by
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Speaker 1: his full name, who was engaged at one of the
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Speaker 1: popular vaudeville theaters. Vaudeville has risen to such a respectable
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Speaker 1: plane in the last few years, and mister Hargraves was
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Speaker 1: such a modest and well mannered person that Missus Vardeman
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Speaker 1: could find no objection to enrolling him upon her list
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Speaker 1: of borders at the theater. Hargraves was known as an
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Speaker 1: all around dialect comedian, having a large repertoire of German, Irish,
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Speaker 1: Swede and blackface specialties. But mister Hargraves was ambitious and
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Speaker 1: often spoke of his great desire to succeed in legitimate comedy.
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Speaker 1: This young man appeared to conceive a strong fancy for
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Speaker 1: Major Talbot. Whenever that gentleman would begin his Southern reminiscences
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Speaker 1: or repeat some of the liveliest of the anecdotes, Hargraves
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Speaker 1: could always be found the most attentive among his listeners.
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Speaker 1: For a time, the Major showed an inclination to discourage
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Speaker 1: the advances of the play actor, as he privately termed him,
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Speaker 1: but soon the young man's agreeable manner and indubitable appreciation
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Speaker 1: of the old gentleman's stories completely won him over. It
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Speaker 1: was not long before the two were like old chums.
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Speaker 1: The Major set apart each afternoon to read to him
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Speaker 1: the manuscript of his book. During the anecdotes, Hargraves never
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Speaker 1: failed to laugh at exactly the right point. The Major
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Speaker 1: was moved to declare to miss Lydia one day that
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Speaker 1: young Hargraves possessed remarkable perception and a gratifying respect for
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Speaker 1: the old regime. And when it came to talking of
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Speaker 1: those old days, if Major Talbot liked to talk, mister
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Speaker 1: Hargraves was entranced to listen. Like almost all old people
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Speaker 1: who talk of the past, the Major loved to linger
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Speaker 1: over details in describing the splendid, almost royal days of
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Speaker 1: the old time planters. He would hesitate until he had
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Speaker 1: recalled the name of the negro who held his horse,
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Speaker 1: or the exact date of certain minor happenings, or the
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Speaker 1: number of bales of cotton raised in such a year.
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Speaker 1: But Hargraves never grew impatient or lost interest. On the contrary,
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Speaker 1: he would advance questions on a variety of subjects connected
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Speaker 1: with the life of that time, and he never failed
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Speaker 1: to extract ready replies. The fox hunts, the possum suppers,
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Speaker 1: the hoe downs and jubilees in the negro quarters, the
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Speaker 1: banquets in the plantation house hall when invitations went for
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Speaker 1: fifty miles around, the occasional feuds with the neighboring gentry,
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Speaker 1: the Major's duel with Rathbone Culbertson about Kitty Chalmers, who
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Speaker 1: afterwards married a Thwaite of South Carolina, and private yacht
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Speaker 1: races for fabulous sums on Mobile Bay. The quaint beliefs,
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Speaker 1: improvident habits, and loyal virtues of the old slaves. All
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Speaker 1: these were subjects that held both the Major and Hargraves
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Speaker 1: absorbed for hours at a time. Sometimes at night, when
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Speaker 1: the young man would be coming upstairs to his room
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Speaker 1: after his turn at the theater was over, the Major
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Speaker 1: would appear at the door of his study and beckon
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Speaker 1: archly to him. Going in, Hargraves would find a little
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Speaker 1: table set with a decanter, sugar bowl, fruit, and a
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Speaker 1: big bunch of fresh green min It occurred to me
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Speaker 1: the Major would begin. He was always ceremonious that perhaps
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Speaker 1: you might have found your duties at the UH, at
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Speaker 1: your place of occupation, sufficiently odduous to enable you, mister Hargraves,
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Speaker 1: to appreciate what the poet might well have had in
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Speaker 1: his mind when he wrote tireds Nature's sweet Restorer, one
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Speaker 1: of our southern julips. It was a fascination to Hargraves
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Speaker 1: to watch him make it. He took rank among artists
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Speaker 1: when he began, and he never varied the process with
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Speaker 1: what delicacy he bruised the mint with what exquisite nicety
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Speaker 1: he estimated the gredients with what solicitous care? He capped
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Speaker 1: the compound with a scarlet fruit glowing against the dark
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Speaker 1: green fringe, and then the hospitality and grace with which
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Speaker 1: he offered it after the selected oat straws had been
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Speaker 1: plunged into its tinkling depths. After about four months in Washington,
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Speaker 1: Miss Lydia discovered one morning that they were almost without money.
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Speaker 1: The Anecdotes and Reminiscences was completed, but publishers had not
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Speaker 1: jumped at the collected gems of Alabama scents and wit.
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Speaker 1: The rental of a small house, which they still owned
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Speaker 1: in Mobile was two months in arrears. There board money
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Speaker 1: for the month would be due in three days. Miss
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Speaker 1: Lydia called her father to a consultation. No money, said he,
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Speaker 1: with a surprised look. It is quite annoying to be
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Speaker 1: called on so frequently for these petty sums. Really, I
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Speaker 1: the major searched his pockets. He found only a two
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Speaker 1: dollar bill, which he returned to his vest pocket. I
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Speaker 1: must attend to this at once, Lydia, he said, Kindly,
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Speaker 1: get me my umbrella and I will go down town. Immediately.
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Speaker 1: The congressman from our district, General Folgum, assured me some
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Speaker 1: days ago that he would use his influence to get
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Speaker 1: my book published at an early date. I will go
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Speaker 1: to his hotel at once and see what arrangement has
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Speaker 1: been made. With a sad little smile, Miss Lydia watched
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Speaker 1: him button his father Hubbard and depart, pausing at the door,
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Speaker 1: as he always did, to bow profound. That evening, at
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Speaker 1: dark he returned. It seemed that Congressman Fulgum had seen
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Speaker 1: the publisher who had the Major's manuscript for reading. That
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Speaker 1: person had said that if the anecdotes, etc. Were carefully
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Speaker 1: pruned down about one half, in order to eliminate the
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Speaker 1: sectional and class prejudice with which the book was dyed
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Speaker 1: from end to end, he might consider its publication. The
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Speaker 1: Major was in a white heat of anger, but regained
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Speaker 1: his equanimity according to his code of manners, as soon
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Speaker 1: as he was in Miss Lydia's presence. We must have money,
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Speaker 1: said Miss Lydia, with a little wrinkle above her nose.
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Speaker 1: Give me the two dollars, and I will telegraph to
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Speaker 1: Uncle Ralph for some to night. The Major drew a
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Speaker 1: small envelope from his upper vest pocket and tossed it
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Speaker 1: on the table. Perhaps it was injudicious, he said mildly,
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Speaker 1: But the sum was so merely nominal that I bought
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Speaker 1: tickets to the theater to night. It's a new war drama, Lydia.
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Speaker 1: I thought you would be pleased to witness its first
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Speaker 1: production in Washington. I am told that the South has
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Speaker 1: fair treatment in the play. I confess I would like
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Speaker 1: to see the performance myself. Miss Lydia threw up her
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Speaker 1: hands in silent despair. Still, as the tickets were bought,
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Speaker 1: they might as well be used, so that evening, as
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Speaker 1: they sat in the theater listening to the lively overture,
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Speaker 1: even Miss Lydia was minded to relegate their troubles for
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Speaker 1: the hour to second place. The major in spotless linen,
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Speaker 1: with his extraordinary coat showing only where it was closely buttoned,
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Speaker 1: and his white hair, smoothly roached, looked really fine and distinguished.
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Speaker 1: The curtain went up on the first act of A
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Speaker 1: Magnolia Flower, revealing a typical Southern plantation scene. Major Talbot
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Speaker 1: betrayed some interest, oh see, exclaimed Miss Lydia, nudging his
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Speaker 1: arm and pointing to her program. The Major put on
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Speaker 1: his glasses and read the line in the cast of
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Speaker 1: characters that her fingers indicated Colonel Webster Calhoun, Mister Hopkins Hargraves.
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Speaker 1: It's our mister Hargraves, said Miss Lydia. It must be
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Speaker 1: his first appearance in what he calls The Legitimate. I'm
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Speaker 1: so glad for him. Not until the second act did
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Speaker 1: Colonel Webster Calhoun appear upon the stage. When he made
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Speaker 1: his entry, Major Talbot gave an audible sniff, glared at him,
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Speaker 1: and seemed to freeze solid. Miss Lydia uttered a little
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Speaker 1: ambiguous squeak and crumpled her program in her hand. For
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Speaker 1: Colonel Cowlehoon was made up as nearly resembling Major Talbot
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Speaker 1: as one pea does another. The long, thin, white hair
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Speaker 1: curly at the ends, the aristocratic beak of a nose,
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Speaker 1: the crumpled, wide raveling shirt front, the string tie with
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Speaker 1: the bow nearly under one ear were almost exactly duplicated.
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Speaker 1: And then, to clinch the imitation, he wore the twin
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Speaker 1: to the Major's supposed to be unparalleled coat, high collared, baggy,
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Speaker 1: empire waisted, ample skirted, hanging a foot lower in front
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Speaker 1: than behind. The garment could have been designed from no
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Speaker 1: other pattern. From then on, the Major and Miss Lydia
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Speaker 1: sat bewitched and saw the counterfeit presentment of a haughty
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Speaker 1: talbot dragged, as the Major afterward expressed it, through the
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Speaker 1: slanderous mire of a corrupt stage. Mister Hargraves had used
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Speaker 1: his opportunities well. He had caught the Major's little idiosyncrasies
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Speaker 1: of speech, accent and intonation, and his pompous courtliness to perfection,
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Speaker 1: exaggerating all to the purpose of the stage. When he
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Speaker 1: performed that marvelous bow that the Major fondly imagined to
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Speaker 1: be the pink of all salutations, the audience sent forth
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Speaker 1: a sudden round of hearty applause. Miss Lydia sat immovable,
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Speaker 1: not daring to glance toward her father. Sometimes her hand
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Speaker 1: next to him would be laid against her cheek, as
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Speaker 1: if to conceal the smile which, in spite of her disapproval,
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Speaker 1: she could not entirely suppress. The culmination of Hargreaves's audacious
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Speaker 1: imitation took place in the third act. The scene is
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Speaker 1: where Colonel Calhoun entertains a few of the neighboring planters
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Speaker 1: in his den standing at a table in the center
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Speaker 1: of the stage, with his friends grouped about him, he
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Speaker 1: delivers that inimitable rambling character monolog so famous in a
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Speaker 1: magnolia flower, at the same time that he deftly makes
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Speaker 1: julips for the party. Major Talbot, sitting quietly but white
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Speaker 1: with indignation, heard his best stories, retold, his pet theories
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Speaker 1: and hobbies advanced and expanded, and the dream of the
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Speaker 1: anecdotes and reminiscences served exaggerated and garbled. His favorite narrative,
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Speaker 1: that of his duel with Rathbone Culbertson, was not omitted,
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Speaker 1: and it was delivered with more fire, egotism, and gusto
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Speaker 1: than the Major himself put into it. The monolog concluded
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Speaker 1: with a quaint, delicious, witty little lecture on the art
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Speaker 1: of concocting a julip, illustrated by the act Here, Major
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Speaker 1: Talbot's delicate but showy science was reproduced to a hair's
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Speaker 1: breadth from his dainty handling of the fragrant weed the
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Speaker 1: one thousandth part of a grain. Too much pressure, gentlemen,
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Speaker 1: and you extract the bitterness instead of the aroma of
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Speaker 1: this heaven bestowed plant. To his solicitous selection of the
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Speaker 1: oaten straws. At the close of the scene, the audience
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Speaker 1: raised a tumultuous roar of appreciation. The portrayal of the
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Speaker 1: type was so exact, so sure and thorough, that the
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Speaker 1: leading characters in the play were forgotten. After repeated calls,
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Speaker 1: Hard Grace came before the curtain and bowed, his rather
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Speaker 1: boyish face, bright and flushed with the knowledge of success.
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Speaker 1: At last, Miss Lydia turned and looked at the Major.
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Speaker 1: His thin nostrils were working like the gills of a fish.
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Speaker 1: He laid both shaky hands upon the arms of his
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Speaker 1: chair to rise. We will go, Lydia, he said, chokingly.
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Speaker 1: This is an abominable desecration. Before he could rise, she
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Speaker 1: pulled him back into his seat. We will stay it out,
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Speaker 1: she declared, Do you want to advertise the copy by
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Speaker 1: exhibiting the original coat? So they remained to the end.
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Speaker 1: Our Grave's success must have kept him up late that night,
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Speaker 1: for neither at the breakfast nor at the dinner table
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Speaker 1: did he appear. About three in the afternoon, he tapped
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Speaker 1: at the door of Major Talbot's study. The Major opened it,
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Speaker 1: and her Graves walked in with his hands full of
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Speaker 1: the morning papers. Too full of his triumph to notice
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Speaker 1: anything unusual in the Major's demeanor. I put it all
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Speaker 1: over him last night, Major, he began exultingly. I had
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Speaker 1: my inning, and I think scored. Here's what the post says.
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Speaker 1: His conception and portrayal of the old time Southern colonel,
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Speaker 1: with his absurd grandiloquence, his eccentric garb, his quaint idioms
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Speaker 1: and phrases, his moth eaten pride of family, and his
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Speaker 1: really kind heart, fastidious sense of honor, and lovable simplicity,
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Speaker 1: is the best delineation of a character role on the
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Speaker 1: boards to day. The coat worn by Colonel Calhoun is
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Speaker 1: itself nothing less than an evolution of genius. Mister Hargraves
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Speaker 1: has captured his public. How does that sound, Major? For
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Speaker 1: a first nighter? I had the honor. The Major's voice
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Speaker 1: sounded ominously frigid of witnessing your very remarkable performance, sir,
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Speaker 1: last night, Hargraves looked disconcerted. You there. I didn't know
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Speaker 1: you ever, er, I didn't know you cared for the theater. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I say, Major Talbot, he exclaimed, frankly, don't you be offended?
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Speaker 1: I admit I did get a lot of pointers. From
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Speaker 1: you that helped out wonderfully in the park. But it's
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Speaker 1: a type, you know, not individual. The way the audience
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Speaker 1: caught on shows that half the patrons of that theater
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Speaker 1: are Southerners. They recognized it, mister Hargraves, said the Major,
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Speaker 1: who had remained standing. You have put upon me an
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Speaker 1: unpardonable insult. You have burlesqued my person, grossly betrayed my confidence,
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Speaker 1: and misused my hospitality. If I thought you possessed the
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Speaker 1: faintest conception of what is the sign manual of a
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Speaker 1: gentleman or what is due one, I would call you out, sir,
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Speaker 1: old as I am, I will ask you to leave
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Speaker 1: the room. Sir. The actor appeared to be slightly bewildered
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Speaker 1: and seemed hardly to take in the full meaning of
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Speaker 1: the old gentleman's words. I am truly sorry you took offense,
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Speaker 1: he said regretfully. Up Here we don't look at things
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Speaker 1: just as you people do. I know men who would
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Speaker 1: buy out half the house to have their personality put
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Speaker 1: on the stage so the public would recognize it. They
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Speaker 1: are not from Alabama, sir, said the major, haughtily. Perhaps not.
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Speaker 1: I have a pretty good memory. Major let me quote
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Speaker 1: a few lines from your book in response to a
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Speaker 1: toast at a banquet given in Milledgeville. I believe you uttered,
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Speaker 1: and intend to have printed these words. The northern man
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Speaker 1: is utterly without sentiment or warmth, except in so far
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Speaker 1: as the feelings may be turned to his own commercial profit.
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Speaker 1: He will suffer without resentment any innation cast upon the
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Speaker 1: honor of himself or his loved ones that does not
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Speaker 1: bear with it the consequence of pecuniary loss. In his charity.
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Speaker 1: He gives with a liberal hand, but it must be
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Speaker 1: heralded with the trumpet and chronicled in brass. Do you
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Speaker 1: think that picture is fairer than the one you saw
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Speaker 1: of Colonel Calhoun last night? The description said the Major
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Speaker 1: frowning is not without grounds. Some exaggerate latitude must be
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Speaker 1: allowed in public speaking and in public acting. Replied Hargraves,
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Speaker 1: that is not the point, persisted the Major, unrelenting. It
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Speaker 1: was a personal caricature. I positively decline to overlook it,
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Speaker 1: Sir Major Talbot, said Hargraves, with a winning smile. I
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Speaker 1: wish you would understand me. I want you to know
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Speaker 1: that I never dreamed of insulting you in my profession.
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Speaker 1: All life belongs to me. I take what I want
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Speaker 1: and what I can, and return it over the footlights. Now,
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Speaker 1: if you will, let's let it go at that. I
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Speaker 1: came in to see you about something else. We've been
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Speaker 1: pretty good friends for some months, and I'm going to
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Speaker 1: take the risk of offending you again. I know you
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Speaker 1: are hard up for money, never mind how I found out.
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Speaker 1: A boarding house is no place to keep such matters secret,
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Speaker 1: and I want you to let me help you out
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Speaker 1: of the pinch. I've been there often enough myself. I've
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Speaker 1: been getting a fair salary all the season, and I've
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Speaker 1: saved some money. You're welcome to a couple hundred or
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Speaker 1: even more until you get stop. Commanded the major with
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Speaker 1: his arms outstretched. It seems that my book didn't lie
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Speaker 1: after all. You think your money will heal all the
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Speaker 1: hurts of honor. Under no circumstances would I accept alone
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Speaker 1: from a casual acquaintance, And as to you, sir, I
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Speaker 1: would starve before I would consider your insulting offer of
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Speaker 1: a financial adjustment. Of the circumstances we have discussed, I
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Speaker 1: beg to repeat my request relative to your quitting the apartment.
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Speaker 1: Hargraves took his departure without another word. He also left
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Speaker 1: the house the same day, moving, as Missus Verdeman explained
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Speaker 1: at the supper table nearer the vicinity of the down
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Speaker 1: Town theater, where a Magnolia Flower was booked for a
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Speaker 1: week's run. Critical was the situation with Major Talbot and
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Speaker 1: Miss Lydia. There was no one in Washington to whom
24:47
Speaker 1: the Major's scruples allowed him to apply for a loan.
24:51
Speaker 1: Miss Lydia wrote a letter to Uncle Ralph, but it
24:54
Speaker 1: was doubtful whether that relative's constricted affairs would permit him
24:58
Speaker 1: to furnish help. The Major was forced to make an
25:01
Speaker 1: apologetic address to Missus Vardeman regarding the delayed payment for board,
25:07
Speaker 1: referring to delinquent rentals and delayed remittances in a rather
25:13
Speaker 1: confused strain. Deliverance came from an entirely unexpected source. Late
25:21
Speaker 1: one afternoon, the door maid came up and announced an
25:24
Speaker 1: old colored man who wanted to see Major Talbot. The
25:28
Speaker 1: Major asked that he be sent up to his study. Soon,
25:32
Speaker 1: an old darky appeared at the doorway with his hat
25:35
Speaker 1: in hand, bowing and scraping with one clumsy foot. He
25:40
Speaker 1: was quite decently dressed in a baggy suit of black,
25:44
Speaker 1: his big, coarse shoes shone with a metallic luster suggestive
25:48
Speaker 1: of stove polish. His bushy wool was gray, almost white.
25:54
Speaker 1: After middle life. It is difficult to estimate the age
25:58
Speaker 1: of a Negro. This one might have seen as many
26:01
Speaker 1: years as had Major Talbot. Ah be bound, You don't
26:05
Speaker 1: know me, mars Pendleton were his first words. The Major
26:09
Speaker 1: rose and came forward at the old, familiar style of address.
26:13
Speaker 1: It was one of the old plantation darkies, without a doubt,
26:17
Speaker 1: but they had been widely scattered, and he could not
26:20
Speaker 1: recall the voice or face. I don't believe I do,
26:24
Speaker 1: he said, kindly, unless you will assist my memory. Don't
26:29
Speaker 1: you remember Cindy's mose, mars Pendleton? What migrated immediately after
26:33
Speaker 1: the war? Wait a minute, said the Major, rubbing his
26:37
Speaker 1: forehead with the tips of his fingers. He loved to
26:40
Speaker 1: recall everything connected with those beloved days. Cindy's mose, he reflected,
26:48
Speaker 1: You worked among the horses, breaking the colts. Yes, I
26:52
Speaker 1: remember now. After the surrender, you took the name of
26:57
Speaker 1: erm don't prompt me, er Mitchell and went to the west,
27:02
Speaker 1: u to Nebraska. Yair yes, sir, the old man's face
27:07
Speaker 1: stretched with a delighted grin. That's him. That's it Newbraska.
27:12
Speaker 1: That's me, Mose Mitchell, old uncle Mose Mitchell. They calls
27:17
Speaker 1: me now, old Moss. Your pa. Gimme a pair o
27:21
Speaker 1: demn mule coats. When I left foot to stop me
27:24
Speaker 1: at goin with you? Remember them colts, Mars Pendleton. I
27:29
Speaker 1: don't seem to recall the colts, said the major. You
27:32
Speaker 1: know I was married the first year of the war
27:35
Speaker 1: and living at the old Follingsby place. But sit down,
27:39
Speaker 1: Sit down, uncle mos. I'm glad to see you. I
27:42
Speaker 1: hope you have prospered. Uncle Mose took a chair and
27:46
Speaker 1: laid his hat carefully on the floor beside it. Yes,
27:50
Speaker 1: a of late I dun Murdy famous. When I first
27:53
Speaker 1: got to Nebrasky, de folks come all round me to
27:57
Speaker 1: see them mule coats. They't see no mules like them
28:00
Speaker 1: in Nebraska. I sold em mules for three hundred dollars, yes,
28:05
Speaker 1: a three hundred. Then I opened up blacksmith's shop, sir,
28:10
Speaker 1: and made some money, an bought some land. Me and
28:13
Speaker 1: my old woman done rest up seven chillum, and all
28:17
Speaker 1: done well except to em what died for a year ago?
28:21
Speaker 1: A railroad come along and start a town slam up
28:24
Speaker 1: against my land and Sir mos Pendleton, Uncle Mo's an
28:28
Speaker 1: worth eleven thousand dollars in money property in land. Oh,
28:34
Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear it, said the Major, heartily glad
28:38
Speaker 1: to hear it. An that little baby O you'r moss
28:41
Speaker 1: Pendleton one that you name, Miss Lyddy. I be bound
28:45
Speaker 1: that little tad doun glowed up to tell nobody won't
28:48
Speaker 1: know her. The Major stepped to the door and called Lyddy, dear,
28:52
Speaker 1: will you come? Miss Lydia, looking quite grown up and
28:57
Speaker 1: a little worried came in from her room down. Now
29:01
Speaker 1: what I tell you? I knowed dat baby done be
29:04
Speaker 1: plum growed up. You don't remember Uncle Moe's child. This
29:08
Speaker 1: is Aunt Cindy's Mo's, Lydia, explained the Major. He left
29:12
Speaker 1: Sunnymead for the West when you were two years old. Well,
29:17
Speaker 1: said Miss Lydia, I can hardly be expected to remember
29:20
Speaker 1: you Uncle Mo's at that age. And as you say,
29:23
Speaker 1: I'm plum growed up and was a blessed long time ago.
29:28
Speaker 1: But I'm glad to see you, even if I can't
29:30
Speaker 1: remember you, and she was, and so was the Major.
29:35
Speaker 1: Something alive and tangible had come to link them with
29:38
Speaker 1: the happy past. The three sat and talked over the
29:42
Speaker 1: olden times, the Major and Uncle Mos correcting or prompting
29:46
Speaker 1: each other as they reviewed the plantation scenes and days.
29:50
Speaker 1: The Major inquired what the old man was doing so
29:53
Speaker 1: far from his home. Uncle Mo's am a delicate, he replied,
29:58
Speaker 1: to the Grand Baptist convention in this city. I never
30:01
Speaker 1: preached none, but beIN a resident elder in the church,
30:04
Speaker 1: and able for to pay my own expenses. They sent
30:08
Speaker 1: me long And how did you know we were in Washington?
30:12
Speaker 1: Inquired Miss Lydia. There's a colored man works in the
30:15
Speaker 1: hotel while stops what comes from mobile? He told me
30:19
Speaker 1: he's seen Mars Pendleton comin out in this here house
30:22
Speaker 1: one mornin'. What I come for, continued Uncle Mose, reaching
30:27
Speaker 1: into his pocket. Besides decide o home, folks, was to
30:31
Speaker 1: pay Mars Pendleton what I owes him, Yes, sir, three
30:35
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. He handed the Major a roll of bills.
30:39
Speaker 1: When I left, Old Mars say take them mule coats,
30:42
Speaker 1: mos An if it gets me so you gets able
30:46
Speaker 1: pay form. Yes, sir, dem was his words. The war
30:50
Speaker 1: had done left Old Mars Pole himself. Old Mars beIN
30:54
Speaker 1: long ago dead. The debt descends to Mars Pendleton three
30:59
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. Uncle Mose is plenty able to pay now.
31:02
Speaker 1: When that railroad by my land I laid off to
31:06
Speaker 1: pay for them mules, count them money, Moss Pendleton, That's
31:10
Speaker 1: what I sold them mules for. Yes, sir, tears were
31:14
Speaker 1: in Major Talbot's eyes. He took Uncle MOSE's hand and
31:18
Speaker 1: laid his other upon his shoulder. Dear, faithful old servitor,
31:23
Speaker 1: he said, in an unsteady voice, I don't mind saying
31:26
Speaker 1: to you that Moss Pendleton spent his last dollar in
31:30
Speaker 1: the world a week ago. We will accept this money,
31:33
Speaker 1: Uncle Mo's, since in a way it is a sort
31:36
Speaker 1: of payment as well as a token of the loyalty
31:39
Speaker 1: and devotion of the old regime. Lydia, my dear, take
31:43
Speaker 1: the money. You are better fitted than I to manage
31:46
Speaker 1: its expenditure. Take it, honey, said Uncle Mos. It belongs
31:51
Speaker 1: to you. It's Talbot money. After Uncle Mose had gone,
31:55
Speaker 1: Miss Lydia had a good cry for joy, and the
31:59
Speaker 1: maid turned his face to a corner and smoked his
32:02
Speaker 1: clay pipe volcanically. The succeeding days saw the Talbots restored
32:09
Speaker 1: to peace and ease. Miss Lydia's face lost its worried look.
32:13
Speaker 1: The major appeared in a new frock coat, in which
32:16
Speaker 1: he looked like a wax figure, personifying the memory of
32:20
Speaker 1: his golden age. Another publisher, who read the manuscript of
32:24
Speaker 1: the anecdotes and Reminiscences, thought that with a little retouching
32:29
Speaker 1: and toning down of the highlights, he could make a
32:32
Speaker 1: really bright and saleable volume of it. Altogether, the situation
32:37
Speaker 1: was comfortable, and not without the touch of hope that
32:41
Speaker 1: is often sweeter than arrived blessings. One day, about a
32:46
Speaker 1: week after their piece of good luck, a maid brought
32:49
Speaker 1: a letter from Miss Lydia to her room. The postmark
32:53
Speaker 1: showed that it was from New York. Not knowing any
32:56
Speaker 1: one there, Miss Lydia, in a mild flutter of one,
33:00
Speaker 1: sat down by her table and opened the letter with
33:03
Speaker 1: her scissors. This is what she read. Dear Miss Talbot,
33:09
Speaker 1: I thought you might be glad to hear of my
33:11
Speaker 1: good fortune. I have received and accepted an offer of
33:15
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars per week by a New York Stock
33:18
Speaker 1: Company to play Colonel Calhoun in a Magnolia Flower. There
33:23
Speaker 1: is something else I wanted you to know. I guess
33:26
Speaker 1: you'd better not tell Major Talbot. I was anxious to
33:30
Speaker 1: make him some amends for the great help he was
33:32
Speaker 1: to me in studying the part, and for the bad
33:36
Speaker 1: humor he was in about it. He refused to let me,
33:39
Speaker 1: so I did it anyhow I could easily spare the
33:43
Speaker 1: three hundred. Sincerely, yours, H. Hopkins Hargraves, p S. How
33:49
Speaker 1: did I play Uncle Mo's. Major Talbot, passing through the hall,
33:54
Speaker 1: saw Miss Lydia's door open and stopped any mail for
33:59
Speaker 1: us this morning? Lydia, dear, he asked. Miss Lydia slid
34:03
Speaker 1: the letter beneath a fold of her dress. The mobile
34:06
Speaker 1: chronicle came, She said promptly. It's on the table in
34:09
Speaker 1: your study. End of story fourteen.