Bearin' that in mind, if I was you, I wouldn't be too careless
about scramblin' up into places where you was apt to git a fall.... I
calc'late, Sairy, that it's better to miss the view than to fall out of
the tree...."
"I'm going to see the view if I fall out of every tree I climb," Sarah
said, hotly.
"Don't object if I find you a boardin' house?"
"I'm going to board with Grandma Penny that was--Mrs. Spackles."
Scattergood nodded. "G'-by, Sairy.... G'-by, Nahum." He watched father
and daughter leave the store with a twinkle in his eyes, not a twinkle
of humor, but the twinkle that always came when his interest in life,
always keen, was aroused to a point where it tingled. "Calc'late to be
kep' busy--more 'n ordinary busy," he offered as an opinion to be
digested by the Round Oak stove. Presently he added: "She's perty ...
and bein' perty is kind of a remarkable thing ... bein' perty and
young.... Don't seem like God ought to hold folks accountable fer bein'
young, nor yet fer bein' good to look at ... but they's times when it
seems like He does...." On his way back to the store after dinner,
Scattergood stopped at the bank corner, hesitated a moment, and then
mounted the stairs to the offices above.
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