"My soul 'n' body! What reason did he give?"
"He's afraid your father's livin' on a annu—"
"Well, he ain't." Susan's tone was more than a little displeased. "Whatever else father may 'a' done, he never played no annuity tricks. He 's livin' on his own property, 'n' I'll take it very kindly o' you, Mrs. Lathrop, to make that piece o' news clear to your son. My father's got bank-stock, 'n' he owns them two cottages across the bridge, 'n' the blacksmith-shop belongs to him too. There! I declare I never thought o' the blacksmith,—his wife died last winter."
"Jathrop asked me what I th—"
"Well, what 'd you tell him?"
"I said 't if your father was some older—"
Miss Clegg's eyebrows moved understandingly.
"How long is it since you've seen father?" she asked without waiting for the other to end her sentence.
"Not since your mother died, I guess; I was—"
"I wish you c'd come over 'n' take a look at him now 'n' tell me your opinion. Why can't you?"