She received this with distrust. “I kin tell ye now—they ain't,” she said, discriminatingly; “Pur-dee's words don't sound like them.”
“Waal, now, what's the differ?” he demanded, with an indignation natural enough to aspiring humanity detecting a slur upon one's literary style.
“Waal—” she paused as she knelt down to feed the fire, holding-the fragrant chips in her hand; the flame flickered out and lighted up her reflective eyes while she endeavored to express the distinction she felt: “Purdee's words don't sound ter me like the words of a man sech ez men be.”
Grinnell wrinkled his brows, trying to follow her here.
“They sound ter me like the words spoke in a dream—the pernouncings of a vision.” Mrs. Grinnell fancied that she too had a gift of Biblical phraseology. “They sound ter me like things I hearn whenst I war a-hungered arter righteousness an' seekin' religion, an' bided alone in the wilderness a-waitin' o' the Sperit.”
“'Gusta!” suddenly exclaimed her husband, with the cadence of amazed conviction, “ye b'lieve the lie o' that critter, an' that he reads the words o' the Lord on the rock!”
She looked up a little startled. She had been unconscious of the circuitous approaches of credence, and shared his astonishment in the conclusion.
“Waal, sir!” he said, more hurt and cast down than one would have deemed possible. “I'm willin' ter hev it so. I'm jes nuthin' but a sinner an' a fool, ripenin' fur damnation, an' he air a saint o' the yearth!”
Now such sayings as this were frequent upon Job Grinnell's tongue. He did not believe them; their utility was in their challenge to contradiction. Thus they often promoted an increased cordiality of the domestic relations and an accession of self-esteem.
Augusta, however, was tired; the boiling sorghum and the September sun were debilitating in their effects. There was something in the scene with the youthful Purdee that grated upon her half-developed sensibilities. The baby was whimpering outright, and the cow was lowing at the bars. She gave her irritation the luxury of withholding the salve to Grinnell's wounded vanity. She said nothing. The tribute to Purdee went for what it was worth, and he was forced to swallow the humble-pie he had taken into his mouth, albeit it stuck in his throat.