Reflecting that he was going to be angry whether she talked out or not, Elizabeth laid a detaining hand on his arm and spoke of what she felt she could get his attention fixed upon.
“I was thinking of all that money we’re going to have to pay some day, John. I—I’ve tried before to make you understand me. Oh, John, dear, don’t you see—but then, no, of course you don’t, you’ve never had the experience of it. You see, dear, I’ve had it. It takes the heart out of people. You never get rid of it after you get into it once. You just go on, you get old and quarrelsome—and—and you never have any good times because you’re afraid of something—of the interest that’s got to be met, and things. Why won’t you let me help you? You didn’t tell me about these last cattle, nor the Carter lot. Why——”
“Now look here, Elizabeth, a man can’t run to the house and consult a woman about every little thing he does, before he does it. I always tell you when I can. I told you about this.”
Irritability was John Hunter’s strongest weapon.
“I don’t want you to run to the house to tell me about every little thing you do,” the young wife explained patiently, “but these debts will not be little things when they come to be paid off, dear. Really, you don’t know how they will sap you and me later on; they may even take the farm right out from under our feet. There are so many things that can happen to cattle—and interest has to be paid. That’s the awful part of it, and——”
John fidgeted uneasily and did not look at her. He wanted to get away. He had not come in to talk of this. Elizabeth held his sleeve and he had to say something.
“I haven’t failed to get what you need out of this money,” he said at last. “I can’t have you shutting out opportunities for business. I’ll raise the interest. If I furnish the money I ought to be free to make a living the best way I see how. What do you know about a man’s business?”
Desiring only to convince him, which she could not do if he were irritated, Elizabeth laid her paring knife on the kitchen table and put her arm about her husband’s neck coaxingly.
“Of course you get everything I need, dear; that isn’t the trouble. I don’t want to shut out opportunities for business either, but I gave up my education to help pay interest. I know how hard it is to raise. The calves die, and the cows don’t give milk enough to make up the difference. The loss—— Oh, I know,” she said putting her hand affectionately over his mouth to still the objection he had started to offer. “You think beef cattle will be different, but black-leg gets into a herd of beef cattle just as readily as into the cows and calves, and frosted corn is a liability Kansas farmers always have hanging over a crop. I’m not complaining about the cattle that are paid for—it’s those we’d have to pay for that were dead. The money was yours and you had a right to spend it as you chose, but the debts will be ours. The skimping and saving will fall on me as much as on you, and skimping makes people mean and penurious. Promise me you won’t go into debt without telling me again.”
“Forget it, little woman,” John replied, patting her face and kissing it many times. “I’ll never do anything to disgrace you.”