He waited to see John tear open the envelope and read the telegram.
“My mother’s sick,” was John’s hurried statement as he turned toward the house.
Hugh drove John Hunter to the station. The sun was hot and he had read till nearly midnight the night before, and, busy season though it was, he thought it best not to start home till toward night. Doctor Morgan had returned home and Hugh, as was his custom, went to the office for a chat. It was one of the chief delights of both to have an hour together.
“Do they get along well together—Hunter and his wife?” Doctor Morgan asked after he had taken Hugh’s health into account.
“You’d think so if you’d heard the directions I received for her care just now,” Hugh answered with a laugh.
“Well, I don’t care—I couldn’t make him understand about her when she was sick. He let that squalling brat crawl over her, and let her do baking and things she wasn’t fit to do till she was worn out,” the old doctor said resentfully. Then added as an afterthought, “Say! You’re not letting him run you into debt, are you?”
“No debts in mine. There’s one note and It’ll be cleared up as soon as the small grain can be disposed of. I put the clamps on that as soon as I heard of it. It won’t happen again. I think his wife was about as glad of the end of the credit business as any of us,” Hugh said, and then added with a laugh: “I think you’re mistaken about his treatment of her, though. You should have heard the directions he gave me about her as the train was about to pull out; you’d have thought she was his favourite child and that I was going to neglect her.”
Doctor Morgan snorted contemptuously.
“Oh, yes, I know him. Hunter loves to give directions to anything from a puppy dog to a preacher. That’s what’s the matter with her. He directs her all the time as if she didn’t have sense enough to cook hot water or wash the baby. He ain’t any worse than a lot of men I know of, but you expect more of a man that’s half-educated. I tell you, Noland, the trouble ’s in this business of men owning women. I’ve practised in these parts ever since this country’s been opened, and I see a good deal of husbands—and they’re a bad lot.”
Hugh Noland watched the old doctor with a twinkle in his eye.