“Kid,” gasped Jim, “you are the pink limit! I guess there ain’t nothing that would stop Angela from regarding me as unsifted muck, just as she has since the first time I saw her.”
“What!”
“And you didn’t know. Wal, it’s all in the family, and you may as well git wise to it.”
“But she’s—she’s your wife——!”
“Yep.... Don’t hurry, youngster. Get it right back and masticate it well. They’ve fine heads for business in your family, not to mention play-acting.” 94
Claude flushed. He stood up and gripped a chair by the back.
“Steady,” said Jim. “I’m telling you the truth.... But I thought you knew.”
Claude was realizing it fast enough.
“Then there was no quarrel?” he gasped. “She—she simply left you?”
“I told her she might—and she did. But you needn’t worry none, I’ve staked bad claims afore.”