“You know ol’ man Larkin don’t like you none too well—jest on account o’ y’r shiftless ways, as he calls it?”
“I am aware that he doesn’t look upon me as a promising son-in-law—yes.”
“An’ he does think a heap o’ George Hilliard?”
“Y-e-s.”
“Well, you won’t be gone a month till George Hilliard ’ll be standin’ in y’r shoes.”
“I have no fears on that score.”
“All right!—but you’ll see. Gals is gals—they’re all false an’ fickle. A bird in the hand’s worth two in the bush, Ross. You’d better stay here an’ be gittin’ a cage ready fer y’r bird. Ol’ Sam Larkin’s got a heap o’ good land—an’ a heap more money. He’s rich. An’ Amy’s a purty nice gal—an’ the only child. You don’t want to let all that slip through y’r fingers, my boy.”
“You’re talking nonsense, Joe. Amy loves me—she don’t care a fig for George Hilliard. I’ll marry her on my return, with or without her father’s consent. Hilliard is a Canadian—an English sympathizer. Mr. Larkin will not forget that. Besides, if we have another war with Great Britain—as appears likely—this neighborhood will become too warm for the forehanded George. I care nothing for Amy’s prospective fortune, but I love her. And I’m going to marry her, no matter who may oppose.”
The young man’s chest heaved, and defiance to the whole world shone in his gray eyes.
“It’s a good thing to have plenty o’ grit an’ confidence,” Farley chuckled; “but ther’s a chance o’ havin’ too much o’ even a good thing—I swan ther’ is! An’ lawzee! Hain’t I had the ’xperience? Many’s the purty, rosy-cheeked gals I could ’ave got in my younger days. W’y, they used to tag after me an’ pester me ’most to death. I’ve had more’n a dozen of ’em dead in love with me at one time—fairly scratchin’ each other’s eyes out, quar’lin’ ’bout which one ’ld git me. All of ’em love-sick over my beauty—my purty form an’ features. But I jest stuck my nose up in the air an’ passed ’em by. An’ see me to-day! I’m an everlastin’ warnin’—a livin’ monument to disap’inted love an’ dangnation foolishness. Ther’ ain’t a piece o’ linsey-woolsey in the whole settlement that’ll even look—Snakes an’ garters! What’s that?”