“Done seen her,” said Jud; “she say come on.”
“Hold on,” said Travis with feigned anger. “Hold on. Joe is fixin' to start a cotton-mill of his own. That'll interfere with the Acme. No—no—we must vote it down. We mustn't let Joe do it.”
Joe had already attempted to rise and start after his wives. But in the roar of laughter that followed he sat down and began to weep again for Liza.
It was nearly midnight. Only Travis, Charley Biggers and Jud remained sober enough to talk. Charley was telling of Tilly and her wondrous beauty.
“Now—it's this way,” he hiccoughed—“I've got to go off to school—but—but—I've thought of a plan to marry her first, with a bogus license and preacher.”
There was a whispered conversation among them, ending in a shout of applause.
“What's the matter with you takin' yo' queen at the same time?” asked Jud of Travis.
Travis, drunk as he was, winced to think that he would ever permit Jud Carpenter to suggest what he had intended should only be known to himself. His tongue was thick, his brain whirled, and there were gaps in his thoughts; but through the thickness and heaviness he thought how low he had fallen. Lower yet when, despite all his vanishing reserve, all his dignity and exclusiveness, he laughed sillily and said:
“Just what I had decided to do—two queens and an ace.”
They all cheered drunkenly.