"Thinks he does, and it serves him right—serves him right for starting out to run a widow-ranch in the first place; it's like making a collection of old shoes. He let Henry Carruthers persuade him to mortgage everything and buy land on the river for the car-shops of the new railroad, which just fooled the town out of a hundred thousand dollars, and is going by on the other side of the river with the shops up at Bolivar. If James didn't get all the lawing in Alton County they would all starve to death—which would be hard on the constitution of old lady Hargrove, and her two hundred-weight."
"Oh, has Cousin James really lost all of his fortune?" I asked, and I was surprised at the amount of sympathetic dismay that rose in me at the information.
"Everything but what he carries around under that old gray hat of his—not so bad a fortune, at that!—hey?"
I feel I am going to love Uncle Peter for the way he disdainfully admires Cousin James.
"And—and all of his—his guests are really dependent on him?" I asked again, as the stupendous fact filtered into my mind.
"All the flock, all the flock," answered Uncle Peter, with what seemed, under the circumstances, a heartless chuckle. "They each one have little dabs of property, about as big as a handful of chicken feed, and as they have each one given it all to James to manage, they expect an income in return—and get it—all they ask for. A lot of use less old live stock—all but Sallie, and she's worse—worse, hey?"
I agreed with his question—but I didn't say so.
"Glad your money is safe in Public Town Bonds and City Securities, Evelina. If James could, he might lose it, and you'd have to move over. It would then be nip and tuck between you and Sallie which got James—nip and tuck—hey?"
"Oh, Uncle Peter!" I exclaimed with positive horror that was flavored with a large dash of indignation.
"Well, yes, a race between a widow and a girl for a man is about like one between a young duck and a spring chicken, across a mill-pond—girl and chicken lose—hey? But let Sallie have him, since you don't need him. I've got to go home and listen to Augusta talk about my business, that she knows nothing in the world about, or I won't be ready for town meeting this afternoon. Women are all fools,—hey?"