There was a kind of desperation in her tone, although no trace of emotion appeared on her face. 'Tilda Jane felt a strange kinship with this reserved woman, and flashed her a sympathetic glance while buttoning one of her stout and ugly garments.
Ruth Ann made a brief grimace. "Here I am," she said, with a sudden burst of speech, "a middle-aged woman gettin' old. You're a young one settin' out on life's journey. I'll never see you agin, prob'bly. Let me give you a word—be honest, an' if you can't be honest, be as honest as you can. You'll have no luck otherwise. You may think you're havin' luck in bein' sly, but it's a kind o' luck that turns to loss in the long run. There's that sister o' mine. She reminds me o' Reuben in the Bible—'unstable as water thou shalt not excel.' She's that deceitful that I should think she'd choke with it so she couldn't breathe."
'Tilda Jane made no remark, but as she threw her dress over her head her two black eyes scintillated wonderingly in the woman's direction.
"Unstable," said Ruth Ann, bitterly. "I'd 'a' loved her if she'd been honest, but it's always the same,—fair to the face, foul behind the back. I've slaved for her an' waited on her, an' heard her praised for work I've done, and seen young men oggle her, an' she oggle back, an' I've never had an offer an' never will, an' sometimes I think I hate her."
'Tilda Jane paused for an instant in her rapid dressing. This sisterly repulsion was something unknown to her childish experience.
"Then when she gets sick from stuffin' herself, I'm feared, an' think she's goin' to die, but she'll 'tend my funeral, an' cry an' look so handsome that some ole Jack will pop the question on the way home. Here, child, eat these while you dress," and she drew some doughnuts from her pocket.
'Tilda Jane pushed them from her, with an involuntary movement of dislike.
"You've turned agin me for turnin' agin my sister," said the woman, bitterly. "Wait till you're treated as I am. An' let me tell you what she's done to you. You made mention o' Mis' Grannis. Mis' Grannis has got a mortgage on this house. Mis' Grannis lends her money, Mis' Grannis is the god my sister bows down to. Do you think she'd let you stand between her and Mis' Grannis? No—the minute she heard you say Mis' Grannis would be pleased to git you back, that minute she made up her mind to fool you and Hank Dillson that she can't abide 'cause he ain't never asked her to stop bein' a widow. So she made me help her hitch up, an' she's off on the wings of the wind to tell her sweet Mis' Grannis to come an' git you; an' just to fool her who is so cute at foolin' other folks, I made up my mind to git you off. Now do you take it in?"
'Tilda Jane did take in this alarming bit of news, and for one instant stood aghast. Then she resolutely fell to lacing on her shoes.