Part 35 (1/2)
Walky Dexter came into the store that same evening, chuckling over the sale of the instrument.
”I wouldn't go for ter say Hopewell is a sharper,” he grinned; ”but mebbe he ain't so powerful innercent as he sometimes 'pears. If so, I'm sartainly glad of it.”
”What do you mean, Mr. Dexter?” asked 'Rill, rather sharply.
”Guess Joe Bodley feels like he'd like ter know whether Hopewell done him or not. Joe's condition is suthin' like the snappin' turtle's when he cotched a-holt of Peleg Swift's red nose as he was stoopin' ter git a drink at the spring. He didn't durst ter let go while Peke was runnin' an' yellin' 'Murder!' but he was mighty sorry ter git so fur from home. Haw! haw! haw!”
”What is the matter with Joe Bodley now, Walky?” asked Nelson, who was present. ”Didn't he make a good thing out of the violin transaction?”
”Why--haw! haw!--he dunno yit. But I b'lieve he's beginnin' ter have his doubts--like th' feller 't got holt of the black snake a-thinkin'
it was a heifer's tail,” chuckled Walky, whose face was very red and whose spicy breath--Joe Bodley always kept a saucer of cloves on the end of the bar--was patent to all in the store.
”Joe's a good sport; he ain't squealin' none,” pursued Dexter; ”but there is the fiddle a-hangin' behint th' bar an' Joe's beginnin' ter look mighty sour when ye mention it to him.”
”Why, Mr. Dexter!” 'Rill said, in surprise, ”hasn't he turned it over to the man he said he bought it for?”
”Wal--not so's ye'd notice it,” Walky replied, grinning fatuously. ”I dunno who the feller is, or how much money he gin Joe in the fust place to help pay for the fiddle--some, of course. But if Joe paid Hopewell a hundred dollars for the thing you kin jest bet he 'spected to git ha'f as much ag'in for it.
”But I reckon the feller's reneged or suthin'. Joe ain't happy about it--he! he! Mebbe on clost examination the fiddle don't 'pear ter be one o' them old masters they tell about! Haw! haw! haw!”
Janice started to say something. ”Why don't they look inside----”
”Inside o' what?” demanded Walky, when the girl halted.
”I am positive that Hopewell would never have sold it for a hundred dollars if he hadn't felt he must,” broke in the storekeeper's wife, and Janice did not complete her impulsive observation.
”Ye can't most allus sometimes tell!” drawled Walky. ”Mebbe Hopewell had suthin' up his sleeve 'sides his wrist. Haw! haw! haw!
”Shucks! talk about a fiddle bein' wuth a hunderd dollars!
Jefers-pelters! I seen one a-hangin' in a shop winder at Bennington once 't looked every whit as good as Hopewell's, and as old, an' 'twas marked plain on a card, 'two dollars an' a ha'f.'”
”I guess there are fiddles and _fiddles_,” said 'Rill, a little tartly for her.
”No,” laughed Nelson. ”There are fiddles and _violins_. Like the word 'vase.' If it's a cheap one, plain 'vase' is well enough to indicate it; but if it costs over twenty-five dollars they usually call it a 'vahze.' I have always believed Hopewell's instrument deserved the dignity of 'violin.'”
”Wal,” declared Walky. ”I guess ye kin have all the dignity, _and_ the vi'lin, too, if you offer Joe what he paid for it. I don't b'lieve he'll hang off much for a profit--er--haw! haw! haw!”
”I wish I were wealthy enough to buy the violin back from that fellow,”
whispered Janice to the schoolmaster.
”Ah! I expect you do, Janice,” he said softly, eyeing her with admiration. ”And I wish I could give you the money to do so. It would give you more pleasure, I fancy, to hand Hopewell back his violin when he returns from Boston than almost anything we could name. Wouldn't it?”
”Oh, dear me! yes, Nelson,” she sighed. ”I just wish I were rich.”
Just about this time there were a number of things Janice desired money for. She had a little left in the bank at Middletown; but she dared not use it for anything but actual necessities. No telling when daddy could send her any more for her own private use. Perhaps, never.
The papers gave little news of Mexican troubles just now. Of course, Juan Dicampa being dead, there was no use watching the news columns for _his_ name.