SHIANA
55
and then accept a purse on the hardest condition that ever was put on any man. It was no wonder that his night's sleep was gone from him, and that an ugly look was coming in his eyes!
Sheila.—And was it that that put the ugly look in his eyes? Oh, I understand it now. I shouldn't be surprised if he were to drown himself, with such a fate hanging over him.
Peg.—I dare say he might have done something of the kind, but that he wouldn't give the Black Man the satisfaction of it. He often used to say to himself, "The thirteen years are mine in spite of him, and I will spend them to the very end."
Nora.—It is a pity he didn't stay as he was at the beginning, trusting to his apple-tree and his malvogue and his soogaun chair.
Abbie.—But if he had stayed like that, Nora, there would have been no lady looking his way.
Nora.—Well, perhaps it might have been just as well for him. I don't see any "gentility" in a lot of them except pride and standoffishness and contempt of others.
Abbie.—Ah, Nora, I know what causes that sometimes. When they see little girls who are not ladies and who are better-looking than themselves, they are jealous. I am afraid if I were a lady I should be jealous of you.
Nora.—Oh, why, Abbie?
Abbie.—Ask Sheila why.
Sheila.—No, she won't ask Sheila why. Let Abbie tell it herself now, since she has drawn the question on her.
Peg.—Abbie is a great girl for making fun, Nora, but she is right sometimes.
