OCR Text |
Show •99 "Would you call yourself a rich man?" I said. "What kind of question is that?" "I'm serious." He looked at me carefully and decided he could affort to be good-natured. "No offense, but you're a bit drunk, partner. I steadied myself with a hand on his arm; he tried to draw back but the potted palm stopped him. "That doesn't make me any less serious," I said. "What I want to know is what does it feel like to be rioh?" "Aren't you the feller that's married to Maybelle's niece?" "Yes," I said. "Well then, there you go. All you have to do is wait and you're bound to find out the hard way. Maybelle Carter loves that little girl too much to see her married to a poor man for long." "That's the whole point, Mr. Benbow," I said. "I have to know now. Because it'll be too late afterwards-nobody that's rich ever gives it up on purpose. And what if it turns out to be a son of a bitch? What if it turns me mean?" Someone had turned up the music and I had to shout to be heard. "I have to know before it's too late. Are they really different from you and me?" "A rich man wouldn't tell you and a poor one wouldn't know," he said. He hunched himself forward a little more |