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Show 90 RTCIIARD JIURDJS. CHAPTER XII. A POOft !\JAN'ti WIFE. "Thou lr·ust'11t R villuin;-ile wi!l lnkc thy lumd Aud trse it f;)t' !tis own; yet when the LrnnJ Hews tire di,.Jwrwrf!d llH!mber-uoL his lossThou nrL tire vic lim!"- J'lte Fligld. . 'V1.11~N Pickett returned to Iris lr o,·cl on leaving J olm Hurd is, Ius WJfc abruptly ndtlrcsscd him tlms :- "L?o~< you, B01> Johnliurdis comes aftcl' no good to~niglrt. I soc tt lll that sm dc he lr tts. I know there's miscllicf in Ir is ~y.c. , lie lnugl1s, but he doc~ trot look on you wltilc he laughs: It tsn t an holl(•st bugh, as rf the heart was in it, und as if ]10 wasn't ::~fraid to haYe everyth ing knowu in his heart. lie's a bad man, Ben, wlratcvcr otlrcr people m:ty tlrink; nnd, thougi1 ltc lws lr clpcd you once or twice, I dou't think him nny more certain your frif'nd for nll that. He only wants to make use of you; and if you let him go too far, Ben, mark my words, IJC'lllcavc you one day in a worse l10bLle tlutn ever Ito ltcllJCd you out of." "Pshaw, Betsy, l1ow you talk! you've a spite against Jolm Hurd is, and t hat's agtlinst reason too. You forget how he saved me from his brot her." "No, I do not fo1·gct it, ]3cn. lie d iU no more tLan any m:m siJOuld lmvc done wiJO saw a dozen :.1Lout to tnunple upon one llc saved you, it is true, but ltc has mndo yon pay }lim for it. H e has n1adc y~u work for !tim long enough for it, high and low, playmg a d uty sort of a game; carrying letters to throw in people's paths, tl1erc's no knowing fOr what; and tellitw yon wiHtt. to say in people's cars, wl1cn you 11nvcu't always0 bccn ccrtam thttt you've Lcen speaking truth wl1cn you did so. I don't forgot that lw served you, Den, but I also know tltat you A POOR MAN'S WTFF.. 91 nrc serving him dny and nigltt in return. Besides, ~en, what Ito did for you was whnt one gclltlcman might readtl~ d~ f~r anotltcr : I'm not sure tlmt what he makes you do for hnn 1811 t r:tscul-work." "Jiusl1 !"said Jlickctt, in u. whisper," you talk too loud. Is Jane asleep?" . . . . '_L'he wntchful idiot, with the cunning of imbec1llty winch still Ln.s its object, closecl Iter eyes, and put on tl1e appearance of one lost to all consciousness. "Yes, sit e's asleep; but what if site docs It car us 1 . She's ot~r own child, though not a wise one, t1nd it will be la arcl if we cant trust ourselves to spetdi. before her," said the mother. "llut there's something, Betsy, t hat we sltouldn't speak at all before anybody." "I hope the busiucss of Jolm llurclis ain't of that charncter, non Pickett," she retorted quick ly . " . Aud wltat if it is?" he replied. "\Yhy thou, Ben, you sl10u ld Ia ave noth i1~g t? do_ with it, if you'll mind what I'm telling you. Jolm llurdas Will get you into trouble. ] [e's a bad man." "\Vhat, for helping me out of trouble 1" . "No, but for hating his own brother as lie docs, Ins own flesh and Llood as I may say, tl1c chile] that laas suckled at the same nipple with himself; und, what's worse, for fearing tile m:m he hales. Now, I say that tltc hate is bad enough, mtd 1~nst, lead to lt:trm; Lut when he's a coward thnt bates, then notlnng s too bad for him to do, provided he cun keep from tlangcr when lie does it. That's the man to light the rnatclJ, auJ run away from the explosion. H e' ll make you tl tc match, and hc·ll tnke your fin gers to light it, and then take to his own heels nnd leave you n.ll the dnnger." . . " . "Pshaw, Betsy, you talk like a woman nnJ a clnld,_ satd Pickett, with :m air of com1losure and indifference, winch he was far from fcC'ling. ".A nd so I do, :Ucn; antl if you'll listen to a woman's talk, it will be wise. It would l1ave saved you many times before, and it may do much to save you now. 'Vhy should you do any business that you're afraid to lay out to me. '!'here must be something wrong in it, I'm sure; and it can't be no small |