at him.

I didn't quite get the slant of all this until later, when we'd finished
and was trailin' into the lib'ry. Mrs. Leavitt breaks loose from
Twombley-Crane and falls back alongside of me.

"Well, how goes it?" says I. "Wasn't so bad, after all, was it?"

"Don't tell anyone," she whispers, "but I'm so scared I'd like to yell
and run away. I would too, if it wasn't for Edwin."

"Who?" says I.

"Mr. Leavitt," says she. "He's going to be Edwin to me after this,
though--my Edwin. Isn't he great, though? Course, I always knew he was a
good talker, and all that; but to do it in comp'ny, before a lot of city
folks--well, I must say I'm mighty proud of such a husband, mighty
proud! And anybody who ever calls him Mr. Sallie Leavitt again has got
to reckon with me! They'll never have a chance to do it in Clarks Mills.
The Mills ain't good enough for Edwin. I've just found that out. And to
think that all these years I've believed it was the other way round! But
I'm going to make up for all that. You'll see!"

Uh-huh! Mrs. Leavitt's a woman of her word. Soon as she can settle up
things at the store, foreclose a few mortgages, and unload a few blocks
of stock that can't be carried safe without watchin', it's goin' to be
the grand European tour for her and Edwin, and maybe a house in town
when they come back.

"Which only goes to show, Mrs. McCabe," says I, "how it's never too
late to discover that, after all, old Hubby's the one best bet on the
card."

"Pooh!" says Sadie. "It isn't always safe to let him know it, even if
you have."

CHAPTER XII

A FIFTY-FIFTY SPLIT WITH HUNK

"And believe me, Shorty," goes on Mr. Hunk Burley, tappin' a stubby
forefinger on my knee, and waggin' his choppin'-block head energetic,
"when I get behind a proposition yuh goin' to get some action."

"Sure, I know, Hunk," says I, glancin' up at the clock uneasy and
squirmin' a bit in the swing chair.

You see, this had been goin' on now for near an hour, and while it might
be more or less entertainin' as well as true, I wa'n't crazy about
listenin' to it all the afternoon. For one thing, I wa'n't comin' in on
his scheme. Not a chance. I can be bilked into buyin' tickets for a
raffle, even when I wouldn't take the junk that's put up as a gift, and
I'm easy in other ways; but when it comes to any gate-money game, from
launchin' a musical comedy to openin' a new boxin' club, I'm Tight Tommy
with the time lock set. None in mine! I'v