Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-09-03
A Blackjack Bargainer
By O. HENRY 8 ~s Il: sa.: s: :s$s,.: +:


for their thirty acre patch of cleared
a mad action, some irrelevant and In
| adequate nonsense about a bed of mica
Underlying the said property.
When the Garveys became possessed
| or so many dollars that they faltered in
| computing them. the deficiencies of life
! on Blackjack began to grow prominent.
Pike began to talk of new shoes, a hogs
head of tobacco to set in the corner, a
new lock to his rifle; and leading Mar
tella TO certain spot on the mountain
side, he pointed out to her how a small
| cannon-doubtless q thing not beyond
the scope of their fortune in price
might be planted so as to command and
! defend the sole accessible trail TO the
cabin, to the confusion Of revenues and
meddl1ng strangers forever.
But Adam reckoned without his Eve
These things represented to him the ap-
! piled power Of wealth. but there slun-
that scared far above his primitive wants
! Somewhere in Mrs. Garvey's bosom still
! survived spot of femininity unstarved
by twenty years Of Blackjack. For so
long time the sounds in her ears had
been the scaly barks dropping In the
woods at noon, and the wolves singing
! among the rocks at night, and it was
| enough to have purged her vanities. She
/ had grown fat and sad and yellow and
| dull. But when the means came, she
.
| quisites of her sex-tG sit at tea tables !;
| to buy inutile things to whitewash the
hideous veracity of life with little form
ana ceremony. SO she coldly vetoed
PlEes proposed system of Notifications,
ana announced that they would descend
upon the world, and gyrate socially.
And thus, at length, ii was decided and
the thing done. The village Of Laurel
was their compromise between Mrs Car
vey's preference for one of the large val
ND boz hpr,
prlmeval solitudes. Laurel yielded a
hating round Of feeble social distractions
comparable with Martellas ambitions,
ana was not entirely without recon-
mendation to Pike, its contiguilty to the
mountains presenting advantages for
sudden retreat in case fashionable society
should make it advisable.
Their descent upon Laurel had been
colncldent with Yancey Goree's feverish
desire to convert property into cash. and
they brought the old Goree homestead
paying four thousand dollars ready
hands.
Thus it happened that while the dis
reputable last Of the Cores sprawled
ia his disreputable office. at the end Of
bis row, sDurned by the cronies whom he
hsd gorged. strangers dwelt in the halls
Of his fathers
cloud Of dust was rolling slowly M
Ga parched street, with something travel
D
waited the cloud to one side, and a new,
| brightly painted carryall. drawn by a
slothful gray horse, became visible. The
vehicle detected from the middle of the
street as 1t neared GOrees office and
stopped in the gutter directly in front
Of his door
On the front seat sat gaunt, tall man.
dressed in black broadcloth, his rigid
hands lncarcerated In yellow kid gloves.
On the back seat was a lady who
triumphed over the June heat. Her stout
form was armored in a skin light silk
dress of the description known as
"changeable," being a gorgeous com
bllnadon Of shifting hues She sat erect,
waving much ornamented fan with her
eyes Fixed stonily FAR down the street.
However Martella Garvevs heart mignt
he rejoicing at the pleasures OF her new
life Blackjack had done his work with
her exterior. He had carved her counte-
nance to the image Of emptiness and
inanity; had imbued her with the stol-
HIS hushed interiors She always
seemed 70 hear. whatever her surround
ings were. the clay-barks, falling aud
pattering down the mountaiuside. She
could always hear the awful silence Of
blackjack sounding through the stillest
Gore watched this solemn equipage as
il drove to bis door, with only faint In
terest: but when the lank driver
wrapped the reins about his whip. and
awkwardiy descended and stepped into
the office. he rose unsteadily to receive
him, recognizing Pike Garvey, the new,
the transformed the recently civilized.
The mountaineer took the chair Goree
offered him. They who cast doubts upon
Gervey's soundness OF mind had strong
witness In the mans countenance- HIS
face was too long, dun SAFFRON In hue,
and immobfe as statues: Pale blue,
unwinking round eyes without lnshes
added TO the siugularity Of his grewsome
visaRe. Goree was at loss to account
FOR the visit
Everything all right at Laurel. Mr..
Gsrvey7' he INQUIRED.
"Fverything all right, sir. and mighty
pleased in Missis Carney and me with
the property. MiSsis Garvey likes 20
old place. and she likes the neighbor-
hood Society Is what she lows she
wants and she is gettin' Of it. The
Rogerses, the Hapgoods, the Pratts, and
the Trovs hev been to see Mssls Gar
vey. and she hev ct meals to most OF
thar houses. The best folks hey axed
her TO differ'nt kinds Of doin's.
cyan't say, Mr.. Goree, that sech things
suits me-fur me, give me them thar.
Garveys huge. yellow glOved hand -four
ished in the direction Of the mountains.
That's whar 7 b1o1g, 'mongst the wild
honey bees and the bars. But that
amt what come fur to say. Mr. Gofee:
Thar's Romethin' Won got what me and
Missis Carney wants to buy"
Buy" echoed Goree. From met
Then he laughed harshly. Il reckon
you are mistaken about that. / reckon
you are mistaken about that 7 sold
out to you, as you yourself expressed 1t,
lock, stock and barrel There isn't
even a ramrod left to sell"
You've got it, and We 'uns want It.
Take the money says Missis Garvey,
'and buy II far and squar'.'
Goree shook his head. 1.-The cupboRrd's
bare" he said.
we've riz," pursued the mouutaineer.
undehected from his object, "a heap. We
was pore as possums, and now we could
hev folks to dinner every day. We been
rec'nized, Missis Garvey says, by the best
society. But there's somethin we need
we alnt got She says 1t ought to been
put in the ventory ov the sale, but it
faint thar. Take the money, then she
saws. and buy II far and squar''"
"Out with It," said Goree, his racked
nerves growing impatient
Garvey threw his sloucn hat upon the
table and learned forward, fixing his
unblinking eyes upon Gorees.
There's a old feud," he said distinctly
and slowly, tween you 'uns and the
Coltranes."
Goree frowned Ominously To speak
of his feud TO q fsudlst is a serious
breach of the mountain etiquette The
man from back yam" knew t. as we'll
as the lawyer did.
mo offense." he went on. but purely
in the way Of business. Missis Garvey
bev studied all about feuds- Most of
the quality folks in the mountains hev
'em. The Settles and the Gcforths, the
Rankins and the Boyds, the SlveTs and
the Galloways. hev all been cyarin' on
feuds fom twenty to hundred year.