“Do you know how him and the judge are getting
along now?”
“First rate, I believe. Mrs. Pratt says
so; and being right in the house, and sister to the
one and aunt to t’other, of course she ought
to know. She says the judge is real fond of
him when he’s away; but frets when he’s
around and is vexed with his ways, and not sorry to
have him go again. He has been gone three weeks
this time—a pleasant thing for both of
them, I reckon.”
“Tom’s rather harum-scarum, but there
ain’t anything bad in him, I guess.”
“Oh, no, he’s just young, that’s
all. Still, twenty-three is old, in one way.
A young man ought to be earning his living by that
time. If Tom were doing that, or was even trying
to do it, the judge would be a heap better satisfied
with him. Tom’s always going to begin,
but somehow he can’t seem to find just the opening
he likes.”
“Well, now, it’s partly the judge’s
own fault. Promising the boy his property wasn’t
the way to set him to earning a fortune of his own.
But what do you think is Roweny beginning to lean
any toward him, or ain’t she?”
Aunt Patsy had a secret in her bosom; she wanted to
keep it there, but nature was too strong for her.
She drew Aunt Betsy aside, and said in her most confidential
and mysterious manner:
“Don’t you breathe a syllable to a soul—I’m
going to tell you something. In my opinion Tom
Driscoll’s chances were considerable better yesterday
than they are to-day.”
“Patsy Cooper, what do you mean?”
“It’s so, as sure as you’re born.
I wish you could ‘a’ been at breakfast
and seen for yourself.”
“You don’t mean it!”
“Well, if I’m any judge, there’s
a leaning—there’s a leaning, sure.”
“My land! Which one of ’em is it?”
“I can’t say for certain, but I think
it’s the youngest one—Anjy.”
Then there were hand-shakings, and congratulations,
and hopes, and so on, and the old ladies parted, perfectly
happy—the one in knowing something which
the rest of the town didn’t, and the other in
having been the sole person able to furnish that knowledge.
The visitor who had called to see the twins was the
Rev. Mr. Hotchkiss, pastor of the Baptist church.
At the reception Angelo had told him he had lately
experienced a change in his religious views, and was
now desirous of becoming a Baptist, and would immediately
join Mr. Hotchkiss’s church. There was
no time to say more, and the brief talk ended at that
point. The minister was much gratified, and had
dropped in for a moment now, to invite the twins to
attend his Bible class at eight that evening.
Angelo accepted, and was expecting Luigi to decline,
but he did not, because he knew that the Bible class
and the Freethinkers met in the same room, and he
wanted to treat his brother to the embarrassment of
being caught in free-thinking company.
