by Bret Harte
pizen and sabe de life ob yo' at de risk ob herown? Say? And if dey's any troof in Hoodoo, don't dat make yo' one bloodand one soul! Go way, white man! I'm sick of yo'. Stop dar! Lie downdar! Hol' on, co'nnle, for massy's sake. Well, dar--I'll call her back!"
And she did!
"Look here--don't you know--it rather took me by surprise," saidChampney, a few days later, with a hearty grip of the colonel'suninjured hand; "but I don't bear malice, old fellow, and, by Jove! itwas SUCH a sensible, all-round, business-like choice for the girl tomake that no wonder we never thought of it before. Hang it all, you seea fellow was always so certain it would be something out of the way anddetrimental, don't you know, that would take the fancy of a girl likethat--somebody like that cousin of hers or Higbee, or even ME, by Jovethat we never thought of looking beyond our noses--never thought of theBUSINESS! And YOU all the time so cold and silent and matter-of-factabout it! But I congratulate you! You've got the business down on a safebasis now, and what's more, you've got the one woman who can run it."
They say he was a true prophet. At least the Syndicate affairsprospered, and in course of time even the Reeds and the Higbeesparticipated in the benefits. There were no more racial disturbances;only the districts polled a peaceful and SMALLER Democratic majority atthe next election. There were not wanting those who alleged that ColonelCourtland had simply become MRS. COURTLAND'S SUPERINTENDENT; that shehad absorbed him as she had every one who had come under her influence,and that she would not rest until she had made him a Senator (torepresent Mrs. Courtland) in the councils of the nation. But when I lastdined with them in Washington, ten years ago, I found them both veryhappy and comfortable, and I remember that Mrs. Courtland's remarks uponFederal and State interests, the proper education of young girls, andthe management of the family, were eminently wise and practical.