"
And thinking of her first-born and only son, who died in babyhood, she rode
homeward in the dim chill starlight. Tobe, spent and foot-sore, followed
warily, carrying the abandoned rifle.
II
Consternation reigned the "len'th an' brea'th" of Jim-Ned. Mrs.
Cullum--placid and easy-going Mrs. Tobe--under the same roof with him,
actually had not spoken to her lawful and wedded husband since the
snipe-hunt ten days ago come Monday!
"It's plumb scan'lous!" Mrs. Pinson exclaimed, at her daughter's quilting.
"I never would of thought sech a thing of Sissy--never!"
"As of the boys of Jim-Ned couldn't have a little innercent fun without
Mis' Cullum settin' in jedgment on 'em!" sniffed Mrs. Leggett.
"Shot up, Becky Leggett," said her mother, severely. "By time you've put up
with a man's capers for twenty-five years, like Sissy Cullum have, you'll
have the right to talk, an' not before."
"They say Tobe is wellnigh out'n his mind," remarked Mrs. Trimble. "Ez for
that soft-headed Bud Mines, he have fair fattened on that snipe-hunt. He's
gittin' ez sassy an' mischeevous ez Jack Carter hisse'f."
This last statement was literally true.
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