The Green Dolphin
“Mebbe.”
“Ask any fisherman. He’ll tell you so. A green an’ yaller fish would be
real cheerin’. I say we pack up all our truck--dishes, knives, forks,
spoons--the whole kit--an’ let Lemmy an’ me tote ’em over to Mattie’s
before the settin’ of another sun. Some of her dishes must be broken by
now, anyhow.”
“They are. A woman who went there for tea told me some of the plates
an’ cups were chipped an’ real shabby, an’ that it was worth your life
to lay hands on a spoon.”
“Give her ours! Give her ours!” cried Asaph fervently. “Give her
everythin’ we’ve got. ’Twill serve two purposes. ’Twill please her no
end an’ at the same time get the lot of it out of the house. An’ while
you’re at it, why not make a clean sweep an’ write off for her your
receipts for cakes, sandwiches, an’ the flummeries Peggy’s taught you
how to concoct? Mattie has brains an’ with her gift for cookin’ she
could likely dish some of ’em up.”
“Oh, she could make ’em right ’nough if I told her how.”
“Then do it! Turn the Dolphin over to her, bait, line, an’ sinker,
so’st there’ll never be danger of our hookin’ him again.”
Althea laughed, any vague regrets she may have cherished dispelled by
her husband’s rejoicing.
“I reckon you an’ Lemmy won’t be sorry to see him go,” said she.
“We sha’n’t go wearin’ crape bands on our hats, if that’s what you
mean,” affirmed her spouse. “An’ you?”
For an instant Althea paused, half regretfully.
“Me? Well, with ’Becca Crosby livin’ next door, I guess I sha’n’t miss
him either.”
=Transcriber’s Notes=
Perceived typographical errors have been silently corrected.