Keziah Coffin | Page 8

till you get the hammer," advised Keziah. "Might's well talk while you're waitin'. What was it you wanted to tell me?"
Abishai drew one hand across his forehead, leaving a decorative smooch of blacking on his perspiring countenance. He choked, swallowed, and then, with a look at the closed door, seemed to reach a desperate resolve.
"Keziah," he whispered hurriedly, "you've known me quite a spell, ain't you?"
"Known you? Known you ever since you were born, pretty nigh. What of it?"
"Yes, yes. And I've known you, you know. Fact is, we've known each other."
"Hear the man! Land sakes! don't everybody in Trumet know everybody else? What ARE you drivin' at?"
"Keziah, you're a single woman."
His companion let go of the chair, which she had been holding in place, and stepped back.
"I'm a single woman?" she repeated sharply. "What do you mean by that? Did--did anybody say I wasn't?"
"No, no! 'Course not. But you're a widow, so you BE single, you know, and--"
"Well? Did you think I was twins? Get down off there this minute. You've gone crazy. I thought so when I saw that beaver. Either that or you've been drinkin'. Grace! What DOES make her so long gettin' that hammer?"
Finding the hammer did seem to take a long time. There was no sound from the kitchen. Kyan, steadying himself with one hand on the pipe, waved the other wildly.
"S-s-sh! s-sh-h!" he hissed. "Hush! be still! Don't get her in here. Keziah, you're single and so am I. You ain't got nobody to take care of you and I ain't, neither--that is, I don't want to be took care of--I mean, I've been took care of too much."
Mrs. Coffin took another step in the direction of the kitchen.
"He IS loony!" she exclaimed under her breath. "I--"
"No, no! I ain't loony. I want to make a proposal to you. I want to see if you won't marry me. I'm sick of Laviny. Let's you and me settle down together. I could have some peace then. And I think a whole lot of you, too," he added, apparently as an afterthought.
Keziah's face was red now, and growing redder every instant.
"Kyan Pepper!" she cried in amazed incredulity. "Kyan Pepper, do you--"
"Hurry up!" pleaded Abishai, in agitated impatience. "Say yes quick. She'll be back in a minute."
"Say YES! Why, you--"
"Don't stop to argue, Keziah. I've got 'most fifteen hundred dollars in the bank. Laviny keeps the pass book in her bureau, but you could get it from her. I own my house. I'm a man of good character. You're poor, but I don't let that stand in the way. Anyhow, you're a first-rate housekeeper. And I really do think an awful lot of you."
Mrs. Coffin stepped no farther in the direction of the kitchen. Instead, she strode toward the rickety chair and its occupant. Kyan grasped the pipe with both hands.
"You poor--miserable--impudent--" began the lady.
"Why, Keziah, don't you WANT to?" He spoke as if the possibility of a refusal had never entered his mind. "I cal'lated you'd be glad. You wouldn't have to go away then, nor-- My soul and body! some one's knockin' at the door! AND THIS DUMMED PIPE'S FETCHED LOOSE!"
The last sentence was a smothered shriek. Keziah heeded not. Neither did she heed the knock at the door. Her hands were opening and closing convulsively.
"Be glad!" she repeated. "Glad to marry a good-for-nothin' sand- peep like you! You sassy-- GET down off that chair and out of this house! Get down this minute!"
"I can't! This stovepipe's loose, I tell you! Be reason'ble, Keziah. Do--don't you touch me! I'll fall if you do. Pl-e-ase, Keziah!-- O Lordy! I knew it. LAVINY!"
The door opened. On the threshold, arms akimbo and lips set tight, stood Lavinia Pepper. Her brother's knees gave way; in their collapse they struck the chair back; the rickety leg wabbled. Kyan grasped at the pipe to save himself and, the next moment, chair, sections of stovepipe, and Mr. Pepper disappeared with a mighty crash behind the high-boy. A cloud of soot arose and obscured the view.
Keziah, too indignant even to laugh, glared at the wreck. In the doorway of the kitchen Grace Van Horne, hammer in hand, leaned against the jamb, her handkerchief at her mouth and tears in her eyes. Lavinia, majestic and rigid, dominated the scene. From behind the high-boy came coughs, sneezes, and emphatic ejaculations.
Miss Pepper was the first to speak.
"Abishai Pepper," she commanded, "come out of that this minute."
Her answer was a tremendous sneeze. Then from the dusky cloud by the wall sounded a voice feebly protesting.
"Now, Laviny," began poor Kyan, "I never in my life--"
"Do you hear me? Come out of that!"
There was a sound of scrambling. More soot floated in the air. Then around the corner of the high-boy appeared Mr. Pepper, crawling on his hands and