"Stiffen up!" cried Mrs. Bates. "Stiffen up!" "Don't be no
broken reed, Katie! I don't want you dependin' on ME; I came to
see if you would let ME lean on YOU the rest of the way. I wa'n't
figuring that there was anything on this earth that could get you
down; so's I was calculatin' you'd be the very one to hold me up.
Since you seem to be feeling unaccountably weak in the knees,
let's see if we can brace them a little. Livin' with Pa so long
must kind of given me a tendency toward nussin' a deed. I've got
one here I had executed two years ago, and I was a coming with it
along about now, when 'a little bird tole me' to come to-day, so
here I am. Take that, Katie."
Mrs. Bates pulled a long sealed envelope from the front of her
dress and tossed it in Kate's lap.
"Mother, what is this?" asked Kate in a hushed voice.
"Well, if you'd rather use your ears than your eyes, it's all the
same to me," said Mrs. Bates. "The boys always had a mortal
itchin' to get their fingers on the papers in the case. I can't
say I don't like the difference; and I've give you every chance,
too, an you WOULDN'T demand, you WOULDN'T specify.
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