"To tell the truth," he said, with a forced laugh, "I don't feel as
chipper as I usually do under such like circumstances. It seems to me
you ain't so chipper as you might be, either, Mark."
"Good-night, Perry," I said, smoking very hard.
"Good-night," he answered. At the door he paused and gazed at me.
"Say, Mark," he said, "them two was just intended for one another--you
know it--I see you know it. God picked 'em out for one another. I
know it. You know it, too. But it's hard not to be picked
yourself--ain't it?"
Tim's minute! God keep me from such another!
* * * * * *
It was all so plain now. The fire was dying away. The hands of the
clock were crawling off another hour, and still he did not come. But
what did I care? All in the world that I loved I had lost--Mary and my
brother--and Tim had taken both. He who had so much had come in his
strength and robbed me, left me to sit alone night after night, with my
pipe and my dogs and my crutches. Had he told me that night when I
came back to the valley that he loved the girl in all truth, I should
have stood aside and cheered him on in his struggle against her, but I
had not measured the depth of his mind nor given him credit for
cunning.
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