Part 23 (1/2)
”He didn't really say that.”
”No, not exactly in them words, but that was what he meant, an' we all took it that way.”
”So you think that the archdeacon made it all the harder for the new clergyman by what he said last night, do you?” Douglas asked.
”Sure,” Jake replied, as he helped himself to another pancake. ”Didn't ye notice the feelin' in the meetin', an' how Si changed? Why, he looked jist like a thunder cloud about to bust. I sartinly do pity the new parson. He's goin' to have a hard time of it, mark my word.”
”I had a little talk with Stubbles after the meeting,” Douglas quietly remarked.
”Ye did, eh?” and Jake's eyes glowed with interest. ”Was he surprised to see ye?”
”I believe so. He thought I was going to knock him down, and he raved like a madman. But I told him a few straight facts which he is not likely to forget.”
”Ye did, eh? Bully fer you! But be careful, John. Si won't fergit anything, an' he'll come back at ye when ye'r least expectin' him.”
”I told him that I am going to stay right in the parish, and that he couldn't drive me out.”
”Good for you!” Mrs. Jukes exclaimed. ”I like to hear a man talk that way. If the rest in Rixton would do the same Si would be taught a lesson in a short time. But they all lie down and let him walk over them.”
”Ye'r always sayin' that, Susie,” Jake chided. ”Ye ought to know by this time what a grip Si has on everything in this parish.”
”Well, it's about time, then, that he lost his grip. If there was only some one with any backbone who would go ahead, the rest would follow all right. People are getting sick and tired of the Stubbles' rule.”
”Maybe the new parson'll be that kind of a man,” Jake suggested.
”'Spose we wait till he comes.”
”H'm,” and Mrs. Jukes tossed her head, ”a great chance he'll have to go ahead with everybody willing to crawl before Si Stubbles and lick his boots. Why, just as soon as Si snaps his finger all the men dance attendance, and you know it, Jake Jukes. You do the same yourself.”
”But maybe the new parson might be able to do something,” Jake replied, as he mopped his forehead with a big red handkerchief. He was feeling very hot and uncomfortable before his wife's attack.
”He'll be very different, then, from the last two we had,” Mrs. Jukes retorted. ”I'm not expecting much from him, judging from the past.”
Douglas was considerably amused at this conversation. He wondered what Jake and his wife would say if they were suddenly told that the ”new parson” was before them. He was finding the part he was playing more interesting every day. How it would end, and how he would explain matters, he had not the least idea. He did not worry, however, leaving the future to take care of itself.
That afternoon Douglas paid a visit to Mrs. Dempster. He wished to find out for himself how Jean was getting along, and also to listen to the widow, for he enjoyed hearing her talk, and her comments upon parish affairs.
Mrs. Dempster was cooking in the kitchen, and Jean was lying on a sofa near the stove, to all appearance asleep.
”It's right glad I am to see ye,” and Mrs. Dempster placed a chair for her visitor as she spoke. ”It's a dull day and not many people stirrin'. Empty's gone to his nets, so me an' Jean have been havin' a quiet time all by ourselves.”
”A busy time for you, I see,” Douglas replied, glancing toward the table. ”Those pies look very tempting.”
”Oh, yes, it makes me hustle all right to fill Empty. I often tell him he's well named, fer I never saw any one who eats as much as he does.”
”All mothers say the same thing, don't they? Growing lads need plenty of food. It's better to pay the grocer than the doctor, isn't it?”'
Mrs. Dempster paused in her work and glanced toward the still form on the sofa.
”I guess she'll need the doctor before long, if I'm not much mistaken,”