"Say,
Barney," he panted at length.
"Well, what is it?"
"You've lost your girl; did you know it, Barney?"
Barney muttered something unintelligible; it sounded like the growl
of a dog, but Ephraim was not intimidated. He chuckled with delight
and spoke again. "Say, Barney, Thomas Payne's got your girl; did you
know it, Barney?"
Barney turned threateningly, but he was helpless before his brother's
sickly face, and Ephraim knew it. That purple hue and that panting
breath had gained an armistice for him on many a battle-field, and he
had a certain triumph in it. It was power of a lugubrious sort,
certainly, but still it was power, and so to be enjoyed.
"Thomas Payne's got your girl," he repeated; "he was over there
a-courtin' of her last night; a-settin' up along of her."
Barney took a step forward, and Ephraim fell back a little, still
grinning imperturbably. "You mind your own business," Barney said,
between his teeth; and right upon his words followed Ephraim's hoarse
chuckle and his "Thomas Payne's got your girl."
Barney turned about and went on with his planting. Ephraim, standing
a little aloof, somewhat warily since his brother's threatening
advance, kept repeating his one remark, as mocking as the snarl of a
mosquito. "Thomas Payne's got your girl, Barney. Say, did you know
it? Thomas Payne's got your girl.
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