"Then I have been a fool to come out here to-night," he growled, and
shuffled out toward the gate.
"A good riddance, and I hope he never comes here again. When he really
got it through his head that you had fallen into a fortune the old beast
looked at you as if he could eat you, mother. If he ever comes courting
around here I'll be tempted to do something desperate, the old
skinflint. He's the worst-hated man in all Riverview, even if he is the
richest," declared Dick, as he heard the vehicle moving down the road
with sundry creakings and groanings, for they said Hezekiah Cheatham was
too stingy to buy axle grease.
"Richard, don't speak of such a thing again, even in fun. Like our
little cottage home I am not in the market. Now let us talk again of
things more pleasant than Mr. Cheatham, or the missing securities. When
we put that new wing on, you shall have a den of your own; and I expect
to enjoy the comfort of an up-to-date bathroom, something I have always
wanted. But not a penny shall we spend until that delightful little
inheritance is safely in our hands. What a Paradise we can make of our
dear home in time, eh, Dick?"
And so they talked on as the time flew, picturing happy scenes, and more
of comfort than they had ever known; really it seemed to Dick that the
shadow he had felt hovering over his devoted head did not appear so
formidable after all, with a mother's love to take away its bitter
sting.
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