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Harte, Bret, 1836-1902

"Drift from Two Shores"

But I thought that you
and me might save lawyer's fees and all fuss and feathers, ef, in a
sociable, sad-like way,--lookin' back sorter on Roger ez you and me
once knew him,--we had a quiet talk together."
"Good morning, sir," said Mrs. Catron, rising stiffly. The captain
hesitated a moment, a slight flush of color came in his face as he
at last rose as the lady backed out of the room. "Good morning,
ma'am," said the captain, and departed.
Very little was known of this interview except the general
impression in the family that Mrs. Catron had successfully resisted
a vague attempt at blackmail from one of her husband's former
dissolute companions. Yet it is only fair to say that Mrs. Catron
snapped up, quite savagely, two male sympathizers on this subject,
and cried a good deal for two days afterward, and once, in the
hearing of her sister-in-law, to that lady's great horror, "wished
she was dead."
A week after this interview, as Lawyer Phillips sat in his office,
he was visited by Macleod. Recognizing, possibly, some practical
difference between the widow and the lawyer, Captain Dick this time
first produced his credentials,--a "power of attorney.


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