Shestoppedandstaredathim。“Jim-GordonSanford!“
“Fact!Icanproveit。“Hepattedhisbreastpocketmysteriously。
“Tenthousandrightthere。“
“Gracioussakesalive!Howdareyou’carrysomuchmoney？“
“I’mmightyglado’thechance。“Hegrinned。
Theywalkedonalmostinsilence，withonlyawordnowandthen。
Sheseemedtobethinkingdeeply，andhedidn’twanttodisturbher。Itwasadeliciousspringhour。Thesnowwasallgone，evenunderthehedges。Theroadswerewarmandbrown。Theredsunwasfloodingthevalleywithamisty，rich-coloredlight，andagainsttheorangeandgoldoftheskythehillsstoodinTyrianpurple。Wagonswererattlingalongtheroad。Menonthefarmsintheedgeofthevillagecouldbeheardwhistlingattheirwork。A
discordantjangleofaneighboringfarmer’ssupperbellannouncedthatitwastime“toturnout。“
Sanfordwasalmostasgayasalover。Heseemedtobeonthepointofregaininghisoldplaceinhiswife’srespect。Somehowthepossessionofthepackageofmoneyinhispocketseemedtomakehimmoreworthyofher，toputhimmoreonanequalitywithher。
Astheyreachedthelittleone-storysquarecottagehesatdownontheporch，wheretheredlightfellwarmly，andrompedwiththechildren，whilehiswifewentinandtookoffherthings。She“keptagirl“now，sothattheworkofgettingsupperdidnotdevolveentirelyuponher。Shecameoutsoontocallthemalltothesuppertableinthelittlekitchenbackofthesittingroom。
Thechildrenwerewildwithdelighttohave“Poppa“back，andthemealwasthemerriesttheyhadhadforalongtime。Thedoorsandwindowswereopen，andthespringeveningaircamein’ladenwiththesweet，suggestivesmellofbareground。Thealertchuckleofanoccasionalrobincouldbeheard。
Mrs。Sanfordlookedupfromhertea。“There’sonethingIdon’tlike，Jim，andthat’sthewaythatmoneycomes。Youdidn’t-youdidn’treallyearnit。“
“Oh’don’tworryyourselfaboutthat。That’sthewaythingsgo。It’sjustluck。“
“Well，Ican’tseeitjustthatway。Itseemstomejust-likegambling。Youwin’but-butsomebodyelsemustlose。“
“Ohwell，looka-here；ifyougotolookin’toosharpintothingslikethat，you’llfindagood’ealofanybusinesslikegamblin’。“
Shesaidnomore，butherfaceremainedclouded。OnthewaydowntothestoretheymetLincoln。
“Comedowntothestore，Link，andbringJoe。Iwanttotalkwithyeh。“
Lincolnstared，butsaid，“Allright。“Thenadded，astheotherswalkedaway，“Well，thatfellerain’tgotnocheekt’talktomelikethat-morecheek’nagov’mentmule!“
Jimtookaseatnearthedoorandwatchedhiswifeasshewentaboutthestore。Sheemployedtwoclerksnow，whilesheattendedtothebooksandthecash。Hethoughthowdifferentshewas，andhelikedand，inaway，fearedhercool，businesslikemanner，herself-possession，andhersmilelessconversationwithadrummerwhocamein。Jimwaspuzzled。Hedidn’tquite-understandthepeculiareffecthiswife’smannerhaduponhim。
Outside，wordhadpassedaroundthatJimhadgotbackandthatsomethingwasinthewind，andthefellowsbegantodropin。
WhenMcPhailcameinandsaid，“Hello!“inhisheartyway，Sanfordwentovertohiswileandsaid：
“Say，Nell，Ican’tstandthis。I’mgoin’togetrido’thismoneyrightoff，now!“
“Verywell；justasyouplease。“
“Gents，“hebegan，turninghisbacktothe。counterandsmilingblandlyonthem，onethumbinhisvestpocket，“anyo’youfellersgotanythingagainsttheLumberCpuntyBank-anycertificatesofdeposit，ornotes？“
Twoorthreenodded，andMcPhailsaidhumorously，slappinghispocket，“Ialwaysgoloaded。“
“Produceyourpaper，gents，“continuedSanford，withadramaticwhangofaleathernwalletdownintohispalm。“I’mbuyingupallpaperonthebank。“
Itwasasuperbstroke。Thefellowswhistledandstaredandsworeatoneanother。Thiswascomingdownonthem。Linkwasdumbwithamazementashereceivedsixteenhundredandfiftydollarsincrisp，newbills。
“Andrew，it’syourturnnext。“Sanford’stonewasactuallypatronizingashefacedMcPhail。
“Iwasjokin’。Iain’tgotmycertificatehere。“
“Don’t。matter-don’tmatter。Here’sfifteenhundreddollars。Justgiveusareceipt，andbringthecertif。anytime。Iwanttogetrido’
thisstuffrightnow。“
“Say，Jim，we’dliketoknowjest-jestwherethiswindfallcomesfrom，“saidVanceashetookhisshare。
“Comesfromthecoppercountry，“wasallheeversaidaboutit。
“Idon’tseewhereheinvested，“Linksaid。“Wasn’tascratchofapentoshowthatheinvestedanythingwhilehewasinthebank。
Guessthat’swhereourmoneywent。“
“Well，Iain’tsquealin’，“saidVance。“I’mgladtogetoutofitwithoutaskinganyquestions。I’lltellyehonething，though，“headdedastheystoodoutsidethedoor；“we’d’a’neversmeltofourmoneyagainifithadn’t’a’beenf’rthatwomaninthere。She’d’a’
paiditaloneifJimhadn’t’a’madethisstrike，whereashenever’d’a’-Well，allright。We’reoutofit。“
ItwasoneofthegreatestmomentsofSanford’slife。Heexpandedinit。Hewasaspleasantlyawareoftheglancesofhiswifeasheusedtobewhen，asaclerk，hesawherpassandlookinatthewindowwherehesatdreamingoverhisledger。
Asforher，shewasgoingoverthewholesituationfromthisnewstandpoint。Hehadbeenweak，hehadfalleninherestimation，andyet，ashestoodthere，soboyishinhisexultation，thefatherofherchildren，shelovedhimwithatouchofmaternaltendernessandhope，andherheartthrobbedinanunconscious，swiftdeterminationtodohimgood。Shenolongerdeceivedherself。Shewashisequal-insomewayshissuperior。Herlovehadfriendshipinit，butlessofsex，andnoadoration。
Assheblewoutthelights，steppedoutonthewalk，andturnedthekeyinthelock，hesaid，“Well，Nellie，youwon’thavetodothatanymore。“
“No；Iwon’thaveto，butIguessI’llkeeponjustthesame，Jim。“
“Keepon？Whatfor？“
“Well，Iratherlikeit。“
“Butyoudon’tneedto-“
“Ilikebeingmyownboss，“shesaid。“I’vedonealoto’figuring，Jim，theselastthreeyears，andit’skindo’broadenedme，Ihope。I
can’tgobackwhereIwas。I’mabetterwomanthanIwasbefore，andIhopeandbelievethatI’mbetterabletobearealmothertomychildren。“Jimlookedupatthemoonfillingthewarm，moistairwithatransfiguringlightthatfellinaluminousmistonthedistanthills。“Iknowonething，Nellie；I’mabettermanthanIwasbefore，andit’sallowin’toyou。“
Hisvoicetrembledalittle，andthesympathetictearscameintohereyes。Shedidn’tspeakatonce-shecouldn’tAtlastshestoppedhimbyatouchonthearm。
“Jim，Iwantapartnerinmystore。Letusbeginagain，righthere。I
can’tsaythatI’lleverfeeljustasIdidonceIdon’tknowasit’srightto。Ilookeduptoyoutoomuch。Iexpectedtoomuchofyou，too。Let’s’beginagain，asequalpartners。“Sheheldoutherhand，asonemantoanother。Hetookitwonderingly。
“Allright，Nell；I’lldoit。“
Then，asheputhisarmaroundher，sheheldupherlipstobekissed。“Andwe’llbehappyagain-happyaswedeserve，Is’pose，“
shesaidwithasmileandasigh。
“It’salmostlikegettingmarriedagain，Nell-forme。“Astheywalkedoffupthesidewalkinthesoftmoon-light，theirarmswereinterlocked。
Theyloiteredlikeacoupleoflovers。
End