"Well, no, judging by the dinner you ate. But you act like a sick man for all that. Maybe it’s your liver."
"No, it ain’t me liver; it’s me heart. That’s what’s the matter."
"Your heart!" Jess exclaimed. "Why, daddy, I didn’t know you had heart trouble."
"Ye didn’t, eh? Well, I had it once, jist about the time I asked ye’r mother to marry me. It was a mighty bad dose."
"H’m, you soon got over it," Mrs. Andrews retorted.
"I sure did, Tildy. Ye’r right there. It didn’t take long after we got hitched, an’ I thought I’d never have another attack."
"What brought it on now, for pity sakes, Abner? It can’t be a woman this time."
"Yes, a woman; a livin’ female woman, an’ a widder at that."
"Good gracious, Abner! A widow! What do you mean, anyway?"
"Jist what I said; a widder, an’ she’s the one who’s given me the heart kink this time."
At these words a startled look came into Jess’s eyes, and her face grew suddenly pale. But Mrs. Andrews showed no signs of uneasiness. She knew her husband too well to be shocked at anything he might say or do.
"Well," she remarked, "whoever that widow is, she’s welcome to all the heart you’ve got, Abner. If she can find it, then it’s more than I can."
"Yes, it’s a widder," Abner continued, unheeding his wife’s sarcasm, "an’ she’s got five kids, an’ they’re worrin’ me a lot."
"I should say they would, Abner. You’ll have more than one kink in your heart if you undertake to handle such a brood. When do you expect to take charge of your new family?"
"Take charge! Did I say anything about takin’ charge?" and Abner glared at his wife. "I only said me heart aches fer ’em, an’ it sartinly does, fer they’re starvin’."
"Starving!" Jess exclaimed. "Who are they, anyway?"
"Widder Denton an’ her brood; that’s who they are. Her little boy died yesterday, an’ Lost Tribes is makin’ a coffin fer him."
"Oh, daddy, I hadn’t any idea there was such need so near home, did you?"
"I sure didn’t. But it’s Gospel truth. Widder’s sick, an’ kids starvin’."
"Isn’t it awful!" and Jess clasped her hands before her. "Can’t anything be done for them? The children should be looked after at once, and someone should stay with Mrs. Denton."
"Oh, I guess the neighbors’ll attend to that fer a while. Zeb’ll find out, no doubt."