Марк Твен - The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg стр 2.

I am so sorry for you, Edward, you know that; but be comforted; we have our livelihood; we have our good name

Yes, Mary, and that is everything. Dont mind my talk its just a moments irritation and doesnt mean anything. Kiss me there, its all gone now, and I am not complaining any more. What have you been getting? Whats in the sack?

Then his wife told him the great secret. It dazed him for a moment; then he said:

It weighs a hundred and sixty pounds? Why, Mary, its for-ty thou-sand dollars think of it a whole fortune! Not ten men in this village are worth that much. Give me the paper.

He skimmed through it and said:

Isnt it an adventure! Why, its a romance; its like the impossible things one reads about in books, and never sees in life. He was well stirred up now; cheerful, even gleeful. He tapped his old wife on the cheek, and said humorously, Why, were rich, Mary, rich; all weve got to do is to bury the money and burn the papers. If the gambler ever comes to inquire, well merely look coldly upon him and say: What is this nonsense you are talking? We have never heard of you and your sack of gold before; and then he would look foolish, and

And in the meantime, while you are running on with your jokes, the money is still here, and it is fast getting along toward burglar-time.

True. Very well, what shall we do make the inquiry private? No, not that; it would spoil the romance. The public method is better. Think what a noise it will make! And it will make all the other towns jealous; for no stranger would trust such a thing to any town but Hadleyburg, and they know it. Its a great card for us. I must get to the printing-office now, or I shall be too late.

But stop stop dont leave me here alone with it, Edward!

But he was gone. For only a little while, however. Not far from his own house he met the editor proprietor of the paper, and gave him the document, and said Here is a good thing for you, Cox put it in.

It may be too late, Mr. Richards, but Ill see.

At home again, he and his wife sat down to talk the charming mystery over; they were in no condition for sleep. The first question was, Who could the citizen have been who gave the stranger the twenty dollars? It seemed a simple one; both answered it in the same breath

Barclay Goodson.

Yes, said Richards, he could have done it, and it would have been like him, but theres not another in the town.

Everybody will grant that, Edward grant it privately, anyway. For six months, now, the village has been its own proper self once more honest, narrow, self-righteous, and stingy.

It is what he always called it, to the day of his death said it right out publicly, too.

Yes, and he was hated for it.

Oh, of course; but he didnt care. I reckon he was the best-hated man among us, except the Reverend Burgess.

Well, Burgess deserves it he will never get another congregation here. Mean as the town is, it knows how to estimate him. Edward, doesnt it seem odd that the stranger should appoint Burgess to deliver the money?

Well, yes it does. That is that is

Why so much that-is-ing? Would you select him?

Mary, maybe the stranger knows him better than this village does.

Much that would help Burgess!

The husband seemed perplexed for an answer; the wife kept a steady eye upon him, and waited. Finally Richards said, with the hesitancy of one who is making a statement which is likely to encounter doubt,

Mary, Burgess is not a bad man.

His wife was certainly surprised.

Nonsense! she exclaimed.

He is not a bad man. I know. The whole of his unpopularity had its foundation in that one thing the thing that made so much noise.

That one thing, indeed! As if that one thing wasnt enough, all by itself.

Plenty. Plenty. Only he wasnt guilty of it.

How you talk! Not guilty of it! Everybody knows he was guilty.

Mary, I give you my word he was innocent.

I cant believe it and I dont. How do you know?

It is a confession. I am ashamed, but I will make it. I was the only man who knew he was innocent. I could have saved him, and and well, you know how the town was wrought up I hadnt the pluck to do it. It would have turned everybody against me. I felt mean, ever so mean; ut I didnt dare; I hadnt the manliness to face that.

Mary looked troubled, and for a while was silent. Then she said stammeringly:

I I dont think it would have done for you to to One mustnt er public opinion one has to be so careful so It was a difficult road, and she got mired; but after a little she got started again. It was a great pity, but Why, we couldnt afford it, Edward we couldnt indeed. Oh, I wouldnt have had you do it for anything!

It would have lost us the good-will of so many people, Mary; and then and then

What troubles me now is, what he thinks of us, Edward.

He? He doesnt suspect that I could have saved him.

Oh, exclaimed the wife, in a tone of relief, I am glad of that. As long as he doesnt know that you could have saved him, he he well that makes it a great deal better. Why, I might have known he didnt know, because he is always trying to be friendly with us, as little encouragement as we give him. More than once people have twitted me with it. Theres the Wilsons, and the Wilcoxes, and the Harknesses, they take a mean pleasure in saying Your friend Burgess, because they know it pesters me. I wish he wouldnt persist in liking us so; I cant think why he keeps it up.

I can explain it. Its another confession. When the thing was new and hot, and the town made a plan to ride him on a rail, my conscience hurt me so that I couldnt stand it, and I went privately and gave him notice, and he got out of the town and stayed out till it was safe to come back.

Edward! If the town had found it out

Dont! It scares me yet, to think of it. I repented of it the minute it was done; and I was even afraid to tell you lest your face might betray it to somebody. I didnt sleep any that night, for worrying. But after a few days I saw that no one was going to suspect me, and after that I got to feeling glad I did it. And I feel glad yet, Mary glad through and through.

So do I, now, for it would have been a dreadful way to treat him. Yes, Im glad; for really you did owe him that, you know. But, Edward, suppose it should come out yet, some day!

It wont.

Why?

Because everybody thinks it was Goodson.

Of course they would!

Certainly. And of course he didnt care. They persuaded poor old Sawlsberry to go and charge it on him, and he went blustering over there and did it. Goodson looked him over, like as if he was hunting for a place on him that he could despise the most; then he says, So you are the Committee of Inquiry, are you? Sawlsberry said that was about what he was. Hm. Do they require particulars, or do you reckon a kind of a general answer will do? If they require particulars, I will come back, Mr. Goodson; I will take the general answer first. Very well, then, tell them to go to hell I reckon thats general enough. And Ill give you some advice, Sawlsberry; when you come back for the particulars, fetch a basket to carry what is left of yourself home in.