Think of that! I tell
ye, Mr. Babcock, they're divils. Then Mr. Crane put down at the
bottom of his letter to me that he was sorry not to give me the
job, but that he must give it to Duffy's friend McGaw, or Duffy
might reject the coal. Wait till I wash me hands and I'll tell ye
how I fixed him," she added suddenly, as with a glance at her
fingers she disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a moment
later with her bare arms as fresh and as rosy as her cheeks, from
their friction with a clean crash towel.
"Well!" she continued, "I jumps into me bonnet yisterday, and over
I goes to the fort; an' I up an' says to Duffy, 'I can't wait for
the quartermaster. When's that coal a-comin'?' An' he says, 'In
a couple of weeks.' An' I turned onto him and says: 'Ye're a
pretty loafer to take the bread out of Tom Grogan's children's
mouths! An' ye want Dan McGaw to do the haulin', do ye? An' the
quality of the coal'll be all right if he gits it! An' there's
sure to be twenty-five dollars for ye, won't there? If I hear a
word more out of ye I'll see Colonel Howard sure, an' hand him
this letter.' An' Duffy turned white as a load of lime, and says,
'Don't do it, for God's sake! It'll cost me m' place.' While I
was a-talkin' I see a chunker-boat with the very coal on it round
into the dock with a tug; an' I ran to the string-piece and
catched the line, and has her fast to a spile before the tug lost
head-way.
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