" Paul Weevo." " Yes, sir." " Can you hear me?" " Yes, sir, Mr. Archie." " Can you find the holes?" " Yes, sir, lots of them." " Well, make sure you get the big ones." " Yes, sir." " Uncle Pleasant, ain't you got nothing to do?" " Not a thing." " Ain't you going to help him?" " I'm retired." "Baby Doll." "Archie Lee, you're a mess." "Do you know what they call such people?" "Peeping Toms!" "Hey, there's no need for a woman that sleeps in a baby's crib to stay away from her husband." "I'm gonna plug up the hole in that wall with chewing gum." "If I ever catch you poking a knife through it again to peek at me in my sleep I'm moving in to the Kotton King Hotel." "And would you please keep your filthy old dogs off my furniture." "Let me talk to you." " I wanna talk with you." " Spare your breath." "Save it to drum up some business for your broken-down cotton gin." " Never mind..." " Close the door so I can get into my clothes." "Get in your clothes." "Not till you get on the other side of that door and close it between us." "Today is the fifth day of November, tomorrow is the sixth day and the day after that is November seventh." "And you know what day that is, don't you?" "November seventh is your 20th birthday." "Ain't that sweet of you to remember." "Where's my birthday present?" "Oh, you'll get your birthday present." "Providing you haven't forgotten the agreement between us which comes due on that day." " Oh, the agreement?" " Yeah, the agreement." " Which you swore on a Bible to keep." " Providing you kept yours." " Have I touched you since we were married?" " Yeah, often." "And got slapped." "Have I?" "Have I ever...?" "Ever once forced myself on you as your husband by law?" "But don't the law mean nothing to you." "How about your side of the agreement?" "You talked big, mighty big when you was courting me, big shot." "You told my daddy you was gonna put me in the grandest house in the county." "I put you in Tiger Tail." "I bought it and I put you in it." "And Tiger Tail is the grandest house in the county." "Yeah, you put me in Tiger Tail, the biggest old wreck of a place in the whole delta." "You told my daddy you was gonna restore this place." "Exactly like it was when the Dobines owned it, only better." ""Make a show place," you said." "Yeah, a freak show." "I've got a boy on the roof right now." "I got my man on the roof right now." " Can't you hear the hammer?" " Is that a hammer?" "Why, I thought that was a king-sized termite." "Doggone, if you ain't the most ungrateful little..." "I have mortgaged myself to satisfy your demands." "You told a mouthful of lies to my daddy in order to get me." "Get you?" "I ain't got you yet." "No, and you ain't about to either." "Now, I'm telling you that if the Ideal Pay As You Go Plan Furniture Company removes those five complete sets of furniture from this house then that agreement you just spoke about is automatically canceled." "And now, would you kindly go back in your own room?" "I'm gonna get me a good-paying job while I'm in town today." "Just in case." "Just in case." "Admiring yourself in the mirror." "Yeah, just look at yourself." "You're not exactly a young girl's dream come true, Archie Lee Meighan." "There was an old witch Named Granny Crow" "Wherever she spit No grass would grow" "That old witch must've spit right on the top of your head, Archie Lee." "Thank you." "Thank you." "You're not a woman." "You're a woman not grown, therefore I make allowances." "Aunt Rose Comfort screams every time that phone rings." "Why does she do a fool thing like that?" "She says phone-ringing scares her." "Aunt Rose, why don't you answer the phone?" " Aunt Rose?" " My word..." "Aunt Rose?" "Aunt Rose Comfort!" "Aunt Rose Comfort!" "Why don't you answer that?" "I can't catch my breath, Archie Lee, phone give me such a fright." "Answer it." "Hello?" "This is Miss Rose Comfort McCorkle speaking." "No." "The lady of the house is Mrs. Archie Lee Meighan daughter of my brother who passed away." "They don't wanna know that." "Who is it?" "What do they want?" "I don't hear very well, would you please speak a little louder?" " Oh, the Ideal Pay As You Go Plan." " Give me that phone." "Now, what is this, boy?" "Yeah." "Today?" "Oh, no, you gotta give me a little more time." "Well, you see, I've had a little setback in business lately." "The Syndicate Plantation built their own cotton gin and I've lost their trade." "Well, it's gonna take me a little more time to recover from that." "Then take it out." "Take it out!" "Out!" "Out!" "You're never gonna get my business again!" "No, never." "Archie Lee, you all aren't gonna lose your fine furniture..." "Will you shut up and get on back in that kitchen." "Don't you speak a word that you heard, if you heard a word, to my wife." "Don't holler no more in this house." "Don't cackle no more." "I guarantee, I'll pack you up." "I'll pack you up and haul you off to that county home at Sunset." "What did you say, Archie Lee?" "Did you say something to me, Archie Lee?" "Yeah." "I said, shoot!" "What made her holler this time?" "How do I know what made that old woman holler this time the last time or the next time she hollers." "Last time she hollered was because you throwed something at her." "What I ever throw at Aunt Rose Comfort?" "A glass of water." "And for singing church hymns in the kitchen." "Water?" "Why, this much water, I barely sprinkled her with it." " Well, she don't hear nothing." " I know." "Well, you gotta do something to get the old woman's attention, don't you?" "Yeah." "Hey, hey." "Put me down!" "Get your..." "Get your hands off me!" "Take them off!" "I'm..." "I'm gonna..." "I'm moving to the Kotton King Hotel the very next time you try to break our agreement." "The very next time." "Baby Doll!" "Baby Doll!" "You come on down here if you're going into town with me." "I gotta be at the doctor's 10 minutes ago." "Baby Doll!" "If you're so impatient, just go ahead without me." "Just go ahead." "I've got plenty of ways of getting downtown without you." "That's the truth." "You come on!" "You get your cotton-picking tail down here." "Take your time." " Morning, Sam." " Ma'am." "Well, what are you waiting for?" "Oh, now, come on, get into the car." "I will get in the back seat of that boat when you get out and walk around and open the door for me like a gentleman." "Well, you're gonna wait a long time if that's what you're waiting for." "Well, I declare." "My father would turn over in his grave." "I never saw your father get out and open the car door for any woman especially not your waddle-legged mother." "Now, get on in!" "Hey, Sid!" " Hey, Sid, come here." " What are we stopping here for?" " What are you doing here?" " Vacarro's got me working for him now." " For him?" "You're working for him?" " What else could I do?" " Syndicate shut my gin down tight." " What's going on?" "Oh, it's a party, a celebration of some kind." "Why shouldn't the Syndicate celebrate?" "It's got every last bit of business in the county." "Including every bit of what I used to get and every bit of what you used to get." "He's got an up-to-date gin, not like that old pile of junk you got." "When are we getting out of here?" "Would you mind moving your arm?" "Happy anniversary." "She sure growed up." "I am just as fond of Aunt Rose Comfort as you are, but I'm in no position to feed and..." "Now, look here, big shot." "The day Aunt Rose Comfort is unwelcome under your roof, her and me is moving out." "Well, she can't cook..." "If you don't like Aunt Rose's cooking, get me a regular servant." "You don't think that I am gonna cook for a big, fat, old thing like you." " Quit saying "fat, old thing"." " Get young and thin and I'll quit." "All right, but I am serving you notice." "If that old woman dies on my place, I ain't gonna get stuck with the funeral expenses." "I'll have her burned up." ""Cremated" is what they call it." "I'll pack her ashes in an old Coca-Cola bottle and I'll pitch that bottle into Tiger Tail Bayou." "Mr. Meighan, you are late for your appointment." "The doctor's gonna see you anyway, I don't know why." "Oh, hey." "Well, hi." " Are you the dentist?" " Yes, ma'am." "I'm the dentist." "Well, I was scouting around for a job and I noticed your sign." "And I thought I might help you out." "What are you doing, John?" "There was a fellow in here just a little while ago beat me at playing checkers." "And I still can't figure out why." "Well..." "What do you do?" "Can you type?" "No." "No, I don't do no typing." "But well, I print a real good hand." "I don't know whether we can use that, though." "You're awful young to be a dentist." "Yeah, I'm just getting started." "Well, what's the matter with you?" " I haven't been myself, John." " In what way?" "Well, you know, Archie Lee, you're not an old man but you're not a young man neither no more." "That's the truth, John." "That's no lie." " How long you been married now?" " Just about a year now." "Well..." " She's pretty, though." " Yeah, I guess so." "Youth, huh?" "You've been under some strain, ain't you?" "No." "No strain at all." " You look mighty nervous to me." " I'm not nervous..." "Well, you'd have to know typing." "It's typing." " Awfully nice talking to you." " Yes, ma'am." "Mr. Meighan, come back in here." "The doctor's gonna give you a prescription." "Archie Lee, all I think you need is some kind of a little harmless sedative." "You take this down to old man Hogan, tell him to fill it." " Take it according to directions." " Here you are." "Don't forget your sweater." "It's not gonna help what's wrong with you one bit." " How doing?" " He knows what he's doing." "I'm ready to go now." "I spent just about the whole day sitting on Main Street." "Why didn't you bring me a double dip?" " How long we gonna sit here?" " I gotta wait for my prescription." " I'm bored." " Now, what the sam hill is so funny?" "Even the Chinamen." "You know, people know the situation between us." "Yesterday on Front Street, a man called out to me and said:" ""Hey, Archie Lee, has your wife outgrowed the crib yet?"" "Three or four others ha-ha'ed at me." "Public humiliation." "Private humiliation is just as painful." "There's no torture on Earth to equal the torture a cold woman inflicts on a man." "There's no torture to compare with it." "I've staked out a lot in hell." "A lot with a rotten house on it and five complete sets of furniture not paid for." "What you done is bit off more than you could chew." " Archie Lee, is that our furniture?" " No, no." "No, it isn't." "No." "They're taking away our stuff!" "Why are you just standing there?" "I gotta wait for my prescription." " Your prescription?" "Mr. Hannum!" " Look out now." " Come here!" " Wait!" "Let's get on home before they get the rest of it." "I'm going." "Don't you..." " Baby Doll!" " Don't you dare take my furniture!" " You best go get her." " Yeah, I guess I better." " What would you do?" " Get tough on her." "Yeah, easy to say." "Come on." "Look out, here comes trouble." " What we do about those people?" " Just keep loading the truck." "Get out of my chair!" "Go on, get out!" " They have all my furniture." " Baby Doll, honey." " Are you crazy, that's my mama's lamp." " Honey." "Honey!" "She better not hit me again." " Hey, you put that back!" " Better not hit me." "I thought I heard something rattling around in there." " Baby Doll." " Leave me alone in here." "I don't wanna be in a room with a man that would make me live with no furniture." "Oh, honey, I..." "My daddy would turn over in his grave if he knew." "If your daddy turned in his grave as often as you say he'd turn in his grave that old man would plow up the graveyard." "Look at your Aunt Rose." "She's out there picking roses in the yard just as if nothing at all happened in here." "I'm moving to the Kotton King Hotel." "I am moving to the Kotton King Hotel!" "I'm gonna get me a good-paying job." "The manager of the Kotton King Hotel helped carry my daddy's coffin." "He'll give me work." "What sort of work do you think you could do?" "I could curl hair in a beauty parlor." " Oh, I can see that." " I reckon that I could be a hostess." "Second floor's all clear now." " Smile at people coming in a place." " What place?" "Any place." "I could be a cashier." "Oh, now, you can't count change." "Well, I could pass out menus or programs or something." " Say hello to people." " Oh, now, Baby..." "I can say hello." "Sign here." "Kotton King, this is Mrs. Meighan." "I wanna reserve a room for tomorrow morning." "I wanna register under my maiden name which is Baby Doll Carson McCorkle." "My daddy was T.C. Carson McCorkle, who died last summer when I got married." "And he was a very close personal friend of the manager of the Kotton King Hotel." "You know." "What's his name?" "Archie Lee, look at these flowers." "Poems of nature." "When we gonna gin out some more cotton, Mr. Archie?" "Oh, my." "Oh, my." " Come on!" " Good, I got you." " I bet he don't make $2." " Yeah, all right." "That's the stoutest brandy water ever wet my whistle." "It must have come right out of Tiger Tail Bayou." "Young man?" "Mr. Vacarro?" "A mighty fine party you're throwing tonight in honor of your first anniversary as the manager of the Syndicate Plantation and Gin." "Just a minute there, sonny, hold it down." "I got a little something I ought to get off my chest." "Don't forget your point." " Us good neighbors appreciate this..." " Just a second, sir." "Gentlemen, an announcement:" "There'll be a fish fry Saturday night." "Catfish, hush puppies, dancing." "Bring your ladies." "Oh, you go right on, sir." "I just want you to know that us good neighbors appreciate your achievement in bringing in the biggest cotton crop that ever was picked on this blessed soil of Tiger Tail County." "Hey, senator, my old dad once said:" ""Blessed is he who has nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it"." "A couple boys there don't look happy." "They got no reason to be." "You put them out of business." " Man, they got plenty good liquor yonder." " I'll drink my own." "Now, when you first came here I admit that us old-timers were a bit standoffish." "We didn't know you all that well at first." "Naturally." "A thing is profitable to some, is unprofitable to others." "As the fellow says, "One man's meat is another man's poison"." "We all know that some folks here have suffered financially due in some measure to this man's success with his Syndicate Plantation." "But as a whole, the community stands to reap a nice fat profit." "Hey, senator next time run on a Republican ticket, we'll get the nigger vote out for you." " Silva!" "Mr. Silva!" " Mr. Silva!" "Mr. Silva!" "Fire!" "Mr. Silva!" "Mr. Silva!" "Move the wagons!" "Move them!" "Get that cotton moving!" "Get that cotton moving!" "Get those wagons!" "Mr. Silva, where are you?" "Kerosene can." "Marshal, what you gonna do about finding the man that burned down my gin?" "Well, what makes you so sure your gin was set fire to?" "Look around." "Did you ever see so many happy faces?" "It looks like a rich man's funeral with all his relations attending." "I'd hate to have to prove that." "I'd hate to have to depend on you to prove it." "I can't honestly imagine." "If it's a case of arson, who done it?" "Every poor man you put out of business was right there when the fire broke out." "One wasn't." "I know one that wasn't." "Naming names that sound suspicious is risky business." "I didn't name a name." "It looks like whoever did it forgot to take this with him." "Marshal, as your deputy, I'll take this can and I'll examine it very carefully." "See if there's any basis for thinking it's you who started the fire." "I had to run through fire to get this can and I mean to keep it." "Lock it up in the pickup truck." "Hey, Gina, sing us a song." "Hey, what you gonna do about ginning out the rest of your cotton?" "I'll truck it over to Sunset." "Collins will gin it out for me." "Collins got his own cotton to gin, fella." "Then I'll truck it over to Bolivar County." "Ain't nobody around here gonna gin it out for me." "Silva!" "Rock?" " Give it..." " It's me, Rock." " He got the can, boss." " What?" "Who?" "Who?" "I don't know, it was somebody." "Jumped me from the rear." "Just stay back." "Stay back." "Boy, take the advice of an old-timer who was born and raised in this county." "Knows every nigger, every hound dog, every toadstool and every tree stump for 50 miles around you." "My advice is for you not to make any more reckless charges." "Being a foreigner, you already got strike one and strike two against you." "I want no advice, no law, no court in this county." "I come from a country where it's tradition for each man to make his own justice." "Like bootlegged liquor, private, in secret, because there was corruption there too." "And if justice was executed, it was executed by each man himself, alone." "I mean, Biblical justice." "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth." "Let's go, Rock." "Don't notice this, I got to." "I hadn't noticed a thing." "Which one did it, Rock, do you know?" "They were all there in the shed, all except one." "The one that wasn't there, I figure he did it." "Well, he's the one that's gonna gin out my cotton." "Get her up." "The furniture's coming back today." " Have mercy." " Come on, get, get." "Don't say a word." "A little bird told me you'd be bringing those wagons of cotton to my door." "I want you to know that you're a very lucky fella." " How come?" " I mean, that I am in a position to hold back the other orders and give you a priority." "Come on." "Get out of that truck and have some coffee with me." " What's your price?" " You remember my price." "It hasn't changed." " Equipment hasn't changed either?" " A-1 shape." "You ought to remember that." "I remember you needed a new saw." "You got one?" "Well, I can't find one on the market to equal the old one yet." "Come on." "Have some coffee with me." "We're all ready for you." "I guess when you saw my gin burning down last night, you must've figured you might get a good deal of business thrown your way in the morning." "You wanna know something?" "I'm always glad to know something when there's something to know." "I never did see that fire of yours last night." "No, sir." "No, sir." "Come on." "Come on in my house, have some coffee with me." "You, you come too." "Come on." "Come on, man." "No, sir." "I never did see that fire of yours last night." "We hit the sack after supper and I didn't know until breakfast your cotton gin burned down." "Oh, Baby Doll?" "Come out here." "Come here." "Come here, Baby Doll." "I want you to come over here and meet Mr. Vacarro from the Syndicate Plantation." " What's your first name, Vacarro?" " Silva." " How do you spell it?" " Capital S-I-L-V-A." "Sure enough?" "Like a silver lining?" "Well, every cloud has got a silver lining." "Oh, what's that from, the Bible?" "No, the Mother Goose book." "That name sounds foreign." "It is, Mrs. Meighan." "I'm known as the wop that runs the Syndicate Plantation." "Don't call yourself names." "Let the other folks call you names." "Well, you sure are a lucky fella, Silva." "Gold- or even nickel-plated." "Oh, you sure are lucky that I could take a job on of your size right now." "You're my closest neighbor, and I believe in the good-neighbor policy." "You do me a good turn and I do you a good turn, Mr. Vacarro." "Tit for tat and tat for tit is the policy we live on." "Yes, sir." "Aunt Rose?" "Aunt Rose Comfort!" "Oh, Baby Doll." "Baby Doll." "Baby, get your daddy's sister to bring out a pot of coffee for Mr. Vacarro." " Get her yourself." " Honey." "Honey." "Honey!" "Honey!" "Now, I want you to entertain this gentleman." "Oh, look." "Look, look, look." "Oh, look at her blush." "Look." "Look at her blush." "Oh, this is my baby." "Oh, this my little girl." "Every precious ounce of her is mine." "Aunt Rose?" "Aunt Rose Comfort!" "Excuse my yawn." "But we was up awful late last night." "So you're a wop." "No, I'm a Sicilian, Mrs. Meighan." "A very ancient people." "No, "Sic"." "Sicilian." "I'm from Corpus Christi." "Oh, how unusual." "Honey!" "At noon, take Mr. Vacarro to the Kotton King Hotel for a chicken dinner." "Sign my name." "It's only when bad luck hits, Mr. Vacarro you find out who your friends are, I mean to prove it." "Baby Doll, I want you to entertain this gentleman in the house." "It's a good-neighbor policy, tit for tat and tat for tit." "You do me a good turn and I do you a good turn sometime in the future." "That's right." "Come on now." "Come on, Baby Doll, come on." "Now, make those wagons move now." "Get them rolling." "There ain't nobody comfortable in that house." "Like if you can find a chair to sit down on." "Do you want coffee?" "No, just a cool drink of water." "Thank you, ma'am." "Well, the house water runs warm." "But if you got the energy to work that old pump over there you could get yourself a nice cool drink from that there cistern." "I got energy to burn." "Dump their garbage in the yard." "Ignorance and indulgence and stink." "I thought young Mrs. Meighan smelled pretty good." "You keep your nose to the cotton." "Sometimes water comes, sometimes it don't." "Well, this time it will." "Bring me a drink of that nice cool well water, please." ""So you're a wop"." "I don't have the strength anymore in my arm that I used to to draw water out of that well." "Would you like a cool drink of water?" "How do you do?" "I'm Aunt Rose Comfort McCorkle." "My brother was Baby Doll's daddy, Mr. T.C. Carson McCorkle." "I've been visiting here since..." "Well, just now I can't remember just when it was since." "I hope you don't mind drinking out of a gourd." "Oh, thank you." "Excuse me, please." "That old hen Fuss has got back in my kitchen again." "I can think of worse ways to spend a afternoon delivering cool well water to Mrs. Meighan." "You stay with the cotton, you hear?" "Go on, stay with the cotton." "There's such a difference in water." "You wouldn't think so, but there certainly is." "I take it you've not had this place long, Mrs. Meighan." "No, we ain't had it long." "Don't you have garbage collectors on Tiger Tail Road?" "Oh, well, it costs a little bit extra for them to come out here." "And Archie Lee..." "Oh, I don't know." "I almost give up sometimes." "Did I understand you to say you got a bunch of unfurnished rooms in this house?" "Five complete sets of furniture hauled away by the Ideal Pay As You Go Plan Furniture Company." "When did this misfortune fall upon you?" "Yesterday." "Ain't that awful?" "Yesterday." "Both of us had misfortunes on the same day." "You lost your furniture, my cotton gin burned down." "Oh, yeah." " Quite a coincidence." " What's that?" "I said, it was coincidence of misfortune." "Oh, why, sure." "I mean, what can you do with a bunch of unfurnished rooms?" "Well, we could play hide-and-seek." "Not me, I'm not athletic." "Yeah, well, when I arrived in this county to take over the management of the Syndicate Plantation this house was empty." "I was told it was haunted." "Oh, yeah, it was haunted." "That's why Archie Lee got it for almost nothing." "Sometimes I don't know where to go or what to do." "Well, that's not uncommon." "People enter this world without instruction." "I said..." "Is that your breakfast, Mrs. Meighan?" "I said, people come into this world without instruction of where to go or what to do." "So they wander a little and then go away." "Drift for a while and then vanish." "And so make room for newcomers." "Old goers newcomers going and coming, back and forth." "Rush, rush." "Permanent nothing." "Anything living that lasts long enough to take it serious..." "What's this?" "This is that old Pierce-Arrow car, belong to Mrs. Dobine." "The lady that used to own this house and haunts it now." "Where to, madam?" "We're gonna play chauffeur." "Yeah, goodbye now." "Hey." "Drive me along the river with all the windows open to cool me off." " The chauffeur sits in the front seat." " Front seat's got no cushion." "Oh, yeah." "Come on, men, get on your big feet, let's go!" "Come on!" "Oh, let's gin some cotton." "Come on, men." "Get on those big feet." "Let's get in here." "Oh, let's cut some cotton." "It's hard to find a place to sit since the Ideal Pay As You Go Plan Furniture Company lost patience." " To sit in comfort..." " Hard to sit in comfort when the Ideal Pay As You Go Plan people lose their patience and your gin burns down." " Would you move your leg?" " But it's cool here." "Comfortable to sit in." " What's this here?" " That's my charm bracelet." "My daddy gave it to me." "Them's the Ten Commandments." " And these here?" " My birthdays." "How many charming birthdays have you had?" "As many as there are charms on the bracelet." " Mind if I...?" " Count them." "Fourteen, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19." "That's all." "I'll be 20 tomorrow." "Tomorrow is election day and my birthday and the day that Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected for his first term." "It's a great day for the country for both reasons." "Oh, he was a man to respect." "Well, you're a lady to respect, Mrs. Meighan." "Me?" "No." "I never got past the fourth grade." "Why'd you quit?" "Well, I had a great deal of trouble with long division." "Yeah?" "The teacher would send me to the blackboard to work on a problem in long division and I would go up to the blackboard and lean my head against it and just cry and cry and cry." "Would you move your leg?" "Do you wanna move my leg?" "Yeah, otherwise I can't get out." "Okay." "Well I would just cry and cry and cry." "Well, finally I left school and..." "Oh, a girl without education is a girl without educ..." "Mr. Vacarro?" "Just picking up a few pecan nuts." "Excuse me." "Excuse me, Mr. Vacarro, but I wouldn't dream of eating a nut which a man had cracked in his mouth." "You've got many refinements." "Thank you." "Now, I don't think you need worry about your failure at long division." "After all, you got through short division." "Short division's all a lady ought to be called on to cope with." "Yeah." "Well I ought to be going in now." "But I get so depressed going through all them empty rooms." "All the rooms empty?" "All except the nursery and the kitchen." "The stuff in them rooms is paid for." "You have a child in the nursery?" "Me?" "No." "I sleep in the nursery myself." "I let the slats down on the crib." "Why do you sleep in the nursery?" "Mr. Vacarro, that's a personal question." "Well, I ought to be going in now." "But, you know, there are rooms in that house that I never been in." "Like, for instance, the attic." "You know that most of the time I'm scared to go in that house by myself?" "You take like last night, when the fire broke out." "I sat here for hours and hours and hours waiting for Archie Lee to come home because I was scared to go in that house by myself." "It must've been scary here without your husband to look after you." "Oh, I'm telling you." "The fire broke out and lit up the whole sky with crazy shadows." "We didn't have a Coke in the house." "I was mad at Archie Lee." "You were mad at Mr. Meighan?" "What about?" "He went off and left me without a Coke in the house." " Went off and left..." "Without a Coke, did he?" " Yes, he did." "He certainly did." "And he didn't get back until way after the fire had broken out." "And I got smoke in my eyes, in my nose, in my throat." "I was in such a worn-out, nervous condition, I cried." "Finally, I took two teaspoons of paregoric." "Sounds like you passed a very uncomfortable night." "Oh, sounds like." "But it was." "So Mr. Meighan, you say, disappeared after supper?" "You say Mr. Meighan left the house for a while after supper?" "Oh, yeah, for a moment." "Just for a moment, huh?" "How long a moment?" " What are you driving at, Mr. Vacarro?" " Driving at?" "Yes, you're looking at me so funny." "How long a moment did he disappear for?" "Can you remember, Mrs. Meighan?" "Well, what difference does it make?" "I mean what does it matter to you anyway?" " Why should you mind my asking?" "You make it sound like I'm on trial for something." "Don't you like to pretend like you're a witness?" " Witness of what, Mr. Vacarro?" " Oh, say, for instance, a case of arson." "What's arson?" "The willful destruction of property by fire." "What?" "Well, about..." "About my husband leaving after supper, I can explain that." " Can you?" " Oh, sure I can." "Well, good." "Now, how can you explain it?" "What's the matter, Mrs. Meighan?" "Can't you collect your thoughts?" "Your mind's a blank on the subject?" "You find it impossible to remember just what your husband disappeared for after supper?" "You can't imagine what kind of errand he went on, can you?" "Can you?" "But when he returned well, let's see, the fire had just broken out at the Syndicate Plantation." "I can't imagine what you could possibly be driving at." "No?" "You're a very unsatisfactory witness, Mrs. Meighan." "Well, shall we drop the subject?" " Oh, I sure do wish you would." " Well, sure." "There's no use crying over a burnt-down gin." "Besides, like your husband says this world is built on the principle of tit for tat." "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing specific." " Would you mind if I...?" " What?" "Sit down." " Is it strong enough to support us both?" " Well, I hope." "Now, let's swing a little, huh?" "You seem all tense." "Motion relaxes people." "It's like a cradle." "A cradle relaxes a baby." " They call you Baby, don't they?" " Oh, that's sort of a nickname." "Well, in a swing you can relax just like in a cradle." "Well, I don't like to swing." "It shakes me up." "I'm relaxed enough, as much as necessary." "Oh, no, you're not." "Your nerves are all tied up." " Well, you make me nervous." " Just swinging with you?" " No, not just that." " What else, then?" "All them questions you asked me about the fire." "I was only inquiring about your husband." "About his leaving the house after supper." "But there's no reason why I should have to explain things to you." "No." "Should we just relax?" "Would you move over and make a little room?" " Is that enough room for you?" " It's enough for me." "How about you?" "It was a lovely remark your husband made." "The good-neighbor policy, I mean." ""You do me a good turn and I'll do you one"." "That was the way he put it." " There now." " Thanks." "There's a lot of fine cotton lint floating around in the air." "I know there is." "It bothers my sinus." "Well, you're a very delicate woman, Mrs. Meighan." "Delicate?" "Me?" "There isn't much of you, but what there is is choice." "Delectable, I might say." "You are fine-fibered." "Soft." "Smooth." "Mr. Vacarro, our conversation certainly is taking a personal turn." "You make me think of cotton." "No." "No fabric or cloth not even satin or silk cloth and no kind of fiber not even cotton fiber has the absolute delicacy of your skin." "Well, what should I say, thanks or something?" "Now, you just smile, Mrs. Meighan." "You've got an attractive smile." " Dimples." " No." "Oh, yes, you do." "Come on now, smile, Mrs. Meighan." "There, you see?" "You do." "You do have them." "Don't touch me." "Please don't touch me." "I don't like to be touched." "Well, why do you giggle?" "Because you make me feel kind of hysterical, Mr. Vacarro." "I do?" " Mr. Vacarro?" " Yes?" "I think I'll go and make us some lemonade." "What did you do that for?" "I don't wanna be deprived of the pleasure of your company." "Not yet." "Oh, Mr. Vacarro, you certainly are getting familiar." "Don't you have any fun-loving spirit about you?" "Well, this isn't fun." "Well, why do you giggle, then?" " Because I'm ticklish." " You're ticklish?" "Don't be so skittish." "All right, I'll get up, then." "Go on." "I feel so weak." "My head is buzzy." "Buzzy?" "Fuzzy and buzzy." "My head is swinging round." "Must have been that swinging that done it." " Is there something on my arm?" " No." "Well, then cut it out, it feels funny." " How does it feel?" " Oh, it feels funny all up and down." " Quit switching me, will you?" " I'm just shooing the flies off." "They don't hurt nothing." " Now, cut it out or I'm gonna call." " You're gonna call who?" " Boy on the road." " Well, go on, call then." "Boy!" "Can't you call any louder?" " Oh, I feel so..." " Can't you call any louder?" "I feel so funny." "What's...?" " What's the matter with me?" " You're just relaxing." " Give in, now." "Stop fighting it." " Oh, I'm not..." " I'm not fighting it, but it's you..." " I?" "...and your suspicions about my husband." "Suspicions..." " Suspicions?" "Suspicions such as?" "That he burnt down your gin." " Well?" " Well, he didn't." " Didn't he?" " No, he didn't." "He..." "He didn't." "I'm going in the house now." "You believe in ghosts, Mrs. Meighan?" "I do." "I believe in the presence of evil spirits." "What evil spirits you talking about?" "Spirits of violence and cunning malevolence, cruelty, treachery, destruction." "Them's just human characteristics." "The evil spirits that haunt the human heart and take possession of it and spread from one human heart to another human heart the way a fire goes springing from leaf to leaf and branch to branch in a tree till a forest is all aflame with it." "You just got fire on the brain." "I see it as more than it seems to be on the surface." "I saw it last night as an explosion of those evil spirits." "I fought it." "I ran into it, beating it, stamping it, shouting the curse of God at it." "They dragged me out suffocating." "I was defeated." "When I came to, lying on the ground the fire had won the battle." "And all around was a ring of human figures." "I looked up." "They were illuminated." "Their eyes, their teeth were shining like this." " Yeah, like this." "Like this." " No, don't scare me." " Please don't scare me." " The faces I saw were grinning." "And then I knew." "I knew the fire was not accidental." "And you know it was not accidental too." "It was an expression, a manifestation of the need to destroy." "And so I say I believe in ghosts in haunted places in places haunted by the people that occupy them with hearts overrun by demons of hate and destruction." "I believe his place, this house, is haunted." " Aunt Rose." "Aunt Rose Comfort!" " This house is haunted." "I think I'm going around the back door and make us some lemonade." " Archie Lee." " Archie Lee, huh?" "Archie Lee." "Yeah, let's go see Archie Lee now." "Archie Lee." " What's going on up there?" " Contraption broke down." "You better stay away from Mr. Archie, he's fit to be tied." "It's stuck." "Give me the wrench." "Come on, give me the wrench, man." "Give..." "Archie Lee, I got something to tell you, you big slob." " What are you doing here?" " You left me there." "I tell you never to come here when niggers are working here." "You know what you left me with...?" "How's progress, Mr. Meighan?" "Fine, fine." "Great, great." "Personally, I can't hear the gin running at all." "Big shot!" " What's holding up?" " Nothing." " Rock?" " The cylinder is busted." "It figures." "Meighan, I inspected your equipment before I put in my own." "And I put up my own cotton gin because this equipment was rotten!" " Take it easy." " Was rotten and still is rotten." " It's quarter past 2." " Don't get hysterical." " You got wagons out on the runway." " You Italians..." " Never mind about "we Italians"!" " Take it easy." "You better get a new saw cylinder and get this contraption running." "If you can't get one in town, go to Rosedale." " This contraption..." " If you can't get one there get across the river and go to Little Rock." " I'll get one." "I'll get one, but..." "One more crack out of you and the only cotton you'll see will be in a drugstore." "Now you better haul, brother." "He'll go to Rosedale." " I got something to say to you, big shot." " Please, I ain't got..." "I ain't got time." "Big shot, big shot, big shot!" "This gin!" "Boy, he's getting her again." "Yep, we got a saw cylinder like this in our commissary." "Sure enough." "Go bring it here, get Hank to help you." "And get this contraption running again." "He's not gonna get a new one in town." "If he has to cross the river, don't wait for him." "Rock." "I'll leave the pickup truck with you." "Stay close to the house." "Stay there till I come out." "Hey, Archie." "Archie Lee!" "Archie Lee!" "Archie!" "No, don't touch me." "Please don't touch me." "Aunt Rose." "Aunt Rose Comfort." "Gotta go see a mighty sick friend in county hospital." "You might as well shout at the moon as that old woman." "You don't want her to go?" "Well, she's got no business leaving me alone here." "But she has a passion for chocolate candy, though." "She watches the newspapers just like a hawk to see if anybody she knows is registered at the county hospital." " The hospital?" " Yeah." "They pass out candy to the patients at the county hospital, you know." "Friends and relatives send them flowers and candy." "Aunt Rose Comfort goes to visit them and eats up all the chocolate candy." "Last week, an old lady friend of Aunt Rose Comfort's was dying at the county hospital." "And Aunt Rose Comfort went to visit her and ate up all her chocolate candy." " All?" "Right while the old woman was dying, she ate it all." "I like old people." "They're crazy." "Mrs. Meighan, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "What, Mr. Vacarro?" "Are you really married to Mr. Meighan?" "Mr. Vacarro, that is a personal question." "All questions are more or less personal, Mrs. Meighan." "Well..." "See when I..." "When I got married, well, I wasn't ready for marriage yet." "I was only 18." "But my daddy was practically on his deathbed and he wanted to see me took care of before he died." "And old Archie Lee had been hanging around like a sick dog for quite some time." "And the boys around here are a sorry lot." "They ask you to the movies and take you out to the old stone quarry instead." "You gotta get out of the car and throw stones at them." "I've had some experiences here with boys that would curl your hair if I told you." "The experiences which I've had with boys." "Oh, but old Archie Lee, you know, he was an older fella." "Well, his business was better in those days." "He was ginning out lots of cotton." "That's before you put up your cotton gin, you remember?" "Yeah, I remember." "Well, I told my daddy that I wasn't ready for marriage and my daddy told Archie Lee that I wasn't ready for it and Archie Lee promised my daddy that he would wait until I was ready." " Then the marriage was postponed?" " Oh, no, not the wedding." "We had the wedding." "My daddy gave me away." " But you said Archie Lee waited." " Yeah, after the wedding, he waited." "For what?" "For me to be ready for marriage." "Well, how long did he have to wait?" "Oh, he's still waiting." "We had an agreement, though." "I mean, I told him that on my 20th birthday, I'd be ready." "That's tomorrow." "And are...?" "Will you be ready?" " Well, that all depends." " What on?" "Whether or not the furniture comes back." "I guess." "Your husband sweats more than any man I know, and now I can understand why." "Well, let's see." "Well, I declare." "I'm sorry." "L..." "There." "Now you wait right here." "I'm gonna make lemonade and serve it on the porch." " Yes, ma'am, right here." " You wait right there." " Now, you wait right there." " Yes, ma'am, I'll wait." "Yes, ma'am, I will stay right here." "Yes, ma'am." "I'm gonna get me a Frigidaire one of these days." "Stupid old thing." "Forgot to light the stove." "Mr. Vacarro?" "Oh, my goodness." "We'll be having lemonade in a minute now." "Here, how'd you get that pretty dress all wet?" "What a mess." "Mr. Vacarro, now, you wait right there." "Archie Lee, is that you?" "It needs something." "Who's in there?" "Get out of my house." "What are you doing in my house?" "Get out of my house." "Mr. Vacarro, I know that's you and you're making me very nervous." "Oh, yeah!" "I'll get you!" " Help!" "Help!" "Help!" " Oh, you!" " Open sesame." " Game's over." "I quit." "No, you gotta play hide-and-seek till you're it." "Now, Mr. Vacarro, would you please go back downstairs so that I can unlock this door and come out?" "This attic is in awful weak condition." "You want me to call the fire department to catch you when you fall through?" " No, there wouldn't be time." " I don't suppose they'd get here on time." "Any more than last night when they come to put out the fire that burnt down my gin." "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do." "Now, I'm gonna slip pencil and paper under this door and all I want is your signature on the paper." " What paper?" " You might call it an affidavit legally stating that Archie Lee Meighan burned down the Syndicate Gin." "Mr. Vacarro!" "This floor's about to give out right underneath me." " Any minute." "What do you say?" " Just leave it right there and I'll be happy to sign it and send it to you." "Mrs. Meighan, I'm a Sicilian." "You know, we're a very old race of people, an ancient race." "And ancient races aren't trusting races by nature." "You're either gonna sign this piece of paper or I'm gonna break this door down." "Do you hear me?" "I gather you don't believe me." "Now, you're either gonna agree to sign this thing or I'm coming out here and my additional weight..." " What am I gonna do?" " You're gonna do what I tell you." "No?" "No, don't hurt me." "I'll do anything, only hurry." " What do you want me to do?" " You can write your name." "Go ahead." "You can come out now." "Need my descending footsteps on the stairs?" " Hear my footsteps on the stairs?" " Oh, Mr. Vacarro!" "You hear my descending footsteps on the stairs?" "Mr. Vacarro?" " Mr. Vacarro." " Okay, you're home free and so am I." " Bye-bye." " Wait a minute, where you going?" "Back to my little gray Quonset home in the west to take a peaceful siesta." "Well, I want to..." "I want to..." "Was that all that you wanted?" "Me to confess that Archie Lee burnt down your gin?" "What else did you imagine, Mrs. Meighan?" "Well..." "Mrs. Meighan, I..." "You're a child, Mrs. Meighan." "That's why we played the game of hide-and-seek." "It's a game for children." "Well, you don't have to go all the way home to take a nap." "You could take a nap here." "I mean, it's gonna rain anyhow." "All the furniture's been removed from the house." "Not the stuff in the nursery." "There's a small bed in there, a crib." "You could curl up and let the slats down." "I'll be happy to accept the invitation." "Come on up and sing me to sleep." "My daddy would turn over in his grave." " Sorry." " No, come on." "I'm good for it." " I got orders." " I'll take my trade..." " No credit." " I'll take it somewhere else!" " Look." "Listen, my daddy's watch." " Cash." "Here." "The letters of his name instead of numbers, huh?" "I'm gonna leave this watch with you." " Cash." " Give it to him and get him out of here!" "Thank you, sir." "I'm much obliged to you, sir." "Will you get this thing going?" "Come on, now." " Come on, now, will you?" " Shut up." "We're going as fast as we can." "You all must have done some mighty fast repairs." " No repairs." "Put in a new saw cylinder." " From where?" "Boss and I had one at our place." "How come I wasn't let in on this information before I lit out of here?" "I just about killed myself getting that." "Where's that wop, Vacarro?" "I wanna get some explanation of this." "Vacarro!" "Where is he?" " You seen the boss man, Norm?" " No, sir." "You seen the boss man, Moose?" " No, sir." " No, sir." "Where are my men?" "Oh, I sent them home." "I mean, they're useless." "Well, you keep operating." "Hey!" "You know, this isn't a bad old gin." "Hey, anybody living here?" "Anybody still living in this house?" "It's Archie Lee." "What happened here?" " I said, what happened here?" " The plaster broke in the attic." "Well, how?" "How did...?" "How'd that happen?" "How did anything happen?" "It just happened." "Ain't I told you not to slop around here in a slip?" "Ain't I told you not to slop around here in a slip?" "Supper almost ready now." "The breakage alone in that kitchen would ruin a well-to-do man." "Now, you go on up and get some decent clothes on you." "Then come back down here." "You know, there's a new bureau in Washington, D.C." "It's called the UW Bureau." "You know what UW stands for?" "It stands for "useless women"." "They got secret plans to put the..." "To rounding them all up and shoot them." "That's what..." "Shoot them." "Now, you heard me." "I said, shoot them." "How about men that's destructive?" "Ain't they got some plan to round up destructive men and shoot them?" "What destructive men you talking about?" "Men that blows things up and burns things down because they're too evil and too stupid to get along otherwise." "Because their competition is too much for them." "So they turn criminal." "They do things like arson the willful destruction of property by fire." " Who said that to you?" " Hey, look what's up there on the porch." "Light the light, there's men on the road." "Never mind, now." "Who said arson to you, huh?" "Who spoke of this "willful destruction"?" "Why, you never knew them words." "Who said them to you?" "Sometimes, big shot you don't seem to give me credit for very much intelligence at all." "I've been to school in my life." "And I'm a magazine reader." "Who gave that whistle?" "Don't you give a wolf whistle at my wife!" "You just stay on that side of that fence, do you hear?" "Right on that side over there!" "Men from the Syndicate Plantation, white and black mixed." "Headed for Tiger Tail Bayou with straw gigs and rubber boots on." "I just hope they turn downstream." "I just hope they trespass across my property." "I hope they dare." "I'll blast them out of the bayou with a shotgun." " Small dogs have a large bark." " No one's gonna insult no woman of mine." "You take a lot for granted when you say "mine"." "I came to you today for protection." "And what did I get?" "Slapped." "Sent home." "Now, I'm telling you that the agreement between us is over." "You darn tooting it's over." "In just three hours..." "Three hours, the terms of our agreement will be settled for good." " Don't count on it." " Sharp at midnight." " Too much has happened here lately." " Well, my credit is wide open again." "And so is the jailhouse door if the truth comes out." " Are you threatening me with black...?" " Heigh-ho, Silva!" "Archie Lee, Mr. Vacarro says that he might not put up a new cotton gin but might let you gin out his cotton for him all the time." "Ain't you pleased about that?" "He's gonna come tomorrow with lots more cotton." "And while you're ginning it out, he's gonna have me entertain him." "Make lemonade for him." "And it's gonna go on and on, maybe even till next fall." "It's the good-neighbor policy in practice." "How long you been on the place?" "All this unusually long fall afternoon I've imposed on your hospitality." " Where you been here?" " Taking a nap on your only remaining bed." "The crib in the nursery with the slats let down." "Something sad about it, know what I mean?" "Sad about what?" "An unoccupied nursery in the house and all other rooms empty." "That's no problem of yours." "A good-neighbor policy makes your problems mine and vice versa." "Supper ready, children." "Well, didn't you all hear us called in to supper?" "You gonna eat here tonight?" "Mrs. Meighan asked me to stay for supper." "But I told her I better get to hear the invitation from the head of the house before I'd feel free to accept it." "So, what do you say?" "Stay for supper." " Well, you'll have to take potluck." " I wouldn't be putting you out?" "Excuse me, I better get into my clothes." "Oh, yeah." "You better." "Did I understand you to say that..." "That you wouldn't build a new gin but would leave your business to me?" " Lf that's agreeable with you." " I don't know about that." "Well, I gotta consider the matter." "Financing is involved." "Such as new equipment and..." "Let's go in and eat now." "I got a pain in the belly." "I got a sort of heartburn." "Hey." "Hey, one more place at the table." "Mr. Vacarro from the Syndicate Plantation is staying for supper." "I had no idea company was expected." "Just let me change..." "Another place is all that's called for." "Have you been here all day?" "Have you been in the house or did you ride out to the hospital and eat some more chocolate candy?" " I visited a friend in the hospital." "Then you were out while I..." "I worked like the hammers of hell!" "I come home, the attic floor has fell through my wife's bad-tempered and insulting and a supper of hog slops!" "I suppose you've got..." "Sit down." "I've gotta make me a phone call." "Hello." "I want the Bright Spot, Miss Hopkins." "Give me the Bright Spot." "I can't think of the number now." "You give it to me, you hear?" "Hello, Bright Spot." "He's on the phone about something." "If I was you, I wouldn't hang around." "I got the ace of spades in my pocket and I'm gonna get his autograph on it too." "Don't count on the law court." "Justice here is deaf and blind as that woman." "I do my own justice." "Get Eddie, Beetle, Boots, Rhodes, any one of them." "I'm advising you, go while he's on the phone." "You don't know his friends." " They're rough." " I've seen them." "I find you different this evening in some way." "Never mind that." "Just go while he's still on the phone." "Grown up suddenly." "I feel cool and rested for the first time in my life." "That's the way I feel." "Rested and cool." "And there's no place he can run to in this county." "Well, you can say that again, boy." "You can't leave the place, well, then you send someone." "But you send someone to find him, you hear me?" "I'll call you..." " Poems of nature." "If I had..." " Never mind the poems of nature." "Goodbye, I'll call you later." " Lf I had known company was expected..." " Put some food on the table." " Just take a minute." " We ain't gonna wait no minute." "Bring out some food." "Is that what they call a Mona Lisa smile you got on your puss?" " Put some food on the table!" " Don't pick on Aunt Rose Comfort." "Gonna have a talk with that old woman right here tonight." "She's outstayed her welcome." "What a pretty blue ribbon you're wearing tonight, Mrs. Meighan." "Why, thank you, Mr. Vacarro." "There's so many shades of blue." " What particular shade is that?" " It's just baby blue." "Brings out the blue of your eyes." "Food!" " Food!" " Immediately." "This instant." "This sweater was part of my trousseau." "I got all my trousseau at various department stores in Memphis where my daddy was known." "What is this stuff, grass?" "It's greens." "Don't you know greens when you see them?" "Big department stores on Main Street." " This stuff is greens?" " Archie Lee dotes on greens." " Don't you, Archie Lee?" " No, I don't." "You don't?" "You don't dote on greens?" " Well, somebody did." " Somebody probably did." "Sometime, somewhere, but that don't mean it was me." "Eat your greens, big shot." "Greens put iron in the blood." "I thought Archie Lee doted on greens." "All these likes and dislikes are hard to keep straight in your head." " Archie Lee is easy to cook for." " Take this slop off the table." "I'll cook you some eggs Birmingham." "These greens didn't cook enough." "I played a fool trick with my stove." "I..." "I forgot to light it." "When I went out to the store, I left my greens on the stove." "I thought they were boiling." "When I came home, I discovered my stove wasn't lighted." "Why do you say "my stove"?" " Why is everything "mine"?" " Archie Lee, I think you've been drinking." "You stay out of this." "Sit down, Aunt Rose." " What was that, Archie Lee?" " Sit down." "Where?" "Sit down." "I'm gonna ask you a question." "What sort of plans have you made?" "What plans, Archie Lee?" "What sort of plans do you mean?" "Plans for the future." "Archie Lee, I don't think this discussion is necessary in front of company." "Mrs. Meighan, when someone feels uncomfortable over something it often happens he takes out his annoyance on some completely innocent person." "Now, Aunt Rose you've been here since August." "And that's a mighty long stay." "And it's my honest opinion that you're in need of a rest." "You've been cooking around here and cooking around there for how long now?" "Well?" "How long you been cooking around people's houses?" "I helped out my relatives, my folks, whenever they needed me." "I was always invited, sometimes begged to cook." "When babies was expected or somebody was sick they called Aunt Rose." "And Aunt Rose was always ready." "Nobody ever had to put me out." "Will you gentlemen excuse me from the dinner table, I..." "I'll run up and pack." "Miss Rose Comfort, wait." "I'll drive you home." " I don't have nowhere to go." " Yes, you do." "I need a cook." "I'm tired of my own cooking." "And I am anxious to try those eggs Birmingham you mentioned." "Is it a deal?" " Well, I..." " Oh, sure it's a deal, Aunt Rose." "Mr. Vacarro will be very good to you." "And you never can tell about things in the future." "Well, I'm gonna pack my things." "Is there anything else around here you wanna take away with you, Mr. Vacarro?" " Well, is there?" " Why, yes, Archie Lee." "Mr. Vacarro noticed that the house was just full of furniture." "And he'd like to borrow about five complete sets of it." "Colored folks call this pot liquor." "I love pot liquor." "Good?" "I'm crazy about pot liquor." " Good." " It's good." " Good." " That's good." "That old hen was coming in like she'd been invited to supper." "You listen to me." "Now, you all listen to me." "Now, you quit giving those..." "Those looks back and forth and listen to me." "Why, you think I'm deaf and dumb and blind or something, do you?" "Well, you're mistook." "Oh, brother." "Oh, brother, but you're much, much mistook." "I know." "I know, I guess I look like a..." "I guess I look like..." "What do you guess you look like, Archie Lee?" "Yeah, some sweet little innocent Baby Doll of a wife, huh?" "Oh, not ready for marriage, huh?" "Oh, no, not ready for marriage but plenty ready to go out..." "Wait a minute now, I see how it's funny." "It sure is funny, isn't it, huh?" "But there's one little teensy-weensy thing that you've overlooked." "I got position." "I got position in this county where I was born and brought up." " Stop it!" " I hold a respected position." "Lifelong member of every organization in the delta!" "On my side are friends!" "Friends." "Long-standing business associates, and social." "You see what I mean, huh?" "You ain't got that advantage, have you, mister?" "Well, have you, huh?" "Have you?" "Come on, speak up." "Ain't you a dago or something?" "Excuse me, I mean, Italian or something?" "I was a medical corpsman in the Navy." "You've got an unhealthy look." " All I gotta do is get on the phone..." " Call an ambulance." "I don't have to make a call." "I can handle the situation myself." " What situation do you mean?" " Situation I find here under my roof!" "Look here now." "Oh, I'm not such a..." "Such a marble-missing old fool that I couldn't size it up." "I sized it up the minute I seen you was still on this place and her..." "Oh, her..." "Her with that sly smile on her." "And you with yours on you." " I know how to wipe off those sly smiles." " Meighan!" "You know and I know and I know that you know that I know that you set fire to my cotton gin last night." "You burned down the Syndicate Gin." "And I got here in my hand a signed affidavit a paper signed by a witness whose testimony will hold up even in the law courts of Tiger Tail County." "That's what I come here for and that's all I got." "Whatever else you suspect, well, you're mistaken." "Isn't that so, Mrs. Meighan?" "Isn't your husband mistaken in thinking I got anything but this signed affidavit which was the purpose of my all-afternoon call?" "I'm foreign, Meighan but not revengeful, at least not more than is rightful." "Now, we got a workable good-neighbor policy between us." "It might work out." "Anyhow, I think it deserves a try." "Now, as to the other side of the situation, which I won't mention well, all I can say is a certain attraction exists." "Mutually, I believe." "I needed a little shuteye after last night's excitement." "And I have a faint recollection of being sung to by someone." "A lullaby song that was sweet and a touch of cool fingers." " You think I'm gonna put up with this?" " But that's all, absolutely." " You think I'm gonna put up...?" " With this situation?" "You went to whole lot of risk and trouble to get my business back." " Cool." " Don't you want it?" " Yeah, cool." " It's up to you, Archie." " Very cool." " It's up to you." " You just fixed your wagon." " Yeah." "With this smart talk, oh, you just fixed your wagon." "I'm gonna wipe that grin off your greasy wop face for good." "Oh, you just..." "You watch." "Is my wop face greasy, Mrs. Meighan?" "That's the last time you're ever gonna lay your hands on me again, you stinker!" "You stinking stinker!" "Stinker!" "Look out, Silva!" "Rock?" "Rock, where are you?" "Where are you, Vacarro?" "Where are you?" "Where you hiding, wop?" "Oh, if you're under there, you ain't getting out." "Look, my husband's got a gun, and I just don't know..." "Hey, wop!" "Oh, you yellow-bellied wop." "Get that gun!" "Get that gun away from him!" "Help!" "Help!" "Where's that wop?" "You can't get away!" "Go away from me!" "Get away!" "Where are you, Vacarro?" "Right here, neighbor." "There you are." "Oh, it's you." "Excuse me." "Silva?" "Here." "Here." "Where are you, Vacarro?" "Come on." "You yellow-bellied wop!" "Baby Doll!" "Where are you, Vacarro?" "Where are you, Vacarro?" "Vacarro!" "Come on out, Vacarro!" "Now, you put that gun of yours away!" "Baby Doll!" "Baby." "Baby Doll." "Baby Doll." "Baby Doll." "Baby Doll." "Oh, Vacarro, where?" "Where are you, you wop?" "Baby Doll." "No." "No." "No, Baby Doll." "Baby Doll." "No, no, no." "No, no, no." "No." "No, no, no." "Baby Doll." "Hurry." "All ready to go." "Now, who is that?" "What's the matter, Sandy?" "Is something wrong?" "I'm running for town marshal for the 25th term, and I want your vote." " You got my vote, Sandy." " Let me see your gun, fella." "Let me see it." "Doggone, man." "You're too old for a job like that." "I'm 20 years younger than you and I wouldn't run for a job like that." "Age is a factor calls for recognition." "I hope you recognize the fact it calls for recognition." "You know a man grows old suddenly." "Not gradual, just all of a sudden he's old." "Hey, now, wait a minute, where you guys taking me?" "You're acting as though I'm under arrest." " Well, you been shoot..." " There he is!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Get off!" "Get off me!" "Come on." "Come on." "Hey, how about me?" "Put the handcuffs on him." "Okay." "Okay." "Put me in that stinking black calaboose." "I ain't a white man?" "No, I ain't a white man, so throw me in." "But don't you leave my Baby Doll here with him." "Don't you leave him here with her." "Sandy listen, you're a married man." "You understand how I feel, don't you, Sandy?" "Please, as one white man to another." "Just for tonight, don't leave him on the place." "Just tonight, Sandy." "Scratched my leg on the bark of that tree." " Vacarro, come here." " Excuse me." "Now, what you got on your mind?" "Listen, fella, we ain't got nothing to hold that old boy on." "He's been shooting up his yard." "But he tells us a varmint's been catching his chickens." "His chickens?" "I got a signed confession by a material witness that amounts to an affidavit." " Let's see." " Not till it's witnessed by others." "We'll have it witnessed." "I don't need or want anything from you." "I'm going to the county sheriff." " Rock!" " Here, Silva, here." " Hey, Silva, how about me?" " Now?" "Well, I'll be coming back tomorrow with lots more cotton." "I'll be back tomorrow with lots more cotton!" "I'll be back tomorrow with lots more cotton to gin." "Early in the morning with lots more cotton." "Early in the morning with lots more cotton." " Well, he's gone." " What happens now?" "Well, he sure enough got hisself a signed confession from your wife." "We're gonna have to go through this thing for appearance's sake." "I don't mean that, I mean what happens tomorrow?" "Well, the town marshal has no control over tomorrow." "Today's my Baby Doll's birthday." "Your friend forgot me." "Well, Archie Lee, it looks like the celebration is over." "Let's go." "He's coming back tomorrow with more cotton." "He's coming back?" "Well, let's go in now." "We got nothing to do but wait for tomorrow." "And see if we're remembered or forgotten." "Oh, my." "Oh, my."