" He pointed to Orlando. "I was
awake, and so I watched. I knew who she was; I knew who he was." He
pointed to Orlando again. "I guessed I'd see something. I did.
"I watched them two people all night. There was a moon. I could see. I
wasn't fifteen feet from her all night, and I jined the others when they
come to rescue. I guess I got the truth, and I guess if you want any
evidence about me you can get it. Lots of people know me out here. I
ain't got any house or any home, and I get drunk sometimes, and I ain't
got money to buy meals with, lots of times, but nobody ever knowed me
lie. That's what ruined me--I been too truthful. Well, I'm not lying now,
Mister. I'm telling you the God-help-me truth. He's a gentleman." He
pointed again to Orlando. "He's a gentleman from away back in God's
country, wherever that is, and she's the best of the best of the very
best.
"You can bet your greasy old boots and ugly face that you've got a bigger
fortune in that wife of yours than you've any right to. Say, she's a
queen, Mister, and don't you forget it, and"--he drawled out his
words--"you go inside your house and get down on your knees, same as you
do in the Meeting House, and thank the Lord you love so well for all his
blessings. As my friend here said a little while back"--he pointed to
Orlando again--"'Damn you, Mazarine!' Go and hide yourself."
The old man stood for a moment dumbfounded; then, without a word, he
turned and hunched inside the house.
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