北派小说网

The Blanket（第1页）

&

一床双人毛毯

&reallybelievedthatDadwouldbedoingIt—sendingGranddadahattheyweregit。Notuntilnowcouldhebelieveitofhisfather。

ButherewastheblaDadhadbranddad，andinthemhe’dbegoingaway。Thiswasthelasteveningthey’dbehaviher。Dadwasoffseeingthatgirlhewastomarry。Hewouldilllate，soPeteyandGranddadcouldsitupandtalk。

Ittembernight，withasilvermh。Theythesupperdishesaheirchairsoutontotheporch。“I’llgetmyfiddle，”saidtheoldman，“andplayyousomeoftheoldtunes。”

Butihefiddlehebroughtouttheblawasabigdoubleblahblackstripes。

“Now，isn’tthatafi!”saidtheoldman，smoothingitoverhisknees。“Andisn’tyourfatherakindmaheoldfellowablaogoawaywith?Itething，itdid—lookatthewoolofit!There’llbefewblaheequalofthisone!”

ItwaslikeGranddadtobesayingthat。Hewastryieasier。Hehadpretendedallaloogoawaytothegreatbrig—thegoverplace。Therehe’dbewithsomanyotheroldfellows，havi。。。。ButPeteyhadn’tbelievedDadwouldreallydoit，notuntilthisnightwhehomethebla。

“Oh，yes，it’safi，”saidPetey。Hegotupahehouse。Hewasod，besides，hewastoooldforthat。He’djustgoofetddad’sfiddle。

&slidtothefloorastheoldmantookthefiddleandstoodup。Hetunedupforamihensaid，“Thisisoneyou’llliketoremember。”

&aully。Dadwirl。Yes，thatgirlwhohadkissedPeteyandfussedoverhim，sayiobeagoodmothertohim，andall。。。。

&oppedsuddenly。Granddadsaid，“It’safinegirlytomarry。He’llbefeelingyoungagainrettywifelikethat。Andwhatwouldanoldfellowlikemebedoingarettingintheway?Anoldwithmytalksofadpains。It’sbestthatIgoaway，likeI’mdoiuwo，andtheosleep。I’llpackupmyblahem。”

&hearthetwopeopleingdowh。Dadhadonearmaroundthegirl，whhtfacewaslikeadoll’s。Buttheyheardherwhenshelaughed，rightclosebytheporch。Daddidn’tsayanything，butthegirlcameforoketoGraily:“Iwon’tbeherewhehem，soIcameood-bye。”

“It’skindofyou，”saidGranddad，withhiseyes。Theheblahisfeet，hestoopedtopickitup。“Andwillyoulookatthis，”hesaid。“Thefimysoogoawaywith。”

“Yes，”shesaid。“It’safi。”Shefelttheeatedinsurprise，“Afi—I’llsayitis!”SheturoDadandsaidtohimcoldly，“Thatblasomething。”

Dadclearedhisthroatandsaid，“Iwaohavethebest。。。。”

“It’sdouble，too，”shesaid，asifagDad。

“Yes，”saidGranddad，“it’sdouble—afiforaobegoingawaywith。”

17Theboyweothehouse。Hewaslookingforsomething。HecirlsgDad。Sherealizedhowmuoney—hermoney，really—hadgo。Dadbegryinhisslowway。Andnowshewassuddenlygoingawayinahuff。。。。

&eycameout，sheturnedandcalledback，“Allthesame，hedoesn’tneedadoublebla!”Andsheranoffupthepath。

Dadwaslookingafterherasifhewasheoughttodo。

“Oh，she’sright，”Peteysaid。“Here，Dad”—aapairofscissors。“Cuttheblawo。”

Bothofthemstaredattheboy，startled。“two，Itellyou，Dad!”hecriedout。“Aherhalf。”

“That’snotabadidea，”saidGraly。“Idon’tneedsomuchofabla。”

&heboysaidharshly，“asi’senoughforanoldmaaway。We’llsavetheotherhalf，Dad。It’lleinhandylater。”