I've got a
lapful of troubles of my own. I've ordered Paloma to let that
woman go, but, pshaw! It's like a bowlegged man drivin' a shoat--
there ain't any headin' Paloma off when her mind's made up. You
mark what I say, that female spider'll sew venom into those
dresses. I never seen a woman with a mustache that was any good.
Look here!" Blaze drew a well-thumbed pack of playing-cards from
his pocket. "Shuffle 'em, and I'll prove what I say. If I don't
turn up a dark woman three times out of five I'll eat that saddle-
blanket, dry."
Alaire shuffled the deck, and Blaze cut the cards. Sure enough, he
exposed the queen of spades.
"What did I tell you? There's the bearded lady herself! Now I'll
shuffle and you cut."
Alaire smilingly followed directions; she separated the deck into
three piles, after which Jones interpreted the oracle.
"You got a good fortune, Miz Austin. There's a light man comin' to
your house, danger, and--marriage. You're goin' to marry a light
man."
Alaire's laughter rang out unaffectedly. "Now you see how utterly
absurd it is."
"Maybe it is, and maybe it ain't." From another pocket Jones drew
a small volume entitled The Combination Fortune-Teller and
Complete Dictionary of Dreams.
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