The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty

Author:Eudora Welty [Welty, Eudora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

So last week it came up on the docket—it hadn't been anything much of a docket before that, and they shoved a few things out of the way for it.

Old Judge Waite was sitting on the case. Judge Tip Clanahan is not really a judge. What he is is a splendid lawyer and our best friend, even if he is a thousand years old and can't really see where he's going. But lo and behold, Judge Tip told me, just before we got off to the start, he had to let DeYancey, his grandson, argue Uncle Daniel's case, because he never realized how his strength was leaving him, and he had to go to Hot Springs.

"I was always partial to Daniel, but I'm getting too old for him now," he says. "I got to go to Hot Springs tomorrow."

I knew Grandpa was turning in his grave. "Go out of town?" I says. "You think I'm going to forgive you for it when you get back?"

He gives me a little pinch. The day I don't rate a pinch of some kind from a Clanahan, I'll know I'm past redemption—an old maid.

Uncle Daniel has always considered DeYancey one of his best friends, and was always partial to him until this happened. De Yancey came out and announced that Uncle Daniel wasn't going to open his mouth at his own trial. Not at all, not a word. The trial was going to proceed without him.

It would be like this. I was to testify about what happened. That's very important. Dr. Ewbanks was to testify from the medical point of view. And a few other odds and ends. But Uncle Daniel, the main one, was just supposed to sit there and be good, and not say anything at all. And he felt left out. He didn't understand a bit. It was so unlikely! Why, he loves the limelight.

Everybody in town was indignant with DeYancey when they heard. More than one member of our congregation baked and sent Uncle Daniel his favorite cake—banana—and a Never Fail Devil's Food came from the Clanahans the day Judge Tip went off. Miss Teacake sent a beautiful Prince of Wales cake in black and white stripes—her specialty, but I couldn't help thinking of convicts when I sliced it. The bank sent a freezer of peach ice cream from their own peaches, beautifully turned and packed. Uncle Daniel got the idea things must be more momentous than he thought. And we couldn't let a soul get near enough to him for him to do any talking beforehand—that was the hardest part.

Of course they hadn't done anything about Uncle Daniel: he didn't have to go anywhere. They knew where he was: with me.

"They're letting you roam," says DeYancey to Uncle Daniel.

"Roam?" says he.

"Now that isn't anything for you to worry about," says De Yancey. "Just means they can count on you for coming." As if they could keep him away.

But De Yancey Clanahan was here roaming around with him. I never

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