He was no stouter in body, for he was of the kind
that wear away the flesh by much doing and thinking; but there were
occasional streaks of grey in his bushy hair, and his eye roamed less
than it did once. In the days when he first brought Carmen home, his eye
was like a bead of brown light on a swivel. It flickered and flamed; it
saw here, saw there; it twinkled, and it pierced into life's mysteries;
and all the while it was a good eye. Its whites never showed, as it were.
As an animal, his eye showed a nature free from vice. In some respects he
was easy to live with, for he never found fault with what was given him
to eat, or the way the house was managed; and he never interfered with
the "kitchen people," or refused a dollar or ten dollars to Carmen for
finery. In fact, he was in a sense too lavish, for he used at one time to
bring her home presents of silks and clothes and toilet things and
stockings and hats, which were not in accord with her taste, and only
vexed her. Indeed, she resented wearing them, and could hardly bring
herself to thank him for them. At last, however, she induced him to let
her buy what she wanted with the presents of money which he might give
her.
On the whole Carmen fared pretty well, for he would sometimes give her a
handful of bills from his pocket, bidding her take ten dollars, and she
would coolly take twenty, while he shrugged his shoulders and declared
she would be his ruin.
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