I just didn't know what to do.
But I used the ten dollars to put a roof on an old store down by Five Points and I moved the hospital equipment in and started selling it.
Everybody needed beds and china and mattresses and I sold them cheap, because I figured it was about as much other folks' stuff as it was mine.
But I cleared money on it and bought some more stuff and the store just went along fine.
I think I'll make a lot of money on it if things pick up."
At the word "money," her mind came back to him, crystal clear.
"You say you've made money?"
He visibly expanded under her interest.
Few women except Suellen had ever given him more than perfunctory courtesy and it was very flattering to have a former belle like Scarlett hanging on his words.
He slowed the horse so they would not reach home before he had finished his story.
"I'm not a millionaire, Miss Scarlett, and considering the money I used to have, what I've got now sounds small.
But I made a thousand dollars this year.
Of course, five hundred of it went to paying for new stock and repairing the store and paying the rent.
But I've made five hundred clear and as things are certainly picking up, I ought to clear two thousand next year.
I can sure use it, too, for you see, I've got another iron in the fire."
Interest had sprung up sharply in her at the talk of money.
She veiled her eyes with thick bristly lashes and moved a little closer to him.
"What does that mean, Mr. Kennedy?"
He laughed and slapped the reins against the horse's back.
"I guess I'm boring you, talking about business, Miss Scarlett.
A pretty little woman like you doesn't need to know anything about business."
The old fool.
"Oh, I know I'm a goose about business but I'm so interested!
Please tell me all about it and you can explain what I don't understand."
"Well, my other iron is a sawmill."
"A what?"
"A mill to cut up lumber and plane it.
I haven't bought it yet but I'm going to.
There's a man named Johnson who has one, way out Peachtree road, and he's anxious to sell it.
He needs some cash right away, so he wants to sell and stay and run it for me at a weekly wage.
It's one of the few mills in this section, Miss Scarlett.
The Yankees destroyed most of them.
And anyone who owns a sawmill owns a gold mine, for nowadays you can ask your own price for lumber.
The Yankees burned so many houses here and there aren't enough for people to live in and it looks like folks have gone crazy about rebuilding.
They can t get enough lumber and they can't get it fast enough.
People are just pouring into Atlanta now, all the folks from the country districts who can't make a go of farming without darkies and the Yankees and Carpetbaggers who are swarming in trying to pick our bones a little barer than they already are.
I tell you Atlanta's going to be a big town soon.
They've got to have lumber for their houses, so I'm going to buy this mill just as soon as--well, as soon as some of the bills owing me are paid.
By this time next year, I ought to be breathing easier about money.
I--I guess you know why I'm so anxious to make money quickly, don't you?"
He blushed and cackled again.
He's thinking of Suellen, Scarlett thought in disgust.
For a moment she considered asking him to lend her three hundred dollars, but wearily she rejected the idea.
He would be embarrassed; he would stammer; he would offer excuses, but he wouldn't lend it to her.
He had worked hard for it, so he could marry Suellen in the spring and if he parted with it, his wedding would be postponed indefinitely.
Even if she worked on his sympathies and his duty toward his future family and gained his promise of a loan, she knew Suellen would never permit it.
Suellen was getting more and more worried over the fact that she was practically an old maid and she would move heaven and earth to prevent anything from delaying her marriage.
What was there in that whining complaining girl to make this old fool so anxious to give her a soft nest?
Suellen didn't deserve a loving husband and the profits of a store and a sawmill.
The minute Sue got her hands on a little money she'd give herself unendurable airs and never contribute one cent toward the upkeep of Tara.