Pike monologue — The Man from Home

[interrupting gently] I expect you thought I'd neglected you a good deal [remorsefully], and it _did_ LOOK like it--never comin' to see you; but I couldn't hardly manage the time to get away. You see, bein' trustee of your share of the estate, I don't hardly have a fair show at my law practice. But when I got your letter, eleven days ago, I says to myself: "Here, Daniel Voorhees Pike, you old shellback, you've just got to _take_ time. John Simpson trusted you with his property, and he's done more [his voice rises, but his tone is affectionate and shows deep feeling]--he's trusted you to look out for _her_, and now she's come to a kind of jumpin'-off place in her life--she's thinking of gettin' married; and you just pack your grip-sack and hike out over there and stand _by_ her!"