She had 'er picture printed in a
paper along with some other church-women in town, an' somehow he got
a-hold of it an' cut it out. He used to keep it hid in a ol'
Testament, in a holler tree behind the cow-lot, an' used to slip out
an' look at it when he 'lowed he wasn't watched. Sally, I never once
mentioned it to him. I seed what had been done couldn't be undone, but
the Lord on High knows well enough how I suffered. Sally, maybe it's
the Lord's will fer you to lose this feller now when you are young an'
able to fight agin it, so you won't suffer the awful humiliation at a
time o' life when a body ort to be easy. Sally, are you a-listenin' to
me?"
"Yes, mother. I heard every word you said about pa an' the woman. I
heard that, and I heard them frogs down there croaking, too, and the
chickens fluttering on their roosts. I heard his horse still
a-trotting. Mother, he was whistling when he drove up just
now--_whistling_!"
The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then the old woman
went on:
"It'll go powerful hard with you now, but you'd better have it over
with when you're young 'an to suffer when you're a weak old woman like
me.
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