Theywerealonenow，andtheybothsatexpectantly。“You’peartothink，Mother，thatI’maginyergoin’。““Waal，itwouldkinderseemasify’hadn’thustledyerselfanyt’helpmegitoff。“
Hewassmartingunderthesenseofbeingwronged。“Waal，I’mjestaswillin’youshouldgoasIamformyself；butifIain’tgotnomoney，Idon’tseehowI’mgoin’tosend-“
“Idon’twantyetosend；nobodyastyeto，EthanRipley。IguessifI
hadwhatI’veearntsincewecameonthisfarm，I’dhaveenoughtogotoJerichowith。“
“You’vegotasmuchoutofitasIhave。Youtalkaboutyourgom’
back。Ain’tIbeenwantin’togobackmyself？Andain’tIkep’still’causeIseeitwa’n’tnouse？IguessI’veworkedjestaslongandashardasyou，an’instormsan’mudan’heat，efitcomest’that。“
Thewomanwasstaggered，butshewouldn’tgiveup；shemustgetmonemorethrust。
“Waal，ifyou’d’amanagedaswellasIhave，you’dhavesomemoneytogowith。“Andsherose，andwenttomixherbread，andsetit“raisin’。“Hesatbythefiretwanginghisfiddlesoftly。Hewasplainlythrownintogloomyretrospectlon，somethingquiteunusualforhim。Buthisfingerspickingoutthebarsofafamiliartunesethimtosmiling，and，whippinghisbowacrossthestrings，heforgotallabouthiswife’sresolutionsandhisownhardships。Troublealwaysslidoffhisbacklike“punkinsoffahaystack“anyway。
Theoldmanstillsatfiddlingsoftlyafterhiswifedisappearedinthehotandstuffylittlebedroomoffthekitchen。Hisshaggyheadbentloweroverhisviolin。Heheardhershoesdrop-one，two。
Prettysoonshecalled：
“Come，putupthatsqueakin’oldfiddleandgotobed。Seemsasifyouortahavesenseenoughnottosettherekeepin’everybodyinthehouseawake。“
“Youhushup，“retortedhe。“I’llcomewhenIgitready，nottill。I’llbegladwhenyou’regone-“
“Yes，Iwarrantthat。“
Withwhicharniablegoodnlghttheywentofftosleep，oratleastshedid，whilehelayawake，ponderingon“whereunderthesunshewasgoin’t’raisethatmoney。“
Thenextdayshewasupbrightandearly，workingawayonherownaffairs，ignoringRipleytotally，thefixedlookofresolutlonstillonherlittleoldwrinkledface。ShekilledahenanddressedandbakeditShefriedupapanofdoughnutsandmadeacake。Shewasengagedonthedoughnutswhenaneighborcamein，oneofthosewomenwhotakeitasapersonalaffrontwhenanyoneintheneighborhooddoesanythingwithoutaskingtheiradvice。Shewasfat，andcouldtalkamanblindinthreeminutesbythewatch。
“What’sthisIhear，Mis’Ripley？“
“Idunknow。Iexpectyouhearaboutalltheyisgoin’oninthisneighborhood，“repliedMrs。Ripleywithcrushingbluntness；butthegossipdidnotflinch。
“Well，SettTurnertoldmethatherhusbandtoldherthatRipleytoldhimthatyouwasgoin’backEastonavisit。“
“Waal，whatofit？“
“Well，airyeh？“
“TheLordwillin’an’theweatherpermitin’，Iexpecttobe。“
“Goodland，Iwanttoknow!Well，well!Ineverwassoastonishedinmylife。Isaid，saysI，’Itcan’tbe。’’Well，’ses’e，’tha’swhatshetoldme，’ses’e。’But，’sesI，’sheisthelastwomanintheworldtogogallivantin’offEast，’sesI。An’seshe，’Butitcomesfromgoodauthority，’seshe。’Well，then，itmustbeso，’sesI。But，landsakes!
dotellmeallaboutit。Howcomeyoutomakeupy’rmind？Ailtheseyearsyou’vebeenkinda-talkin’itover，an’nowy’ractshellygoin’-Waal，Inever!’Is’poseRipleyfurnishesthemoney，’sesItohim。’Well，no，’ses’e。’Ripleysayshe’llbeblowedifheseeswherethemoney’scomin’from，’ses’e；andsesI，’Butmaybeshe’sjestjokin’，’sesI。’Notmuch，’hesays。S’’e：’Ripleybelievesshe’sgoin’
fastenough。He’sjestasanxioustofindoutaswebe-’“
HereMrs。Doudneypausedforbreath；shehadwalkedsofastandhadrestedsolittlethatherinterminableflowof“sesI’s“and“seshe’s“ceasednecessarily。Shehadreached，moreover，thepointofmostvitalinterest-themoney。
“An’you’llfindoutjest’boutassoonashedoes，“wasthedryresponsefromthefigurehoveringoverthestove，andwithallhermaneuveringthatwasallshegot。
AlldayRipleywentabouthisworkexceedinglythoughtfulforhim。Itwascold，blusteringweather。Thewindrustledamongthecornstalkswithawildandmournfulsound，thegeeseandduckswentsprawlingdownthewind，andhorses’coatswereruffledandbacksraised。
Theoldmanwashuskingcornaloneinthefield，hisspareformriggedoutintwoorthreeraggedcoats，hishandsinsertedinapairofglovesminusnearlyallthefingers，histhumbsdoneupin“stalls，“andhisfeetthrustintohugecoarseboots。Duringthemiddleofthedaythefrozengroundthawed，andthemudstucktohisboots，andthe“downears“wetandchappedhishands，alreadyworntothequick。Towardnightitgrewcolderandthreatenedsnow。Inspiteofalltheseattackshekepthischeerfulness，andthoughhewasverytired，hewassoftenedintemper。
Havingplentyoftimetothinkmattersover，hehadcometotheconclusion“thattheoldwomanneededaplayspell。Iain’tlikelytobenorichernextyearthanIamthisone；ifIwaittillI’mabletosendhershewon’tnevergo。Icalc’lateIc’ngitenoughouto’themshoatstosendher。I’dkinda’lottedoneat’n’thempigsdoneupmtosassengers，butiftheol’womangoesEast，Tukeyan’me’llkindahafftopullthroughwithout’em。We’ll。haveaturkeyf’rThanksgivin’，an’achickenonce’nawhile。Lord!Butwe’llmissthegravyontheflapjacks。Amen!“Hesmackedhislipsoverthethoughtofthelostdainty。“Butlet’errip!Wecanstandit。Thenthereismybuffaloovercoat。I’dkindacalc’latedonhavin’abuffalo-butthat’sgoneupthespoutalongwiththemsassengers。“
Theseheroicsacrificeshavingbeendeterminedupon，heputthemintoeffectatonce。
Thishewasabletodo，forhiscornrowsranalongsidetheroadleadingtoCedarville，andhisneighborswerepassingalmostallhoursoftheday。
ItwouldhavesoftenedJaneRipley’sheartcouldshehaveseenhisbentandstiffenedformamidthecornrows，thecoldwindpiercingtothebonethroughhisthreadbareandinsufficientclothing。Therisingwindsentthesnowrattlingamongthemoaningstalksatintervals。Thecoldmadehispoordimeyeswater，andhehadtostopnowandthentoswinghisarmsabouthischesttowarmthem。
Hisvoicewashoarsewithshoutingattheshiveringteam。
Thatnight，asMrs。Ripleywasclearingthedishesaway，shegottothinkingaboutthedepartureofthenextday，andshebegantosoften。ShegavewaytoafewtearswhenlittleTewksburyGilchrist，hergrandson，cameupandstoodbesideher。
“Gran’ma，youain’tgoin’tostayawayalways，areyeh？“
“Why，coursenot，Tukey。Whatmadey’thinkthat？“
“Well，y’ain’ttoldusnawfliln’’tallaboutit。An’yebkindo’look’sifyehwasmad。“
“Well，Lain’tmad；I’mjesta-thinkin’，Tukey。Y’see，IcomeawayfromthemhillswhenIwasalittleglrla’most；beforeImarriedy’rgrandad。AndIain’tneverbeenback。’Mostallmyfolksisthere，souny，an’we’vebeens’pooralltheseyearsIcouldn’tseemt’nevergetstarted。Now，whenI’m’mostreadyt’go，Ifeelkindaqueer-’sifI’dcry。“
Andcryshedid，whilelittleTewksburystoodpattinghertremblinghands。HearingRipley’sstepontheporch，sherosehastilyand，dryinghereyes，plungedattheworkagain。Ripleycameinwithabigarmfulofwood，whichherolledintothewoodboxwithathunderingcrash。Thenhepulledoffhismittens，slappedthemtogethertoknockofftheiceandsnow，andlaidthemsidebysideunderthestove。Hethenremovedcap，coat，blouse，andboots，whichlasthelaiduponthewoodbox，thesolesturnedtowardthestovepipe。
Ashesatdownwithoutspeaking，heopenedthefrontdoorsofthestoveandheldthepalmsofhisstiffenedhandstotheblaze。Thelightbroughtoutathoughtfullookonhislarge，uncouth，yetkindlyvisage。Lifehadlaidhardlinesonhisbrownskin，butithadnotentirelysouredanaturallykindandsimplenature。Ithadmadehimpenuriousanddullandiron-muscled；hadstifledalltheslenderflowersofhisnature；yettherewaswarmsoilsomewherehidinhisheart。
“It’ssnowin’likeallp’sessed，“heremarkedfinally。“Iguesswe’llhaveasleighridetomorrow。Icalc’latet’drivey’daowninscrumptiousstyle。Ifyehmustleave，why，we’llgiveyehawhoopin’oldsend-off-won’twe，Tukey？
“I’vebena4hinkin’thingsoverkindo’t’day，Mother，an’I’vecomet’
theconclusionthatwehavebeenkindahardonyeh，withoutknowin’it，y’see。Y’see，I’mkindaeasygoin，’an’littleTukehe’sonlyachild，an’weain’tc’nsideredhowyoufelt。“
Shedidn’tappeartobelistening，butshewas，andhedidn’tappear，onhispart，tobetalkingtoher，andhekepthisvoiceashardanddryashecould。
“An’Iwastellin’Tukeyt’daythatitwasadumshameourcropshadn’t，turnedoutbetter。An’whenIsawol’Hatfieldgoby，Ihailedhiman’askedhimwhathe’dgimmefortwoo’m’shoats。Waal，theupshotis，Isentt’townforsomethingsIcalc’latedye’dheed。An’
here’satlckettoGeorgetown，andtendollars。Why，Ma，what’sup？“
Mrs。Ripleybrokedown，andwithherhandsallwetwithdishwater，astheywere，coveredherfaceandsobbed。Shefeltlikekissinghim，butshedidn’t。Tewksburybegantowhimper，too；buttheoldmanwasastonished。Hiswifehadnotweptforyearsbeforehim。Heroseandwalkedclumsilyuptoherandtimidlytouchingherhair-
“Why，Mother!What’sthematter？What’v’Idonenow？Iwascalc’latln’tosellthempigsanyway。Hatfieldjestadvancedthemoneyon’em。“
Shehoppedupanddashedintothebedroom，andinafewminutesreturnedwithayarnmitten，tiedaroundthewrist，whichshelaidonthetablewithathump，saying：
“Idon’twantyermoney。There’smoneyenoughtotakemewhereI
wanttogo。“
“Whee-w!Thunderandjimsonroot!Wher’dyegitthat？Didn’tdigitoutofahole？“
“No。Ijestsavedit-adimeatatime-see？“
Heresheturneditoutonthetable-somebills，butmostlysilverdimesandquarters。
“Thunderandscissors!Mustbetwoerthreehundreddollarsthere，“staredhe。
“They’sjestseventy-fivedollarsandthirtycents；jestaboutenoughtogobackon。Ticketsisfifty-fivedollars，goin’an’comin’。Thatleavestwentydollarsforotherexpenses，notcountin’whatI’vealreadyspent，whichissix-fifty，“saidshe，recoveringherself-possession。“It’splenty。“
“Buty’ain’tcalc’latedonnosleepersnorhotelbills。“
“Iain’tgoin’onnosleeper。Mis’Doudneysaysit’sjestscandalousthewaythingsismanagedonthemcars。I’mgoin’ontheold-fashionedcars，wheretheyain’tnohalf-dressedmenrunain’
around。“
“Butyouneedn’tbeafraidofthem，Mother；atyourage-“
“There!youneedn’tthrowmyagean’homelinessintomyface，EthanRipley。IfIhadn’twaitedan’tendedonyousolong，I’dlookalittlemore’sIdidwhenImarriedyeh。“
Ripleygaveitupindespair。Hedidn’trealizefullyenoughhowtheproposedtriphadunsettledhiswife’snerves。Shedidn’trealizeitherself。
“Asforthehotelbills，theywon’tbenone。Ia-goin’topaythempiratesasmuchforaday’sboardaswe’dchargeforaweek’s，an’
havenawthin’toeatbutdishes。I’mgoin’totakeachickenan’
somehard-boiledeggs，an’I’mgoin’rightthroughtoGeorgetown。“
“Well，allright；buthere’stheticketIgot。“
“Idon’twantyerticket。“
“Butyou’vegottotakeit。“
“Wall，Ihain’t。“
“Why，yes，yehave。It’sbought，an’theywon’ttakeitback。“
“Won’tthey？“Shewasstaggeredagain。
“Notmuchtheywon’t。Iast’em。Aticketsoldissold。“
“Waal，iftheywon’t-“
“Youbettheywon’t。“