"
He gave a strange, choking cry. It burst from his throat
-that terrible thing, a man's sob of agony. She went on, curiously
calm now.
"Ed was good to me; and he offered a home, anyway, for Mother-"
"And all the time I was waiting for some line to break down my
cussed pride, so I could write to you and explain. But you did go
with Ed to the fair," he ended suddenly, seeking a morsel of
justification for himself.
"Yes. But I waited an' waited; and I thought you was mad at me,
and so when they came I-no, I didn't really go with Ed. There was
a wagonload of them."
"But I started," he explained, "but the wheel came off. I didn't send
word because I thought you'd feel sure I'd come. If you'd only
trusted me a little more- No! it was all my fault. I acted like a
crazy
fool. I didn't stop to reason about anything."
They sat in silence alter these explanations. The sound of the
snapping wings of the grasshoppers came through the~windows,
and a locust high in a poplar sent down his ringing whir.
"It can't be helped now, Will," Agnes said at last, her voice full of
the woman's resignation. "We've got to bear it."
Will straightened up. "Bear it?" He paused.
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