you. A woman's business ain't to work out in the hot sun-it's to
cook and fix up things round the house, and then put on her clean
dress and set in the shade and read or sew on something. Stand up
to 'em! Doggone me if I'd paddle round that hot cornfield with a
mess o' Dutchmen-it ain't decent!"
He drove off with a chuckle at the old man, who was seated at the
back of the house with a newspaper in his hand. He was lame, or
pretended he was, and made his wife and daughter wait upon him.
Claude had no conception of what was working in Nina's mind, but
he could not help observing the changes for the better in her
appearance. Each day he called she was neatly dressed and wore
her shoes laced up to the very top hook.
She was passing through tribulation on his account, but she sald
nothing about it. The old man, her father, no longer spoke to her,
and the mother sputtered continually, but the girl seemed sustained
by some inner power. She calmly went about doing as she pleased,
and no fury of words could check her or turn her aside.
Her hands grew smooth and supple once more, and her face lost
the parboiled look it once had.
Claude noticed all these gains and commented on them with the
freedom of a man who had established friendly relations with a
child.
Pages:
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258