Mary E. Wilkins

“ The people ran about here and there over the marsh; they looked taller than they were. There were now many boys in the company, and when they got into the distance, and showed up against the sky, they looked like men on the level meadow. They whooped and hallooed. Charlotte never spoke a word. She went from pool to pool, and the old man with the pole went with her. Here and there lay great mats of long and sunburnt marsh-grass. They looked like fleeces of wild animals. Charlotte eyed one with a desire to lift it up and see if her aunt were not lying hidden beneath it. ”

“ Charlotte was so determined, when she set about being good and doing her whole duty, that she was quite capable of tyrannizing over goodness itself And then it was undeniably better that an old and feeble woman like her aunt Lucinda should not eat rich cup-cake between meals, nor wear herself out at house-work, although Lucinda had never worn herself out at house-work. ”

“ Charlotte went on wailing. Both of them had an odd feeling that she was not fairly there, and that they could speak of her.
"She feels awfully. She thinks she hasn't treated her well."
"What stuff!" The young man hesitated a moment; his face flushed; he looked at his sister. Finally he went up to Charlotte, knelt down on the floor beside her, and slid his arm around her waist. "Don't take on so—don't; you mustn't," he whispered. "I'll find her. I'm going now to give my horse his supper, and then I'm going to get a fresh one at Joe Grayson's, and I'm going to start out again. ”

“ When she returned from her fruitless search on the marsh she found the house and yard quite full of people. Some of the kindly women had been getting supper. They had brought in of their own stores. The hygienic food in the house looked rather poor to them. They agreed that Lucinda must have been pretty well pinched. The table was loaded with hot biscuits, cake, and cold meats, and there was a pot of strong tea. Charlotte would not eat anything, although the women urged her. Finally they sat down and drank the tea themselves. After supper, the house cleared gradually. ”

“ She noticed that her aunt ate even less than usual, and seemed more spiritless. She thought also that she grew thin.
"What's the matter. Aunt Lucinda; don't you feel well?" she asked one night when the old woman announced her intention of going to bed immediately after supper.
Lucinda paused in her onward shuffle. "Well, I dun know," said she; "I guess I'm well 'nough, but I feel kind of poorly. I've been thinkin' if I had some of that root-beer I used to make, it might kind of set me up."
"Milk is a good deal better for you," said Charlotte, promptly. "You don't drink enough milk." ”

“ She never went into a neighbor's. It had seemed a mere farce to inquire ot one. It was almost impossible to imagine Lucinda outside of her own house; the very windows seemed full of her to people on the street, and the neighbors were bewildered, standing there in the sitting-room and trying to think of her as away.
The young man in the company surveyed Charlotte with anxious, honest eyes. He was tall, and his fair curly head overtopped all the others. He was the brother of one of the girls. Charlotte never looked at him. ”

“ Charlotte still gazed at her aunt with that look of contemptuous perplexity, and the old woman could not take her eyes from her face.
"It's jest because it's kind of 'musin'," she pleaded again. "An' when anybody ain't had any more change than I've had 'most all their life, it's kind of comfortin' to spread out the cards an' try to calculate if there ain't somethin' different comin'. It don't never come, an' I don't s'pose it's ever goin' to ”

“ The talk and speculation went on; then finally the young man made a start. "I'll go and put my horse in the buggy," he said, in a determined tone, "and I'll go a piece on all the roads, and see if anybody has seen anything of her." ”