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At last she contrived to say, “How did you find the roof?” It was a pitiful attempt to cover the dreadful silence.

“It was almost as good as no roof at all,” he replied, with the desire to aid her. “Those shingles, I suppose, have been on there for thirty years. I suppose those shingles must have been rived out by just such a machine as Old Man Means used, in the ‘Hoosier Schoolmaster.'” From this, he went on to tell about some of the comical parts of the story, and so managed to end the meal in a fairly presentable way.

“She’s found another sympathizer,” sneered the husband, returning to his habit of addressing his wife in the third person.

After eating his dinner, Miner lit his pipe and swaggered out, as if he had done an admirable thing. Morris remained at the table, talking with the children. After Miner had passed out of earshot, he looked up at Mrs. Miner, as if expecting her to say something in explanation of what had occurred. But she had again forgotten him, and sat biting her lips and looking out of the window. Her bosom heaved like that of one about to weep. Her wide-open eyes had unutterable sorrow in their beautiful depths.

Morris got up and went out, in order to prevent himself from weeping too. He hammered away on the roof like mad for an hour, and wished that every blow fell on that little villain’s curly pate.

He did not see Mrs. Miner to speak to her again till the next forenoon, when she came out to see how the work was getting on. He came down from the roof to meet her, and they stood side by side, talking the job over and planning other work. She spoke, at last, in a low, hesitating voice, and without looking at him:

“You mustn’t mind what Mr. Miner does. He’s very peculiar, and you’re likely–that is, I mean—-“

She could not finish her lie. The young man looked down on her resolutely. “I’d like to lick him, and I’d do it for a leather cent.”

She put out her hand with a gesture of dismay. “Oh, don’t make trouble; please don’t!”

“I won’t if you don’t want me to, but that man needs a licking the worst of any one I ever saw. Mrs. Miner,” he said, after a little pause, “I wish you’d tell me why he acts that way. Now, there must be some reason for it. No sane man is going to do a thing like that.”

She looked away, a hot flush rising upon her face. She felt a distinct longing for sympathy. There was something very engaging in this young man’s candid manner.

“I do not know who is to blame,” she said at last, as if in answer to a question. “I’ve tried to be a good wife to him for the children’s sake. I’ve tried to be patient. I suppose if I’d made the property all over to him, as most wives do, at first, it would have avoided all trouble.” She paused to think a moment.

“But, you see” she went on suddenly, “father never liked him at all, and he made me promise never to let the mill or the farm go out of my hands, and then I didn’t think it necessary. It belonged to us both, just as much as if I’d signed it over. I considered he was my partner as well as my husband. I knew how father felt, especially about the mill, and I couldn’t go against his wish.”

She had the impulse to tell it all now, and she sat down on a bunch of shingles, as if to be able to state it better. Her eyes were turned away, her hands pressed upon each other like timid, living things seeking aid, and, looking at her trembling lips, the young man felt a lump rise in his throat.