“Sartin。He’llmakeusallproudofhim，orImissmyguess。And，asfortherestofit，thebigquestionthatcountsmostofallto，him，Ihope——yes，Ithinkthat’scomin’outallright，too。Ruth，“
headded，“yourememberwhatItoldyouaboutSam’stalkwithme，thatafternoonwhenhecamebackfromWapatomac。IfMaudcaresfor，himasmuchasallthatsheain’tgoin’tothrowhimoveron，accountofwhathappenedinMiddleford。”
“No——no，notifshereallycares。Butdoesshecare——enough？”
“Ihopeso。Iguessso。Butifshedoesn’tit’sbetterforhimto，knowit，andknowitnow……Dear，dear！”headded，“howIdo，fireoffopinions，don’tI？，Abody’dthinkIwasloadedupwith，wisdomsameasoneofthosemachinegunsiswithcartridges。About，allI’mloadedwithisblanks，Ical’late。”
Shewasnotpayingattentiontothisoutburst，but，standingwith，onehanduponthelatchofthekitchendoor，sheseemedtobe，thinkingdeeply。