"And if it don't burst I'll have my pains for my trouble—and no water for the summer, perhaps. They wouldn't let me have water later, if I needed it."
"But you're risking your own property here."
"And it's mine to risk, Dr. Davison," said Potter, in his sullen way.
"But there are other people to think of—"
"I don't agree with you," interrupted the miller. "I have enough to do to attend to my own concerns. I don't bother about other people's business."
"Meaning that I do when I speak to you about the water; eh?" said the old doctor, cheerfully. "Well, I've done my duty. You'll learn some time, Jabez."
He let out the impatient mare then, and the mud spattered from his wheels as he flew up the road toward Cheslow.
CHAPTER IX
THE CREST OF THE WAVE
The rain could not last forever; Nature must cease weeping some time. Just as girls, far away from their old homes and their old friends, must cease wetting their pillows with regretful tears after a time, and look forward to the new interests and new friends to which they have come.