"If 'twas your body an' soul, they'd be nothin' to you if he needed 'em."
"Nothing."
"An' you're goin' to stan' by him, an' if you marry away from him——"
"Never mind that," said Nan. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you," said Tira, "to see what I mean. An' I want you to tell it or not to tell it, as it seems best. An' if ever the time comes, when it'll do him good to know I run away from him because he was my life an' my soul an' my God, you tell him. An' if it ain't best for him to know, you let it rest betwixt you an' me."
"But, Tira," said Nan, "you're coming back?"
Tira considered.
"You see," she answered finally, "I've got my walkin' papers, as you might say. The baby's gone. 'Twas the baby that made trouble betwixt his father an' me. An' now there won't be no reason for my hidin' in the shack up there or even passin' the time o' day with you, either of you. An' that's a kind of a runnin' away, ain't it? Shouldn't you call it runnin' away?"
She smiled dimly, and Nan said:
"Yes. But I shall come over to the Donnyhills' to-morrow."