"Y' mother raised y' t' be's fine a lady as any of 'em over thar!"
"Maybe that's true. If it is, then they'd like us, wouldn't they? and we could have friends. I'm not thinking about myself—just about Marylyn."
"You gals got each other. Meetin' th' women at Brannon means meetin' th' men. An' Ah won't hev it!" His voice rose almost to a shout.
"I'll never speak to you about it again," she said. And her quiet acceptance mollified him.
"M' gal, y' kain't think how Ah feel about them Yanks," he went on tremulously. "An' Ah want y' t' promise me thet whether Ah'm 'live er dead, y' 'll allus keep on you' own side of th' river."
She glanced up at him quickly. "Do you mean that, daddy?" she asked, using the name he had borne in her babyhood.
"Ah do! Ah do!"
"Then I promise." Her tone was sorrowful.
"Mar'lyn?"
The younger girl faced about slowly.