"It's too cold. And if I don't hurry and do what I set out to, I'm afraid I'll back out."
"Is it somethin' ye hate to do?"
"Yes; it—Don't let's talk about it."
"Just the way I feel. I'd ruther live on one meal a day 'n do it. Once I give it to her, I shan't never see no more of it. Oh, I know her! She's a regular boss, she is."
"Cleena? But she's a dear old creature, even so."
"Oh, I like her. I like her first rate. She's a good cook an' middlin' good-lookin'. I hain't got nothin' again her. They say, to the village, how 't John Young talks o' sparkin' her."
"What? Teamster John? Our Cleena? Well, he'd better not!"
In his indignation Hallam nearly slipped from his saddle. He did let one of his crutches fall, and Fayette picked up that, took the other, and cheerfully "packed" them to the end of their journey.
"Why not? His wife's dead."