“I wonder if you really think I’m a coward?” said Shea, curiously calm. “I am one, of course, but I don’t see how a desire for justice can be cowardly.”
“I don’t!” she burst forth impetuously, passionately. “Thady, I’m sorry—I never meant it; it didn’t come from the heart, Thady! I’m an old fool of a woman, that’s what I am. An old fool of a woman! Don’t look at me that way; I tell ye I can’t stand it—it’s awful! I’m sorry for it, bitter sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” said Shea, simply. “Listen to me, now. You’ve given me something real; a purpose. Maybe Ross was right. Maybe I had to wait till it came to me. Now I’m going to find Mackintavers and give him his money, make things right. I may be a coward in physical things, but——”
“Don’t talk that way!” she broke in, harshly. “Thady, I’m sorry. Come back to the mine with me; forget this foolishness. I’m a fool of an old woman, that’s all. I need ye at the mine, Thady.”
He smiled a little. “Do you really mean it, Mrs. Crump? May I come back—after I have seen Mackintavers?”
“Come now! Don’t go chasing off like a dratted mule. Come back with me now!”
“No.” Shea looked away from her. He motioned toward the horses, their tails switching in the arrogant sunlight. He motioned toward the half-plowed field. “I’ll finish this job first. Then, in a few days, I’ll go and see Mackintavers. You see? I have to do it. The purpose has come to me; maybe it’ll lead into something else. I don’t know. After that, I’ll come back to Number Sixteen and go to work, if you still want me.”
“Yes,” she said, humbly. “I’ll need ye, Thady. I’m sorry ye won’t come now.”
She turned from him and walked down the cañon. Around the bend, out of Shea’s sight, she leaned against a bowlder. She was a woman, and God has given tears to women. Great sobs shook her for the first time in years. Passionate sobs were they, holding the pent-up emotion of a deep spirit that had broken through its mask of cynic harshness.
Presently Mrs. Crump recalled that, although she was beyond the sight of Thady Shea, she was in full view of the distant shack. Muttering that she was a dratted old fool, she wiped her eyes. She tucked in loosened wisps of hair about the edge of her bonnet. She pulled her bonnet straight and started for the dust-white flivver, beyond the shack.