Cora was silenced but not convinced, and after supper, when the old people withdrew from the kitchen, she returned to the subject again.
"How long are you going to be gone this time?"
Mose saw the storm coming, but would not lie to avoid it.
"I don't know; mebbe all winter."
She dropped into a chair facing him, white and still. When she spoke her voice was a wail. "O Mose! I can't live here all winter without you."
"Oh, yes, you can; you've got Pink and the old folks."
"But I want you! I'll die here without you, Mose. I can't endure it."
His face darkened. "You'd better forget me; I'm a hoodoo, Cory; nobody is ever in luck when I'm around. I make everybody miserable."
"I was never really happy till you come," she softly replied.