"Why don't you use the well?"

"I d'n' know; 't ain't good for anything. 'T ain't deep enough."

"Why wasn't it dug deeper?"

"I d'n' know; father got out of patience, I guess, or out of money. 'T was a wet time, and the water came into it, so they stunned it up; and now it's dry all summer."

They passed a field on the sunny slope, and Jack said, "What's here?"

"I d'n' know; 't was potatoes, but it's run all to weeds."

"Why didn't you hoe them?"

"I d'n' know; folks kind o' neglected 'em, till 't was too late."

Beyond the potatoes was another crop, which the weeds, tall as they were, could not hide.

"Corn?" said Jack.