"An' talkin' o' work," his wife took him up quickly, in an altered tone, "we better get busy on ours, or we won't be done this side o' mornin'. You get a move on, Sammy, an' bring in a good stock o' wood, out o' the shed there. An' when you got that done, we'll talk about coal from the cella."
"What's the matter with the old lady hiring her own help?" inquired Sam practically. "She's got money to burn, hasn't she?"
"Sure. But, she don't burn it. It's to keep the young lady from a wintry chill, I'm lendin' a hand. An' if it comes to that, a body as close as ol' lady Crewe, you'd have to feel sorry for her, on her own account. She must be cold comfort to herself, with a heart like that inside her. Them kind, that's so wrapped up in their money, some part of'm's bound to go bare. A thing like money won't reach all the way 'round a human creature, not by a long sight, an' you can't make it. Them kind needs help in their nakedness, as much, an' more, than the rest of us."
Sam making no attempt to dispute it, the two worked on in silence, until they were interrupted by the abrupt opening of the door.
"Mrs. Slawson!"
Martha raised herself slowly from her kneeling posture, at sound of Katherine Crewe's cry of appeal.
"The ol' lady—she ain't—worse?"
"Not worse, but—unmanageable. She won't let Dr. Ballard go near her. We can't do a thing with her. Won't you, please, come up and try what you can do. You made her mind about the bath, you know."
Martha rinsed off her soapy wrists with soapier hands in a gesture, as of one preparing for the fray. "Now, what do you think o' that!" she observed calmly. "The size of her! No bigger than a minute, an' gettin' the best of a able-bodied pair, like you an' that fine-appearin' young gen'lman upstairs. Don't it beat all?"
Katherine did not stop long enough to admit that it did, but hurried on ahead, leaving Mrs. Slawson to follow closely in the rear, pausing outside the sick-chamber door, where the doctor stood like a sentinel on guard. Martha passed them both without a word, entered the room, and made directly for the bed. She slid a gentle arm beneath the narrow old shoulders, drew out the pillow, and replaced it, shaken into more comfortable shape.