He never tells us anything—never!
No, indeed! He is a perfect pest to us—for ever pulling us out of our beds, and setting us to watch, and then telling us that we need not have come after all!
Nevertheless, since we are here, we may as well do something. There! She is screaming again! Anyway, we could not help coming, could we?
No; he gave us no choice in the matter. Yet surely you have had enough watching by now?
Oh, I just sit quiet and wait—sit quiet and wait.
What a patient old lady you are, to be sure!
[The Old Women chuckle again, and the screams grow louder.]
How dreadful those screams sound! What agony she must be in! Do you know what that agony is like? It is like having one's entrails torn out.
Oh, we have all been through it in our time.
Yes, but I doubt whether she has before. Listen to that voice of hers! One would hardly know it to be hers at all. It used to be such a sweet and gentle one.