When the children had gone in, and the door was closed, the man went down into the road. He waited there until the two persons approached. He saw that both the woman and the man were young, the baby but a few months old—a little family beginning to found a home in the inhospitable mountain.
The man was evidently injured. The woman was in distress. Her eyes were red. The muscles of her mouth trembled. The baby, in her arms, wrapped in an old faded shawl, wailed.
The School-teacher spoke to the woman.
“What has happened?” he said.
“My man's got hurt.”
“How was he hurt?”
“He was choppin' in his clearin', an' his ax ketched in a grapevine, an' throwed him. I reckon his shoulder's all broke. He can't use his arm none.”
The School-teacher addressed the man. “How does your arm feel?”
“I suppose the jint's smashed.”
The tears began to run down over the woman's face.