"To make a fire!"
"Yes, Miss Lizzie — unless no time 'll do for dinner as well as any time. Can't cook pork without a fire. And then you'd want the kettle boiled for tea, I reckon."
"Can't he get wood anywhere, Clam? without cutting down trees."
"There ain't none to sell anywheres — he says."
"What trees has he been cutting?" said Elizabeth, rousing herself in despair.
"Any that come handy, I s'pose, Miss Lizzie — they'll all burn, once get 'em in the chimney."
"He mustn't do that. Tell him — but you can't tell him— and I can't. —"
She hesitated, between the intense desire to bid him cut whatever he had a mind, and the notion of attending to all her duties, which was strong upon her.
"Tell him to cut anything he pleases, for to-day — I'll see about it myself the next time."
Two minutes' peace; and then Clam was at her back again.