Ann continued her work, but she took a good deal of seek-no-further with the skin in a way that would have shocked Aunt Mandany.
Suddenly she raised her eyes to the sturdy face opposite her and said:—
“I guess your wife had a real good time, didn’t she, Mr. Baker, when she was livin’?”
Mr. Baker dropped his knife. He glanced up and met the wistful gaze upon him.
Something that he had thought long dead stirred in his consciousness.
“I hope so,” he said gently. “I do declare I tried to make her have a good time.”
“How long’s she be’n dead?”
“‘Most ten year. We was livin’ down to Norris Corners then.”
The man picked up his knife and absently tried the edge of it on the ball of his thumb.
“I s’pose,” said Ann, “that folks are sorry when their wives die.”