"I've not been here a great many days," he replied thoughtfully.
"Have ye come to stay?" she asked.
The question was very direct, but Wade felt no uneasiness in replying truthfully. He had come to stay so long as everything was pleasant for him, otherwise he might pull up "stakes" and leave when he thought the time was ripe.
Her next question was even more direct. She stood for one moment, surveying Wade casually.
"Have ye come to raise terbacker?" she asked.
"No," he replied, "I shall raise tobacco but in small quantities, merely as a pastime. I am here especially on account of my health."
She surveyed him again, her large dark eyes going over him from head to feet.
"Ye don't look unhealthy."
She was quite right. He did not look unhealthy. His large athletic frame was not physically disabled.
"No?" he questioned. "Well, I'm not quite dead."