“To those hogs? No, it’s out of range.”
“Then, by God, we’ve got to stay trapped in heah an’ watch an awful sight,” ejaculated the old man, completely unnerved. “See that break in the fence! ... Jorth’s done that.... To let in the hogs!”
“Aw, Isbel, it’s not so bad as all that,” remonstrated Blaisdell, wagging his bloody head. “Jorth wouldn’t do such a hell-bent trick.”
“It’s shore done.”
“Wal, mebbe the hogs won’t find Guy an’ Jacobs,” returned Blaisdell, weakly. Plain it was that he only hoped for such a contingency and certainly doubted it.
“Look!” cried Esther Isbel, piercingly. “They’re workin’ straight up the pasture!”
Indeed, to Jean it appeared to be the fatal truth. He looked blankly, feeling a little sick. Ann Isbel came to peer out of the window and she uttered a cry. Jacobs’s wife stood mute, as if dazed.
Blaisdell swore a mighty oath. “— — —! Isbel, we cain’t stand heah an’ watch them hogs eat our people!”
“Wal, we’ll have to. What else on earth can we do?”
Esther turned to the men. She was white and cold, except her eyes, which resembled gray flames.