"Susan," said Mrs. Lathrop, in a voice mournful enough to have renovated
Job; "Susan, I--"
Miss Clegg shut her eyes firmly and opened them sharply.
"I 'm glad you have," she said, in a voice whose tone was divided
between relief and reproach,--"I certainly am glad you have. I try to be
close-mouthed 'n' never trouble any one with my affairs, Mrs. Lathrop,
but I will say as I have often wondered at how you could sit 'n' rock in
the face of what I 've been grinnin' 'n' bearin' these last few weeks.
Not that rockin' is any crime, 'n' I always feel it must be fine
exercise for the chair, but it 's hard for one who has the wolf at their
door, 'n' not only at their door, but nigh to bu'stin' it in, to see
their dearest friend rockin' away, like wolf or no wolf she 'd go on
forever."
Mrs. Lathrop looked aggrieved.
"Why, Susan--" she protested.
"That ain't no excuse," the friend said, not harshly but with a cold
distinctness; "you may talk yourself blind if you feel so inclined, 'n'
I don't say but what you really did n't mean nothin', but the fact
remains, 'n' always will remain, as you 've took a deal of comfort
rockin' while I 've been kitin' broadcast tryin' to see if I could keep
soul 'n' body together or whether I 'd have to let one or the other of
'em go."
Mrs. Lathrop opened her mouth and eyes widely.
"I never--" she gasped.
Susan hooked herself on to the fence-rail with both her elbows
preparatory to a lengthy debate; her eyes were bright, her expression
one of unreserved exposition.
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