THREE:He went up to Albert's room. He had furiously given Ditch the lie in the Courthouse, but he had never trusted his son, and the accusation had poured over him a flood of shame which could be quelled only by its proof or its refutation. If Albert's guilt were provedwhich Reuben, now bathing in this luminous shame, saw was quite probablethen he knew what to do to clean the smirch off Odiam; if, on the other hand, his innocence were established, then he would punish those swine who threw mud at him and his farm.
THREE:"Send to Rye, then. Let 'em swear in some special constables, and drive the fellows off. But as for[Pg 10] stopping the workthat would be to play into their hands."The ground, soft with autumn rains, was now one great mud broth, and the men were daubed and spattered with it even to their hair. The attackers pressed on the wavering ringone of the fence-builders was hit, and pitched down, taking a post and a whole trail of wire over with himabout thirty yards of fence came down with the pull, and flopped into the mud. The ring broke.
THREE:"He'll easily git another pl?aceI'll find him one myself. And, motherthere's something more. Now you haven't got f?ather to work fur, you'll find the time unaccountable long. Wot if you let Becky go, and did the cooking and that yourself?""Oh, Ben!..."
THREE:It never occurred to her to throw these young people together, and give the girl a chance of fighting her father and satisfying the vague longings for adventure and romance which had begun to put torment into her late twenties. She often told her it was a scandal that she had never been allowed to know men, but her own were too few and useful to be sacrificed to the forlorn. Besides, Caro had an odd shy way with men which sometimes made them laugh at her. She had little charm, and though not bad-looking in a heavy black-browed style, she had no feminine arts, and always appeared to the very worst advantage.
THREE: