eft his wife more tired in
the morning than when she went to bed at night. Elizabeth had been a
strong girl, but she was supporting the life of another; she tossed and
moaned through the two or three short hours in which she could sleep, and
for the rest lay wide-eyed, staring into the darkness, filled with terror
at what the rapidly approaching future held for her. In her girlish
imaginings and fears, ignorant of the facts a young mother should have
known, she had magnified the sufferings of childbirth till life was a
network of horrors, and her nerves were at the breaking point.

The next morning Elizabeth, with aching back and trembling knees, her face
flushed from the heat of the stove, stood at the kitchen table rolling out
the pie crust. A tear rolled down her cheek. Hepsie, who stood near and
was regarding her sympathetically, laid firm hold on the rolling-pin.

"I knew you'd no business t' do it. Now you go in an' set down in th'
rockin' chair while I finish this here batch of pies."

Hepsie was older than Elizabeth and making pies had been her business; the
crust was mixed and the fruit had been cooked the night before. Reflecting
that not much could happen to a pie after getting that far on the road to
perfection, Elizabeth let the rolling-pin be taken from her hand and went
in wearily to throw herself on the lounge to rest.

John came into the kitchen and his face darkened.

"Tell Mrs. Hunter that I look for Hansen to help with the grain to-day,
and that I told him to bring his wife with him," he said to Hepsie, and
went out, banging the door after him.

Elizabeth had heard him come in and had risen to explain, but stopped
short when she heard that Luther had been asked to help. Her first feeling
was of a joy which brought the tears to her eyes. John had been
persistently cool whenever Luther had been mentioned since their marriage.
The next feeling of which she was conscious was an intense distaste to
having Sadie in the house with her all day, and this was followed by the
thought that John had known that Luther and Sadie were coming since the
day before and had said nothing about it to her; but small time was given
her to think about any phase of the matter, for Luther's familiar,
unpainted wagon was at that very moment coming into the side lane. With a
conviction that she had not been told till it was absolutely necessary,
Elizabeth walked promptly out to meet her young neighbours.

It was the old Lu