she had nothing.

And the voices went on.

When she went back to bed it was almost dawn. She heard Herman come
up, heard the heavy thump of his shoes on the floor, and the creak
immediately following that showed he had lain down without undressing.
By the absence of his resonant snoring she knew he was not sleeping,
either. She pictured him lying there, his eyes on the door, in almost
unwinking espionage.

At half past six she got up and went down-stairs. Almost immediately she
heard his stockinged feet behind her. She turned and looked up at him.

"What are you going to do?"

"Going to make myself some coffee."

He came down, and sat down in the sitting-room. From where he sat he
could survey the kitchen, and she knew his eyes were on her. His very
quiet terrified her, but although the strap lay on the table he made no
move toward it. She built a fire and put on the kettle, and after a time
she brought him some coffee and some bread. He took it without a word.
Sick as she was, she fell to cleaning up the dirty kitchen. She went
outside for a pail, to find him behind her in the doorway. Then she
knew what he intended to do. He was afraid, for some reason, to beat her
again, but he was going to watch her lest again she make her escape. The
silence, under his heavy gaze, was intolerable.

All day she worked, and only once did Herman lose sight of her. That
was when he took a ladder, and outside the house nailed all the
upper windows shut. He did it with German thoroughness, hammering
deliberately, placing his nails carefully. After that he went to the
corner grocery, but before he went he spoke the first words of the day.

"You will go to your room."

She went, and he locked her in. She knew then that she was a prisoner.
When he was at the mill at night, while he slept during the day, she was
to be locked up in her stuffy, airless room. When he was about she would
do the housework, always under his silent, contemptuous gaze.

She made one appeal to him, and only one, and that was to his cupidity.

"I've been sick, but I'm able to work now, father."

He paid no attention to her.

"If you lock me up and don't let me work," she persisted, "you'll only
be cutting off your nose to spite your face. I make good money, and you
know it."

She thought he was going to speak then, but he did not. She put his food
on the table and he ate gluttonously, as he always did. She did not sit
down. She drank a little coffee,