on its high, lean frame. Her body moved in
soft jerks.

She heaped up the plates with quick hands, and watched the men while
they ate. For a time no one spoke. The old man went to the cellar and
brought up a great mug of beer, and they filled their pipes and sat
smoking and sipping the beer stolidly. The windows were open to the
air and the shades were up. Any one passing on the long road, over the
plain, might look in on them. The woman toasted a piece of bread and
moistened it with a little milk and put it, with a glass of milk, on a
small tray. The men's eyes followed her, indifferent. They watched
her lift the tray and carry it to a door at the back of the room, and
disappear.

They smoked on in silence.

The old man reached out for his glass. He lifted it. "Two weeks--and
three more days," he said. He sipped the beer slowly.

The larger of the two men nodded. He had dark, regular features and
reddish hair. He looked heavy and tired. He opened his lips vaguely.

"Don't talk here!" said the younger man sharply--and he gave a quick
glance at the room--as a weasel returns to cover, in a narrow place.

The big man smiled. "I wa'n't going to say anything."

"Better not!" said the other. He cleared his pipe with his little
finger. "_I_ don't even think," he added softly.

The woman had come back with the tray and the men looked up, smoking.

She set the tray down by the sink and came over to them, standing with
both hands on her high hips. She regarded them gravely and glanced at
the tray. The milk and toast were untouched.

The old man removed his pipe and looked at her plaintively. "Can't ye
_make_ her, Lena?" he said. His high voice had a shrill note.

She shook her head. "_I_ can't do anything--not anything more."

She moved away and began to gather up the dishes from the table,
clearing it with swift jerks. She paused a moment and leaned over--the
platter in her hand half-lifted from its place. "She needs the air," she
said, "and to run about--she's sick--shut up like that!" She lifted
the platter and carried it to the sink, a troubled look in her eyes. "I
won't be responsible for her--not much longer," she said slowly, as she
set it down, "not if she doesn't get down in the air."

The men looked at each other in silence. The old man got up. "Time to go
to bed--" he said slowly.

They filed out of the room. The woman's eyes followed them. Presently
the door opened and the younger man returned, with s