Waitstill stirred the fire, closed the brick oven and put the
teapot on the back of the stove, hung up the long-handled dipper
on its accustomed nail over the sink, and went to the door.
Her father collected his scattered wits and pulled himself to his
feet by the arms of the high-backed rocker. "You shan't step
outside this 306
room till you tell me where you're goin'," he said when he found
his voice.
"I have no wish to keep it secret: I am going to see if Mrs.
Mason will keep me to-night. To-morrow I shall walk down river
and get work at the mills, but on my way I shall stop at the
Boyntons' to tell Ivory I am ready to marry him as soon as he's
ready to take me."
This was enough to stir the blood of the Deacon into one last
fury.
"I might have guessed it if I hadn't been blind as a bat an' deaf
as an adder!" And he gave the table another ringing blow before
he leaned on it to gather strength. "Of course, it would be one
o' that crazy Boynton crew you'd take up with," he roared.
"Nothin' would suit either o' you girls but choosin' the biggest
enemies I've got in the whole village!"
"You've never taken pains to make anything but enemies, so what
could we do?"
"You might as well go to live on the poor-farm! Aaron Boynton was
a disrep'table hound; Lois Boynton is as crazy as a loon; the boy
is a no-body's child, an' Ivory's no better than a common
pauper.
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