And she went with him,
of course, and he tuck her in a buggy, and lit out with her as tight
as he could go all night; and then told her 'at _he_ was the feller
'at had quarreled with her husband, and the officers was after him and
he was obleeged to leave the country, and far fear he hadn't made
shore work o' him, he was a-takin' her along to make shore of his
gittin' his revenge; and he swore he'd kill her and the baby too ef
she dared to whimper. And so it was, through a hunderd hardships he'd
made his way at last to our section o' the country, givin' out 'at
they was man and wife, and keepin' her from denyin' of it by threats,
and promises of the time a-comin' when he'd send her home to her man
agin in case he hadn't killed him. And so it run on tel you'd a-cried
to hear her tell it, and still see her sister's love far the feller
a-breakin' out by a-declarin' how kind he was to her _at times_, and
how he wasn't railly bad at heart, on'y far his ungov'nable temper.
But I couldn't he'p but notice, when she was a tellin' of her hist'ry,
what a quiet sort o' look o' satisfaction settled on the face o' Steve
and the rest of 'em, don't you understand.
And now ther' was on'y one thing she wanted to ast, she said; and that
was, could she still make her home with us tel she could git word to
her friends?--and there she broke down agin, not knowin', of course,
whether _they_ was dead er alive; far time and time agin she said
somepin' told her she'd never see her husband agin on this airth; and
then the women-folks would cry with her and console her, and the boys
would speak hopeful--all but Steve; some way o' nuther Steve was never
like hisse'f from that time on.
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