parate 'em; and to
begin with, I'm goin' to take Zueline away for a visit, and that will
help to break it, and by the time she gets back, it will be over or
nearly so; and if it ain't, we must work together to keep them away from
each other. Zueline can't come here any more; and Mitchie mustn't come
to our house, and they mustn't go to parties where they meet.' So ma
said she thought so too."

Here Mitch grew still and he began to shake again, and I just lay there
and looked at the stars and waited. Finally Mitch started again:

"Skeet, when I heard this, I grew cold all over--my whole body got
prickly, my brain began to tingle, the sweat started out on my face, I
was just as weak as a cat. I just rolled over on my back as if I was
dead. It was just the same as if you said to a feller: 'you have just a
minute to live.' I lay there and heard 'em talk about church and a lot
of other things, and then I heard Mrs. Hasson say she had to go, and I
heard her walk out, and down the walk, and I heard the gate click. She
was gone. The thing was done. I had lost Zueline. And I'll never get
over it. It don't make no difference if I live to be a thousand years
old, I'll never get over it. I'll never love any one else; I'll never
feel the same again. And when I went down-stairs and began to carry in
the kindlin', ma came into the kitchen. And after a bit she said:
'Mitchie, I want you to do a lot in school this fall and winter. I want
you to put your mind on it, for I think you're goin' to be a man in the
world and I want you to get ready. And you mustn't waste so much time on
Zueline. She's just a little girl and you're just a little boy; and she
seems awful pretty to you now, but she ain't really pretty. She won't be
a pretty woman. I can see that now, but you can't. She's goin' to have
more or less of a hard face like her mother. And if she was the girl for
you, and I could see it, I wouldn't say this. But I know she isn't. She
won't be good enough for you. And, besides, this boy and girl business
is all foolishness and you must stop it. I've already told Mrs. Hasson
that I think it ought to be stopped.' Do you see how good ma was? She
wanted me to think it was her and not Mrs. Hasson that was interferin'.
But I was cold all through, and turned to stone like. My eyes felt hard
and tight like buttons, and I laughed--Yep, I really laughed, and said
to ma--'All right, ma. I'll obey you.' And she says: 'You're a good boy,
and I love