Cousin Samuel; he had some farm-work to attend to and won't be
in for some little time.'
"And the old judge bows and smiles across the table, and, says he, 'I
hadn't missed Harvey, and ain't likely to miss him when I'm talkin' to
Harvey's wife.'
"Jane Ann said she never saw a meal pass off better, and when she
looked at Mary jokin' and smilin' with the judge and waitin' on the
children so kind and thoughtful, she could hardly believe it was the
same woman that had stood there a few minutes before with that awful
smile on her face and looked her husband in the eyes till she looked
him down. She said she expected Harvey to step in any minute, and she
kept things hot while she was washin' up the dishes. But two o'clock
come and half-past two, and still no Harvey. And pretty soon here come
Mary out to the kitchen, and says she:
"'I'm goin' to drive the judge to town, Jane Ann. And when you get
through cleanin' up, jest close the house, and your money's on the
mantelpiece in the dinin'-room.' Then she went out in the direction of
the stable, and in a few minutes come drivin' back in the buggy. Jane
Ann said the horse couldn't 'a' been unharnessed at all. Her and the
judge got in with the two children down in front, and they drove off
to catch the four-o'clock train.
"Jane Ann said she straightened everything up in the kitchen and
dinin'-room, and shut up the house, and then she went out in the yard
and walked down in the direction of the stable, and there was Harvey,
standin' in the stable-yard. She said his face was turned away from
her, and she was glad it was, for it scared her jest to look at his
back. He was standin' as still as a statue, his arms hangin' down by
his sides and both hands clenched, and it looked like he'd made up his
mind to stand there till Judgment Day. Jane Ann said she wondered many
a time how long he stayed there, and whether he ever did come to the
house.
"I ricollect how everybody was talkin' about the speakin' that day.
Abram come home from the barbecue, and, says he, 'Jane, I haven't
heard such a speech as that since the days of old Humphrey Marshall;
and as for the barbecue, all it needed was Judge McGowan to set at the
head o' the table. But then,' says he, 'I reckon it was natural for
Harvey to want to take his cousin home with him.'
"That was about four o'clock, and it wasn't more than two hours till
we heard a horse gallopin' way up the pike. I'd jest washed the supper
dishes
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