"It's them I want to talk about, Sam," replied his wife. 'An' I wish
they could die with me, rather'n hev 'em liv ez I've hed to. Not that
you ain't been a kind husband to me, for you hev. Whenever I wanted meat
yev got it, somehow; an' when yev been ugly drunk, yev kep' away from
the house. But I'm dyin', Sam, and it's cos you've killed me."

"Good God, Mary!" cried the astonished Sam, jumping up; "yure
crazy--here, doctor!"

"Doctor can't do no good, Sam; keep still, and listen, ef yer love me
like yer once said yer did; for I hevn't got much breath left," gasped
the woman.

"Mary," said the aggrieved Sam, "I swow to God I dunno what yer drivin'
at."

"It's jest this, Sam," replied the woman: "Yer tuk me, tellin' me ye'd
love me an' honor me an' pertect me. You mean to say, now, yev done it?
I'm a-dyin', Sam--I hain't got no favors to ask of nobody, an' I'm
tellin' the truth, not knowin' what word'll be my last."

"Then tell a feller where the killin' came in, Mary, for heaven's sake,"
said the unhappy Sam.

"It's come in all along, Sam," said the woman; "there is women in the
States, so I've heerd, that marries fur a home, an' bread an' butter,
but you promised more'n that, Sam. An' I've waited. An' it ain't come.
An' there's somethin' in me that's all starved and cut to pieces. An'
it's your fault, Sam. I tuk yer fur better or fur wuss, an' I've never