"Now look here (turning fiercely upon Joe), don't you come catching hold
of me again, or if y' DO I'll knock y'r d--d head off!...Clear home
altogether, and get under the bed if y're as frightened as THAT."

Joe slunk behind.

But when Dad DID approach Jack, which was n't until he had talked a great
deal to him across a big log, the latter did n't show any desire to take
life, but allowed himself to be escorted home and locked in the barn
quietly enough.

Dad kept Jack confined in the barn several days, and if anyone approached
the door or the cracks he would ask:

"Is me father there yet?"

"Your father's dead and buried long ago, man," Dad used to tell him.

"Yes," he would say, "but he's alive again. The missus keeps him in
there"--indicating the house.

And sometimes when Dad was not about Joe would put his mouth to a crack
and say:

"Here's y'r FATHER, Jack!" Then, like a caged beast, the man would howl
and tramp up and down, his eyes starting out of his head, while Joe would
bolt inside and tell Mother that "Jack's getting out,", and nearly send
her to her grave.

But one day Jack DID get out, and, while Mother and Sal were ironing came