"Oh dear," sighed the invalid, with a moan of exhaustion, "it don't
seem as if I could live through it again, I'm so weak, and so tired.
You can't think, dear, how tired I am."

Desire went in and shook up the pillows, and soothed the sick woman
with some little cares and then came out and shut the door. Her wide
brimmed hat of fine leghorn straw with a blue ostrich plume curled
around the crown, and a light cashmere shawl lay on the table.
Perching the one a trifle sideways on her dark brown curls, which were
gathered simply in a ribbon behind, according to the style of the day,
she threw the shawl about her shoulders, and knocked at the door of
her Uncle Jahleel's study, which also opened into the living-room, and
was the apartment in which he held court, when acting as magistrate.
In response to the knock the Squire opened the door. He looked as if
he had had a fit of sickness, so deeply had the marks of chagrin and
despite impressed itself on his face in the past two days.

"I'm going out for a little while," said Desire, "and you will go to
Aunty, if she calls, won't you?"

Her uncle nodded and resumed his walking to and fro, and Desire,
stepping out of the house by a back way, went by a path across the
fields, toward Elnathan Hamlin's house.

The Hamlin house, like the houses of most of the poorer class of
people, had but two rooms on the ground floor, a small bedroom and a
great kitchen, in which the family lived, worked, cooked, ate and
received company. There were two doors opening into the kitchen from
without, the front door and the back door. On the former of these,