her house except at night. The tradesmen with whom she had to deal came
slowly to have a pitying respect for her. The minister went occasionally
to see her, and in his clumsy way thought he perceived what he called
"the right spirit" in her. Sarah dreaded his calls more than any thing
else. What made her isolation much harder to bear was the fact that,
only two years before, every young girl in the county had been her
friend. There was no such milliner in all that region as Sarah Newhall.
In autumn and in spring, her little shop at Lonway Four Corners was
crowded with chattering and eager girls, choosing ribbons and hats, and
all deferring to her taste. Now they all passed her by with only a cold
and silent bow. Not one spoke. To Sarah's affectionate, mirth-loving
temperament, this was misery greater than could be expressed. She said
not a word about it, not even to her husband: she bore it as dumb
animals bear pain, seeking only a shelter, a hiding-place; but she
wished herself dead. Jim's share of the punishment had been in some ways
lighter than hers, in others harder. He had less loneliness; but, on
the other hand, by his constant intercourse with men, he was frequently
reminded of the barrier which separated himself and his wife from
all that went on in the village. He had the same mirthful, social
temperament which she had: the thoughtless, childish, pleasure-loving
quality, which they had in common, had been the root of their sin; and
was now the instrument of their suffering. Stronger people could have
borne up better; worse people might have found a certain evil solace in
evil ways and with evil associates: but Jim and Sally were incapable
of any such course; they were simply two utterly broken-spirited and
hopeless children whose punishment had been greater than they could
bear. In a dogged way, because they must live, Jim went on earning a
little money as surveyor and draughtsman. He often talked of going away
into some new faraway place where they could have, as he said, in the
same words Hetty had used, "a fair chance;" but Sally would not go. "It