"I 'd seen which way the wind was blowin' fer quite a while, but kept still, fer George never wanted ter be interfered with, an' Happy was as shy as a wood thrush. The long an' short of it is, they was engaged, an' Job seemed ter think his luck had come at last. But it war n't so with Happy. She never seemed the same after thet. She kept sayin' she wanted ter see a little more of the world before she settled down. An', sure enough, in September she got a chance; fer Keziah, who 'd lost her husband an' been awful sick with chills an' fever, come back ter the old place, an', as there war n't enough fer one more, Happy teased Job ter let her go down with a neighbor's gal to Boston an' work in a store there. 'Only fer a little while,' she said. "George set his face against her goin' like flint, tellin' her he had enough fer all. But I, knowin' what she said ter me thet night in the milkin' shed, advised him ter let her go an' have her way, tellin' him she 'd be all the happier afterwards, an' be contented ter settle down. "Wal, she went, an' all Job's peace of mind went with her. You see he was gettin' on in years, nigh on ter seventy-one, an' down with the rheumatiz all thet winter an' spring. The next July he come down with a kind of typhus, an' they sent fer Happy ter come home. "The minute I see her, I knew she war n't the same Happy as went away. She wore ear-jewels an' a locket, an' had plenty of city airs and ways; but the old laugh an' smile war n't all there. She was harn'some, though, at last! Harn'some as a picture, an' nobody blamed George fer puttin' up with what he did fer the sake of gettin' her. She led him a chase thet summer. She give him every chance ter break with her; but he would n't, an' she dass n't, fer Job had set his heart on the match, an' was thet weak an' childish thet he kept harpin' on their marriage from mornin' till night, an' thet kept up George's courage more 'n anything else. So things went on fer most two months. "One afternoon, late in September--I shall never ferget the day fer 't was Sunday, an' it seems as if the Sabbath was the devil's own day after all--George an' me took the team ter go up ter the north pasture to ketch his colts. Word had come down thet they 'd broke loose an' needed ter be tended to thet very night; so, without sayin' nothin' ter nobody, fer 't was only our own business if we _did_ go on Sunday, we set out. "On the way up George told me he an' Happy was ter be married the next week, an' I, fer one, was mighty glad on 't, fer I longed ter see her settled down an' like herself again. "The north pasture lays up over the hill good two mile from the farm, an' when we 'd gone 'bout half way, George reined up, an' says: "'Let's hitch the team here an' go over ter the pasture crosslots. It ain't more 'n half as fur, an' I 'm afraid it 'll get too dark ter hitch 'em if we drive round the road.'