But Nettie stood as if paralyzed, her eyes widening and filling with tears. "Oh, you've been so good--mayn't I see him--mayn't I bid him good-by?" she begged. Charlotte lifted her voice to answer Blake. "Yes, Emory; stay where you are; I'm bringing Hope," she called. "Hurry!" she whispered to the other woman. "It won't do you any good to see him. Think of what he's done. Hurry, I say!" Nettie put her hand up to her head. "I--I can't," she murmured. She swayed a little, and before Charlotte could reach out to catch her she had slipped to the ground. At the same moment Blake came out of the back door of the house. For an instant he stared in bewilderment. Then he was at Nettie's side and had lifted her in his arms. Charlotte saw his face as he kissed her. A moment later she was indoors on her knees beside her bed, with her face buried in the cover and her hands clutching it. A cold wind swept through the house. Front and back the doors stood open. The sun was already low in the west and the evening promised to be chill. Presently Charlotte rose. She closed the front door carefully, wrapped Hope in a cloak, and, with her child on her arm, passed out at the back. Blake had stretched his wife on the back porch and was bending over her. He looked up, and at sight of Charlotte's face he straightened himself. She paused an instant. "I'm starting to harness the horse," she said. "You can catch the night train at Antioch if I drive fast." He stood silent, his face working. It was as if strength were being born in him to say something in his own defence. "She has plans," Charlotte added. "You'd better pick up some of your things in the house." She passed on, and laying Hope in the bottom of the wagon, harnessed the horse with swift, shaking hands. The sun was out of sight when she drove back to the house. Nettie sat on the steps staring dazedly around her. Blake was not in sight. "Are you ready?" Charlotte called. He came out, carrying an old handbag. At the step he hesitated. She pointed to the back seat, where he was to sit with Nettie and the child, and after an instant he helped them in. The ride was long and cold. Night fell, and the stars came out in remote, hostile legions. The children slept. Occasionally Nettie and Blake advised together in hushed voices. Charlotte whipped the horse. As they drew near to the end of their journey Blake leaned forward and touched her arm. "What about the store?" he asked. Charlotte broke her long silence harshly. "Your stock will cover what you owe on it, I guess." At the station she stayed in the wagon. Blake took his wife and Dorcas into the waiting-room and came back for his bag. Charlotte had it ready for him, resting on the wheel. He did not offer to take it at first, but stood in the beam from the station window, trying to speak. "Well?" she said. "I guess there's not much I can say," he choked out.