“I won’t argue on it, it is too dumb foolish; I am goin’ out to walk in the back garden before supper.” And he ketched down his hat and drawed it down over his ears enough to break ’em off if they hadn’t been well sot on, and slammed the door so one of them panels is weak to this day—it wuz a little loose to start with. And I went and stood in the winder with my hand over my eyes, and watched him all the while he wuz a walkin’ up and down them walks, for I wuz most afraid he would totter and fall over, or mebby he would start off a bee-line for the crick and drown himself, he wuz so rousted up and agitated. And I hain’t dasted to open my head sence on the subject—I don’t dast to, not knowin’ what it would bring onto him. At the table they noticed my pardner’s excited and riz up mean—they couldn’t help it. And Maggie asked him “if he wuzn’t feelin’ well.” And I spoke right up, such is a female’s devoted love for her companion—I spoke right up and sez: “We have been a talkin’ over funerals and such, and your Pa got agitated.” I spoze I told the truth—I spoze I did; I didn’t tell what the “such” wuz that he had been a talkin’ about; I don’t know as I wuz obleeged to. [Illustration: “THIS DARK EARTH VALLEY.” ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XVI. IT wuz dretful sudden, as we count suddenness. But then we don’t know down here in this dark Earth Valley, with high mountains a towerin’ up on each side on us that we can’t see through—we can’t really tell what to call the onexpected, or the expected. I spoze if we wuz high enough up to see the light and beauty of the Divine Plan, we shouldn’t call anything the onexpected. But it seemed dretful sudden to us that Miss Seybert should be took down voyalent with a fever that wuz a prevailin’ round Eden Centre, and should die off the second day after the attack. And for all the world it would seem as if havin’ waited on her through all time, and she laid out to go on a doin’ it through all eternity, old Phyllis, Victor’s mother, jest follered right on after her the next day. Some say she took the disease a hangin’ over her bed and a waitin’ on her. But anyway, she passed away the very next day, and wuz buried right at the feet of her beloved “Miss Alice.” Col. Seybert wuz away on one of his annual wild-cat excursions, so her wishes wuz carried out. And she had her old friend nigh her through the long sleep, jest as she always had had her durin’ her fitful sleep for years. But they both slept well now, and wuzn’t no more to be disturbed by drunken abuse nor mournful forebodings. No, they slept sound and sweet. Victor mourned deep, deep for ’em both—it would be hard to tell which he mourned for most. But after the first shock of his heart-felt grief had passed away, he felt that the last ties had been broke now that bound him to this land.