no question to be made of the subject. No one knew, of course, what long night hours she might spend in prayer or in weeping; but certainly each morning she had emerged from her room with little Nathaniel in her arms, to face her world with cheerfulness upon her face.
It was only at first that Sally saw that her superhuman bravery was really the bravery of utter despair. For upon that fatal morning when her sons had told her farewell, when Master Williams had strained her to his heart and, mounting his horse, had ridden away without one backward glance. Mistress Williams had stood as though turned to stone upon the doorstep, her hands pressed against her heart, her eyes strange and staring until at last, with a pitiful gesture, Zenas had managed to get her back into the kitchen and had made her drink the hot milk Sally had ready, and so, gradually, had won her back to normal actions.
But that had been only at first. From that day on. Mistress Williams had gone forward with both dignity and courage. Sally had an idea both had been augmented by a certain momentous conversation that Mistress Williams had had one day with Master Joseph Hedden, who, as president of the Appraisement Committee, had ridden out from the Town by the River to confer with her. He had told her calmly that, according to law, which was no respecter of persons, the property must be confis-
