'"
"And yet Bingley and Laycock swore that Ben had his working-clothes
on?"
"Ay, they sware that."
"You are come into deep waters, Martha."
"Ay, I am; but there's One on t' water wi' me. I hev his hand, and
he's none going to let me sink. And good-night to you, dearies, now;
for I want to be alone wi' him. He isn't far off; you can tak' t' word
of a sorrowful woman that he lets himsen be found, if nobbut you're
i' earnest seeking him."
She turned from them, and seated herself before her lonely hearthstone,
and Phyllis saw her glance upward at the four words, that even in the
darkest night was clear to her--_"In God we trust."_
"Martha used to be so curious, so gossippy, so well acquainted with
all her neighbors, so anxious for their good opinion, that it strikes
me as singular," said Elizabeth, "that she seems to have forgotten
the whole village, and to be careless as to its verdict. Does sorrow
make us indifferent, I wonder?"
"No, I think not; but the happy look at things upon their own level--
the earth-level; the sorrowful look up."
Not far from Martha's garden gate they met the Methodist preacher.
He was going to see Martha, but hearing of her wish to be alone, he
turned and walked with Phyllis and Elizabeth toward the park. He was
a little man, with an unworldly air, and very clear truthful eyes.
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