Can ta tell me what
ta fears, dearie?"
"Just what you say, Martha, that I must pass from Gethsemane to
Calvary, and sacrifice there what is my dearest, sweetest hope; and
I shall have to bear it alone."
"Nay, thou wont. It isn't fair o' thee to say that; for thou knows
better. My word, Miss Hallam, there's love above and below, and
strength all round about. If thee and me didn't believe that, O what
a thing it would be!"
"Martha, I may need help, the help of man and the help of woman. Can
I trust to Ben and you?"
"I can speak for both of us. We'll wear our last breath i' your
service. Neither Ben nor I are made o' stuff that'll shrink in t'
wetting. You can count on that, Miss Hallam."
The next evening, just after dusk, Elizabeth was standing at the
dining-room window. The butler had just arranged the silver upon the
sideboard, and was taking some last orders from his mistress. He was
an old man with many infirmities, both of body and temper, but he had
served Hallam for fifty years, and was permitted many privileges. One
of these was plain speech; and after a moment's consideration upon
the directions given him, he said:
"There's summat troubling _them_ as are dead and gone, Miss
Hallam. If I was thee, I'd hev Mr. Antony come and do his duty by t'
land. _They_ don't like a woman i' their shoes.
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