A White Heron and Other Stories (18 page)

“‘Twas just such a night as this Mis' Tolland died,” repeated Mrs. Todd, returning to her usual tone and leaning back comfortably in her chair as she took up her knitting. “'Twas just such a night as this. I've told the circumstances to but very few; but I don't call it beyond reason. When folks is goin' ‘tis all natural, and only common things can jar upon the mind. You know plain enough there's somethin' beyond this world; the doors stand wide open. There's somethin' of us that must still live on; we've got to join both worlds together an' live in one but for the other.' The doctor said that to me one day, an' I never could forget it; he said ‘twas in one o' his old doctor's books.”

We sat together in silence in the warm little room; the rain dropped heavily from the eaves, and the sea still roared, but the high wind had done blowing. We heard the far complaining fog horn of a steamer up the Bay..

“There goes the Boston boat out, pretty near on time,” said Mrs. Todd with satisfaction. “Sometimes these late August storms'll sound a good deal worse than they really be. I do hate to hear the poor steamers callin' when they're bewildered in thick nights in winter, comin' on the coast. Yes, there goes the boat; they'll find it rough at sea, but the storm's all over.”

bangeing
] regional term meaning lounging around, loafing.

buffaloes
] buffalo skin blankets.

garrit
] in the attic.

rote
] Sound of the surf on the shore.

Square
] Squire.