"
I made no encouraging remarks as to future transactions in this
line, and drove slowly home.
Euphemia met me at the door. She had Pomona's baby in her arms.
We walked together into the parlor.
"And so you have given up the little fellow that you were going to
do so much for?" she said.
"Yes, I have given him up," I answered.
"It must have been a dreadful trial to you," she continued.
"Oh, dreadful!" I replied.
"I suppose you thought he would take up so much of your time and
thoughts, that we couldn't be to each other what we used to be,
didn't you?" she said.
"Not exactly," I replied. "I only thought that things promised to
be twice as bad as they were before."
She made no answer to this, but going to the back door of the
parlor she opened it and called Pomona. When that young woman
appeared, Euphemia stepped toward her and said: "Here, Pomona, take
your baby."
They were simple words, but they were spoken in such a way that
they meant a good deal. Pomona knew what they meant. Her eyes
sparkled, and as she went out, I saw her hug her child to her
breast, and cover it with kisses, and then, through the window, I
could see her running to the barn and Jonas.
"Now, then," said Euphemia, closing the door and coming toward me,
with one of her old smiles, and not a trace of preoccupation about
her, "I suppose you expect me to devote myself to you."
I did expect it, and I was not mistaken.
Since these events, a third baby has come to Rudder Grange.
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