"
Charlotte crossed the kitchen floor with a resolute air.
"What are you goin' to do, Charlotte?" her mother asked in a
trembling voice.
Charlotte turned around and faced her father and mother. "I shouldn't
think you'd ask me," said she.
"You ain't--goin'--over--?"
"Of course I am going over there. Do you suppose I am going to let
him lie there and suffer all alone, with nobody to take care of him?"
"There's--the woman--comin'."
"She can't come. I know who the woman is. They tried to get her when
Squire Payne's sister died last week. Aunt Sylvy told me about it.
She was engaged 'way ahead."
"Oh, Charlotte! I'm afraid you hadn't ought to go," her mother said,
half crying.
"I've got to go, mother," Charlotte said, quietly. She opened the
door.
"You come back here!" Cephas called after her in a great voice.
Charlotte turned around. "I am going, father," said she.
"You ain't goin' a step."
"Yes, I am."
"Oh, Charlotte! I'll go over," sobbed her mother.
"You haven't gone a step out-doors for a month with your own lame
knee. I am the one to go, and I am going."
"You ain't goin' a step."
"Oh, Charlotte! I'm afraid you hadn't better," wailed Sarah.
Charlotte stood before them both. "Look here, father and mother,"
said she. "I've never gone against your wishes in my life, but now
I'm going to.
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