at the roadside brought to his mind the necessity of the occasion ride in and see he said it s got to be done and it s no work for him when he reached the cross roads there were already two or three early lounging on the store porch and wondering why the doors were not opened the first man who saw him opened upon him the usual course of look a tom he this ain t a to do you a up fore daybreak like the rest of us folks and off knows it ain t a to do now air ye from but as he rode up and dismounted at the porch each fc in connection with the de claim saw that something unusual had happened he tied his horse and came up the steps in silence boys he said when he stood among them i want i ve been out to the hollow and there s a job for him there the � the woman s dead dead they echoed drawing nearer to him in their excitement when tom last night s out there there s a child thunder n ejaculated the only family man of the group thunder v and then he began to edge away still with a air towards his mule boys he explained there d ought to be some women folks around i m for and she ll start the rest on em women folks is what s needed they kin kinder things s trouble well said tom perhaps you re right but don t send too many of em and let your wife tell em to talk as little as possible and leave the man alone he s got enough to stand up under before the day was over there were women enough in the cabin half a dozen faded black riding skirts hung over the of half a dozen horses in the wood round the house while inside half a dozen excellent souls disposed themselves in sympathetic couples about the two rooms three sat in the front room their drawn well down over their faces in the true s spirit one at the head of the bed slowly moving a fan to and fro over the handkerchief covered face upon the pillow a dead silence the place except when it was broken by occasional brief remarks made in a whisper i in connection with the de claim she was a mighty young they said a sight younger than her man what s the child that s a pity ain t much chance of bein raised right they re left t they any folks neither on em nobody don t know nobody t about em they kinder s about to themselves if either on em had any folks � even if they only sort o kin � they might take the they will seems to reason they must have some kin � even if they ain t nigh then the silence reigned again and the woman at the bed s head gave her attention to the slow regular motion of her palm leaf fan in the room beyond a small fire burned in spite of the warmth of the day and divers small tin cups and before and upon the of it aunt varying her other duties by moving them a shade nearer to the heat or farther from it and stirring and at intervals upon a low rocking chair before the hearth sat the wife of the family man before referred to she was a tall creature the mother of fifteen in their number three sets of she held her snuff stick between her teeth and the child on her lap with an easy professional air i t never had to raise none o mine by hand since martin she remarked i ve been mighty glad on it for he was a sight o trouble kinder and in connection with the de claim weakly never done no good till we got him off the bottle he d one cow s milk too all the time i was powerful bout that i d never have raised him if i hadn t bin n to this day martin t what and is dis ain t to be no trouble to nobody put in aunt she s a powerful good to begin with n she s a that s to she t done no no consequence n a starts out way it speaks well for her if had de o wouldn t be no trouble t all der milk well n d down right n a like ain t to have no my young d bought me from i ve raised three o an i m used to it right and d it down right s a heap in de d dis bottle s ready now mis ef ye want it if s the very bottle i raised martin on said mrs it brings back times to see it she takes it well don t she how f she looks for a little thing later in the day there arose the question of how she should be disposed of for the night and it was in the midst of this discussion that tom de entered ain t but one room i s pose he ll sleep in that said mrs n the lord knows he don t look the kind o io know what to do with a we t none o us seen him since this i guess he s kinder round does any of you know he is we might ax what he to do tom bent down over the child as it lay in the woman s lap no one could see his face in connection with the de claim i know what he s going to do he said he s going away to morrow after the funeral n take the child in a chorus no said tom to be 