of hay and came in to see if dinner was ready � i ain t goin to get a regular dinner to day as long as father s gone said his mother � i ve let the fire go out you can have some bread an milk an pie i thought we could get along she set out some of milk some bread and a pie on the kitchen table � you d better eat your dinner now said she � you might jest as well get through with it i want you to help me afterward and stared at each other there was something strange in their mother s manner mrs did not eat anything herself she went into the and they heard her moving dishes while they ate presently she came out with a pile of plates she got the clothes basket out of the shed and packed them in it and watched she brought out cups and and put them in with the plates by mary e what you goin to do mother inquired in a timid voice a sense of something unusual made her tremble as if it were a ghost rolled his eyes over his pie you ll see what i m goin to do replied mrs if you re through i want you to go up stairs an pack up your things an i want you to help me take down the bed in the bedroom o mother what for gasped � you ll see � during the next few hours a feat was performed by this simple pious new england mother which was equal in its way to s of the heights of it took no more genius and audacity of bravery for to cheer his wondering soldiers up those steep under the sleeping eyes of the enemy than for at the head of her children to move all their little household goods into the new bam while her husband was away and followed their mother s instructions without a murmur indeed they were there is a certain and quality about all such purely original as their mother s was to them went back and forth with her light loads and with sober energy at five o clock in the afternoon the little house in which the had lived for forty years had emptied itself into the new bam every somewhat for unknown purposes and is in a measure a prophet the of s bam while he designed it for the comfort of four footed animals had planned better than he knew for the comfort of saw at a glance its possibilities those great box with hung before them would make better than the one she had occupied for forty years and there was a tight carriage room the harness room with its chimney and shelves would make a kitchen of her dreams the great middle space would make a parlor by and by fit for a palace up stairs there was as much room as down with and windows what a house would there be looked at the row of before the allotted space for cows and reflected that she would have her front entry there by mary e at six o clock the stove was up in the harness room the kettle was boiling and the table set for tea it looked almost as home like as the abandoned house across the yard had ever done the young hired man and directed him calmly to bring the milk to the new bam he came gaping dropping little of foam from the on the grass before the next morning he had spread the story of s wife moving into the new bam all over the little village men assembled in the store and talked it over women with over their heads into each other s houses before their work was done any from the ordinary course of life in this quiet town was enough to stop all progress in it everybody paused to look at the staid independent figure on the side track there was a difference of opinion with regard to her some held her to be insane some of a lawless and rebellious spirit friday the minister went to see her it was in the and she was at the bam door peas for dinner she looked up and returned his salutation with dignity then she went on with her work she did not invite him in the expression of her face remained fixed but there was an flush over it the minister stood awkwardly before her and talked she handled the peas as if they were bullets at last she looked up t nd her eyes showed the spirit that her meek front had covered for a lifetime there ain t no use mr said she i ve thought it all over an over an i believe i m what s right i ve made it the subject of prayer an it s me an the lord an there ain t no call for nobody else to worry about it well of course if you have brought it to the lord in prayer and feel satisfied that you are doing right mrs � said the minister helplessly his thin gray bearded face was pathetic he was a sickly man his youthful confidence had cooled he had to himself up to some of his pastoral duties as as a catholic and then he was by the smart � i think it s right jest as much as i think it was right for our forefathers to come over from the old country cause they didn t have what belonged to em said mrs she arose by mary e the bam threshold might have been rock from her bearing i don t doubt you mean well mr said she but there are things people hadn t ought to interfere with i ve been a member of the church for over forty 