Page:Salem - a tale of the seventeenth century (IA taleseventeenth00derbrich).pdf/209

 and cried together; and the poor old man went into the other room, and sat down in his big chair, and rested his head on the top of his cane, and never spoke or looked up.

"And then, when we had got a little more composed, she tried to tell me about her mother; but every time she tried to speak of her her voice choked, and she cried so terribly, I begged her not to speak of her; and I tried to talk to her of other things—of her father, her sisters, the children, the garden, the poultry—but somehow or other, every thing seemed to lead round to her mother again.

"At last her sisters came in, and I was thankful they did, for they were more composed. I suppose they may have loved their mother as well as she did—perhaps they did; but of course they do not miss her so much, for they have their own houses and their husbands and children to interest them; but poor Sarah is the youngest, and has always lived at home with her, and of course she must miss her the most.

"But when she went out to get the old man's supper ready for him, the others told