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 the woman…. She fell back sullenly and began to moan loudly and artificially.

Angus poured muddy coffee into a cracked cup, whose thickness was such that one had to open wide the mouth to drink from it. There was neither cream nor milk…. He carried it to his mother, who snatched it without a word of thanks, spilling a portion as her shaking hand carried it to her mouth. She drank until only a tablespoonful remained in the bottom of the cup and then demanded her black pills again.

“’S a bad habit, ol’ woman. Guess I’ll break you of it,” said Titus. “If I wasn’t to give you the stuff, you couldn’t git it, and if you couldn’t git it, you couldn’t take it—and then you wouldn’t go on disgracin’ me like you be.” This was also a part of the ritual, as was Mrs. Burke’s muttered blistering curse.

Titus walked to the stove and lifted a cracked lid. “Don’t you go cussin’ me out, ol’ woman. You gimme the respect proper from a woman to her lawful wedded husband…. And jest fer cuttin’ up sich didoes I’m goin’ to punish you, like it’s my bounden duty to do. Here goes your pills into the stove.”

The woman was inarticulate. From her mouth came sounds which were not human sounds. Perhaps even Titus was able to perceive that he had carried his playfulness too