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This happened once; then, after a week, it became the regularroutine.
Niels
left Bobby alone for a day, went to town, sent the money . Hewould have liked
to fathom that smile, to probe its significance;but somehow he never did.
Niels
thought of the thrills whichthis woman had had power to send through him in
years gone by. He sat down in its door, looking across atthat big dwelling of
his which contained a mystery . Sometimes, when he was at home, there would
pass between them nomore than half a dozen words.
Was there anything in it that
bound man and wife together? Niels peered across; he could not make out who it
was.
Her eyes showed a new _expression_: there was a dreamy quality inthem The
worst of it was that there were decades upon decades of exactlythe same thing
ahead .
A question hovered on his lips: How about you,then?
And then the
hail-storm came, like a sudden catastrophe .
The granary proved muchtoo small
to hold the wealth. We worked together, as in everything else.
Even Niels could
not help laughing, athing he rarely did these days.
Her eyes showed a new
_expression_: there was a dreamy quality inthem . The children were crowding
about their mother: they were afraid ofhim.
He bought, ata sale, democrat,
drivers, and cutter .
She peered down at the scene in the frontof the stable,
furtive, smiling .
Well, Niels gave in on the minor detail, if thats the
case,suit yourself.
Itll cost a mint of money, Niels said musingly.
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