But for Hale, she would have loved Dave and now be married to him
and happier than she was. Dave saw that--no wonder he hated Hale.
And as she slowly realized all these things, she grew calm and
gentle and determined to stick to her people and do the best she
could with her life.
And now and then through the night old Judd would open his eyes
and stare at the ceiling, and at these times it was not the pain
in his face that distressed her as much as the drawn beaten look
that she had noticed growing in it for a long time. It was
terrible--that helpless look in the face of a man, so big in body,
so strong of mind, so iron-like in will; and whenever he did speak
she knew what he was going to say:
"It's all over, Juny. They've beat us on every turn. They've got
us one by one. Thar ain't but a few of us left now and when I git
up, if I ever do, I'm goin' to gether 'em all together, pull up
stakes and take 'em all West. You won't ever leave me, Juny?"
"No, Dad," she would say gently. He had asked the question at
first quite sanely, but as the night wore on and the fever grew
and his mind wandered, he would repeat the question over and over
like a child, and over and over, while Bub and Dave slept and the
rain poured, June would repeat her answer:
"I'll never leave you, Dad.
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