XVI + 

The rain held off, and an hour later, when she started, wild gleams of sunlight were blowing across the fields. + 

After HarneyтАЩs departure she had returned her bicycle to its owner at Creston, and she was not sure of being able to walk all the way to the Mountain. The deserted house was on the road; but the idea of spending the night there was unendurable, and she meant to try to push on to Hamblin, where she could sleep under a woodshed if her strength should fail her. Her preparations had been made with quiet forethought. Before starting she had forced herself to swallow a glass of milk and eat a piece of bread; and she had put in her canvas satchel a little packet of the chocolate that Harney always carried in his bicycle bag. She wanted above all to keep up her strength, and reach her destination without attracting notice.тБатАКтБатАж + 

Mile by mile she retraced the road over which she had so often flown to her lover. When she reached the turn where the wood-road branched off from the Creston highway she remembered the Gospel tentтБатАФlong since folded up and transplantedтБатАФand her start of involuntary terror when the fat evangelist had said: тАЬYour Saviour knows everything. Come and confess your guilt.тАЭ There was no sense of guilt in her now, but only a desperate desire to defend her secret from irreverent eyes, and begin life again among people to whom the harsh code of the village was unknown. The impulse did not shape itself in thought: she only knew she must save her baby, and hide herself with it somewhere where no one would ever come to trouble them. + 

She walked on and on, growing more heavy-footed as the day advanced. It seemed a cruel chance that compelled her to retrace every step of the way to the deserted house; and when she came in sight of the orchard, and the silver-gray roof slanting crookedly through the laden branches, her strength failed her and she sat down by the roadside. She sat there a long time, trying to gather the courage to start again, and walk past the broken gate and the untrimmed rosebushes strung with scarlet hips. A few drops of rain were falling, and she thought of the warm evenings when she and Harney had sat embraced in the shadowy room, and the noise of summer showers on the roof had rustled through their kisses. At length she understood that if she stayed any longer the rain might compel her to take shelter in the house overnight, and she got up and walked on, averting her eyes as she came abreast of the white gate and the tangled garden. + 

The hours wore on, and she walked more and more slowly, pausing now and then to rest, and to eat a little bread and an apple picked up from the roadside. Her body seemed to grow heavier with every yard of the way, and she wondered how she would be able to carry her child later, if already he laid such a burden on her.тБатАКтБатАж A fresh wind had sprung up, scattering the rain and blowing down keenly from the mountain. Presently the clouds lowered again, and a few white darts struck her in the face: it was the first snow falling over Hamblin. The roofs of the lonely village were only half a mile ahead, and she was resolved to push beyond it, and try to reach the Mountain that night. She had no clear plan of action, except that, once in the settlement, she meant to look for Liff Hyatt, and get him to take her to her mother. She herself had been born as her own baby was going to be born; and whatever her motherтАЩs subsequent life had been, she could hardly help remembering the past, and receiving a daughter who was facing the trouble she had known. + 

Suddenly the deadly faintness came over her once more and she sat down on the bank and leaned her head against a tree-trunk. The long road and the cloudy landscape vanished from her eyes, and for a time she seemed to be circling about in some terrible wheeling darkness. Then that too faded. + 

She opened her eyes, and saw a buggy drawn up beside her, and a man who had jumped down from it and was gazing at her with a puzzled face. Slowly consciousness came back, and she saw that the man was Liff Hyatt. + 

She was dimly aware that he was asking her something, and she looked at him in silence, trying to find strength to speak. At length her voice stirred in her throat, and she said in a whisper: тАЬIтАЩm going up the Mountain.тАЭ + 

тАЬUp the Mountain?тАЭ he repeated, drawing aside a little; and as he moved she saw behind him, in the buggy, a heavily coated figure with a familiar pink face and gold spectacles on the bridge of a Grecian nose. + 

тАЬCharity! What on earth are you doing here?тАЭ Mr.┬аMiles exclaimed, throwing the reins on the horseтАЩs back and scrambling down from the buggy. + 

She lifted her heavy eyes to his. тАЬIтАЩm going to see my mother.тАЭ + 

The two men glanced at each other, and for a moment neither of them spoke. + 

Then Mr.┬аMiles said: тАЬYou look ill, my dear, and itтАЩs a long way. Do you think itтАЩs wise?тАЭ + 

Charity stood up. тАЬIтАЩve got to go to her.тАЭ + 

A vague mirthless grin contracted Liff HyattтАЩs face, and Mr.┬аMiles again spoke uncertainly. тАЬYou know, thenтБатАФyouтАЩd been told?тАЭ + 

She stared at him. тАЬI donтАЩt know what you mean. I want to go to her.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аMiles was examining her thoughtfully. She fancied she saw a change in his expression, and the blood rushed to her forehead. тАЬI just want to go to her,тАЭ she repeated. + 

He laid his hand on her arm. тАЬMy child, your mother is dying. Liff Hyatt came down to fetch me.тБатАКтБатАж Get in and come with us.тАЭ + 

He helped her up to the seat at his side, Liff Hyatt clambered in at the back, and they drove off toward Hamblin. At first Charity had hardly grasped what Mr.┬аMiles was saying; the physical relief of finding herself seated in the buggy, and securely on her road to the Mountain, effaced the impression of his words. But as her head cleared she began to understand. She knew the Mountain had but the most infrequent intercourse with the valleys; she had often enough heard it said that no one ever went up there except the minister, when someone was dying. And now it was her mother who was dyingтБатАКтБатАж and she would find herself as much alone on the Mountain as anywhere else in the world. The sense of unescapable isolation was all she could feel for the moment; then she began to wonder at the strangeness of its being Mr.┬аMiles who had undertaken to perform this grim errand. He did not seem in the least like the kind of man who would care to go up the Mountain. But here he was at her side, guiding the horse with a firm hand, and bending on her the kindly gleam of his spectacles, as if there were nothing unusual in their being together in such circumstances. + 

For a while she found it impossible to speak, and he seemed to understand this, and made no attempt to question her. But presently she felt her tears rise and flow down over her drawn cheeks; and he must have seen them too, for he laid his hand on hers, and said in a low voice: тАЬWonтАЩt you tell me what is troubling you?тАЭ + 

She shook her head, and he did not insist: but after a while he said, in the same low tone, so that they should not be overheard: тАЬCharity, what do you know of your childhood, before you came down to North Dormer?тАЭ + 

She controlled herself, and answered: тАЬNothing only what I heard Mr.┬аRoyall say one day. He said he brought me down because my father went to prison.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd youтАЩve never been up there since?тАЭ + 

тАЬNever.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аMiles was silent again, then he said: тАЬIтАЩm glad youтАЩre coming with me now. Perhaps we may find your mother alive, and she may know that you have come.тАЭ + 

They had reached Hamblin, where the snow-flurry had left white patches in the rough grass on the roadside, and in the angles of the roofs facing north. It was a poor bleak village under the granite flank of the Mountain, and as soon as they left it they began to climb. The road was steep and full of ruts, and the horse settled down to a walk while they mounted and mounted, the world dropping away below them in great mottled stretches of forest and field, and stormy dark blue distances. + 

Charity had often had visions of this ascent of the Mountain but she had not known it would reveal so wide a country, and the sight of those strange lands reaching away on every side gave her a new sense of HarneyтАЩs remoteness. She knew he must be miles and miles beyond the last range of hills that seemed to be the outmost verge of things, and she wondered how she had ever dreamed of going to New York to find him.тБатАКтБатАж + 

As the road mounted the country grew bleaker, and they drove across fields of faded mountain grass bleached by long months beneath the snow. In the hollows a few white birches trembled, or a mountain ash lit its scarlet clusters; but only a scant growth of pines darkened the granite ledges. The wind was blowing fiercely across the open slopes; the horse faced it with bent head and straining flanks, and now and then the buggy swayed so that Charity had to clutch its side. + 

Mr.┬аMiles had not spoken again; he seemed to understand that she wanted to be left alone. After a while the track they were following forked, and he pulled up the horse, as if uncertain of the way. Liff Hyatt craned his head around from the back, and shouted against the wind: тАЬLeftтБатАФтАЭ and they turned into a stunted pinewood and began to drive down the other side of the Mountain. + 

A mile or two farther on they came out on a clearing where two or three low houses lay in stony fields, crouching among the rocks as if to brace themselves against the wind. They were hardly more than sheds, built of logs and rough boards, with tin stovepipes sticking out of their roofs. The sun was setting, and dusk had already fallen on the lower world, but a yellow glare still lay on the lonely hillside and the crouching houses. The next moment it faded and left the landscape in dark autumn twilight. + 

тАЬOver there,тАЭ Liff called out, stretching his long arm over Mr.┬аMilesтАЩs shoulder. The clergyman turned to the left, across a bit of bare ground overgrown with docks and nettles, and stopped before the most ruinous of the sheds. A stovepipe reached its crooked arm out of one window, and the broken panes of the other were stuffed with rags and paper. + 

In contrast to such a dwelling the brown house in the swamp might have stood for the home of plenty. + 

As the buggy drew up two or three mongrel dogs jumped out of the twilight with a great barking, and a young man slouched to the door and stood there staring. In the twilight Charity saw that his face had the same sodden look as Bash HyattтАЩs, the day she had seen him sleeping by the stove. He made no effort to silence the dogs, but leaned in the door, as if roused from a drunken lethargy, while Mr.┬аMiles got out of the buggy. + 

тАЬIs it here?тАЭ the clergyman asked Liff in a low voice; and Liff nodded. + 

Mr.┬аMiles turned to Charity. тАЬJust hold the horse a minute, my dear: IтАЩll go in first,тАЭ he said, putting the reins in her hands. She took them passively, and sat staring straight ahead of her at the darkening scene while Mr.┬аMiles and Liff Hyatt went up to the house. They stood a few minutes talking with the man in the door, and then Mr.┬аMiles came back. As he came close, Charity saw that his smooth pink face wore a frightened solemn look. + 

тАЬYour mother is dead, Charity; youтАЩd better come with me,тАЭ he said. + 

She got down and followed him while Liff led the horse away. As she approached the door she said to herself: тАЬThis is where I was bornтБатАКтБатАж this is where I belong.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ She had said it to herself often enough as she looked across the sunlit valleys at the Mountain; but it had meant nothing then, and now it had become a reality. Mr.┬аMiles took her gently by the arm, and they entered what appeared to be the only room in the house. It was so dark that she could just discern a group of a dozen people sitting or sprawling about a table made of boards laid across two barrels. They looked up listlessly as Mr.┬аMiles and Charity came in, and a womanтАЩs thick voice said: тАЬHereтАЩs the preacher.тАЭ But no one moved. + 

Mr.┬аMiles paused and looked about him; then he turned to the young man who had met them at the door. + 

тАЬIs the body here?тАЭ he asked. + 

The young man, instead of answering, turned his head toward the group. тАЬWhereтАЩs the candle? I tole yer to bring a candle,тАЭ he said with sudden harshness to a girl who was lolling against the table. She did not answer, but another man got up and took from some corner a candle stuck into a bottle. + 

тАЬHowтАЩll I light it? The stoveтАЩs out,тАЭ the girl grumbled. + 

Mr.┬аMiles fumbled under his heavy wrappings and drew out a matchbox. He held a match to the candle, and in a moment or two a faint circle of light fell on the pale aguish heads that started out of the shadow like the heads of nocturnal animals. + 

тАЬMaryтАЩs over there,тАЭ someone said; and Mr.┬аMiles, taking the bottle in his hand, passed behind the table. Charity followed him, and they stood before a mattress on the floor in a corner of the room. A woman lay on it, but she did not look like a dead woman; she seemed to have fallen across her squalid bed in a drunken sleep, and to have been left lying where she fell, in her ragged disordered clothes. One arm was flung above her head, one leg drawn up under a torn skirt that left the other bare to the knee: a swollen glistening leg with a ragged stocking rolled down about the ankle. The woman lay on her back, her eyes staring up unblinkingly at the candle that trembled in Mr.┬аMilesтАЩs hand. + 

тАЬShe jusтАЩ dropped off,тАЭ a woman said, over the shoulder of the others; and the young man added: тАЬI jusтАЩ come in and found her.тАЭ + 

An elderly man with lank hair and a feeble grin pushed between them. тАЬIt was like this: I says to her onтАЩy the night before: if you donтАЩt take and quit, I says to herтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Someone pulled him back and sent him reeling against a bench along the wall, where he dropped down muttering his unheeded narrative. + 

There was a silence; then the young woman who had been lolling against the table suddenly parted the group, and stood in front of Charity. She was healthier and robuster looking than the others, and her weather-beaten face had a certain sullen beauty. + 

тАЬWhoтАЩs the girl? Who brought her here?тАЭ she said, fixing her eyes mistrustfully on the young man who had rebuked her for not having a candle ready. + 

Mr.┬аMiles spoke. тАЬI brought her; she is Mary HyattтАЩs daughter.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat? Her too?тАЭ the girl sneered; and the young man turned on her with an oath. тАЬShut your mouth, damn you, or get out of here,тАЭ he said; then he relapsed into his former apathy, and dropped down on the bench, leaning his head against the wall. + 

Mr.┬аMiles had set the candle on the floor and taken off his heavy coat. He turned to Charity. тАЬCome and help me,тАЭ he said. + 

He knelt down by the mattress, and pressed the lids over the dead womanтАЩs eyes. Charity, trembling and sick, knelt beside him, and tried to compose her motherтАЩs body. She drew the stocking over the dreadful glistening leg, and pulled the skirt down to the battered upturned boots. As she did so, she looked at her motherтАЩs face, thin yet swollen, with lips parted in a frozen gasp above the broken teeth. There was no sign in it of anything human: she lay there like a dead dog in a ditch. CharityтАЩs hands grew cold as they touched her. + 

Mr.┬аMiles drew the womanтАЩs arms across her breast and laid his coat over her. Then he covered her face with his handkerchief, and placed the bottle with the candle in it at her head. Having done this he stood up. + 

тАЬIs there no coffin?тАЭ he asked, turning to the group behind him. + 

There was a moment of bewildered silence; then the fierce girl spoke up. тАЬYouтАЩd oughter brought it with you. WhereтАЩd we get one here, IтАЩd like ter know?тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аMiles, looking at the others, repeated: тАЬIs it possible you have no coffin ready?тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs what I say: them that has it sleeps better,тАЭ an old woman murmured. тАЬBut then she never had no bed.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬAnd the stove warnтАЩt hers,тАЭ said the lank-haired man, on the defensive. + 

Mr.┬аMiles turned away from them and moved a few steps apart. He had drawn a book from his pocket, and after a pause he opened it and began to read, holding the book at armтАЩs length and low down, so that the pages caught the feeble light. Charity had remained on her knees by the mattress: now that her motherтАЩs face was covered it was easier to stay near her, and avoid the sight of the living faces which too horribly showed by what stages hers had lapsed into death. + 

тАЬI am the Resurrection and the Life,тАЭ Mr.┬аMiles began; тАЬhe that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.тБатАКтБатАж Though after my skin worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

In my flesh shall I see God! Charity thought of the gaping mouth and stony eyes under the handkerchief, and of the glistening leg over which she had drawn the stocking.тБатАКтБатАж + 

тАЬWe brought nothing into this world and we shall take nothing out of itтБатАФтАЭ + 

There was a sudden muttering and a scuffle at the back of the group. тАЬI brought the stove,тАЭ said the elderly man with lank hair, pushing his way between the others. тАЬI wenтАЩ down to CrestonтАЩn bought itтБатАКтБатАж nтАЩ I got a right to take it outer hereтБатАКтБатАж nтАЩ IтАЩll lick any feller says I ainтАЩt.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬSit down, damn you!тАЭ shouted the tall youth who had been drowsing on the bench against the wall. + 

тАЬFor man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬWell, it are his,тАЭ a woman in the background interjected in a frightened whine. + 

The tall youth staggered to his feet. тАЬIf you donтАЩt hold your mouths IтАЩll turn you all out oтАЩ here, the whole lot of you,тАЭ he cried with many oaths. тАЬGтАЩwan, ministerтБатАКтБатАж donтАЩt let тАЩem faze you.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬNow is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.тБатАКтБатАж Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.тБатАКтБатАж For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and when this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

One by one the mighty words fell on CharityтАЩs bowed head, soothing the horror, subduing the tumult, mastering her as they mastered the drink-dazed creatures at her back. Mr.┬аMiles read to the last word, and then closed the book. + 

тАЬIs the grave ready?тАЭ he asked. + 

Liff Hyatt, who had come in while he was reading, nodded a тАЬYes,тАЭ and pushed forward to the side of the mattress. The young man on the bench who seemed to assert some sort of right of kinship with the dead woman, got to his feet again, and the proprietor of the stove joined him. Between them they raised up the mattress; but their movements were unsteady, and the coat slipped to the floor, revealing the poor body in its helpless misery. Charity, picking up the coat, covered her mother once more. Liff had brought a lantern, and the old woman who had already spoken took it up, and opened the door to let the little procession pass out. The wind had dropped, and the night was very dark and bitterly cold. The old woman walked ahead, the lantern shaking in her hand and spreading out before her a pale patch of dead grass and coarse-leaved weeds enclosed in an immensity of blackness. + 

Mr.┬аMiles took Charity by the arm, and side by side they walked behind the mattress. At length the old woman with the lantern stopped, and Charity saw the light fall on the stooping shoulders of the bearers and on a ridge of upheaved earth over which they were bending. Mr.┬аMiles released her arm and approached the hollow on the other side of the ridge; and while the men stooped down, lowering the mattress into the grave, he began to speak again. + 

тАЬMan that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery.тБатАКтБатАж He cometh up and is cut downтБатАКтБатАж he fleeth as it were a shadow.тБатАКтБатАж Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬEasy thereтБатАКтБатАж is she down?тАЭ piped the claimant to the stove; and the young man called over his shoulder: тАЬLift the light there, canтАЩt you?тАЭ + 

There was a pause, during which the light floated uncertainly over the open grave. Someone bent over and pulled out Mr.┬аMilesтАЩs coatтБатАФ(тАЬNo, noтБатАФleave the handkerchief,тАЭ he interposed)тБатАФand then Liff Hyatt, coming forward with a spade, began to shovel in the earth. + 

тАЬForasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dustтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ LiffтАЩs gaunt shoulders rose and bent in the lantern light as he dashed the clods of earth into the grave. тАЬGodтБатАФitтАЩs froze aтАЩready,тАЭ he muttered, spitting into his palm and passing his ragged shirtsleeve across his perspiring face. + 

тАЬThrough our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby He is able to subdue all things unto HimselfтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ The last spadeful of earth fell on the vile body of Mary Hyatt, and Liff rested on his spade, his shoulder blades still heaving with the effort. + 

тАЬLord, have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon usтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Mr.┬аMiles took the lantern from the old womanтАЩs hand and swept its light across the circle of bleared faces. тАЬNow kneel down, all of you,тАЭ he commanded, in a voice of authority that Charity had never heard. She knelt down at the edge of the grave, and the others, stiffly and hesitatingly, got to their knees beside her. Mr.┬аMiles knelt, too. тАЬAnd now pray with meтБатАФyou know this prayer,тАЭ he said, and he began: тАЬOur Father which art in HeavenтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ One or two of the women falteringly took the words up, and when he ended, the lank-haired man flung himself on the neck of the tall youth. тАЬIt was this way,тАЭ he said. тАЬI tole her the night before, I says to herтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ The reminiscence ended in a sob. + 

Mr.┬аMiles had been getting into his coat again. He came up to Charity, who had remained passively kneeling by the rough mound of earth. + 

тАЬMy child, you must come. ItтАЩs very late.тАЭ + 

She lifted her eyes to his face: he seemed to speak out of another world. + 

тАЬI ainтАЩt coming: IтАЩm going to stay here.тАЭ + 

тАЬHere? Where? What do you mean?тАЭ + 

тАЬThese are my folks. IтАЩm going to stay with them.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аMiles lowered his voice. тАЬBut itтАЩs not possibleтБатАФyou donтАЩt know what you are doing. You canтАЩt stay among these people: you must come with me.тАЭ + 

She shook her head and rose from her knees. The group about the grave had scattered in the darkness, but the old woman with the lantern stood waiting. Her mournful withered face was not unkind, and Charity went up to her. + 

тАЬHave you got a place where I can lie down for the night?тАЭ she asked. Liff came up, leading the buggy out of the night. He looked from one to the other with his feeble smile. тАЬSheтАЩs my mother. SheтАЩll take you home,тАЭ he said; and he added, raising his voice to speak to the old woman: тАЬItтАЩs the girl from lawyer RoyallтАЩsтБатАФMaryтАЩs girlтБатАКтБатАж you remember.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

The woman nodded and raised her sad old eyes to CharityтАЩs. When Mr.┬аMiles and Liff clambered into the buggy she went ahead with the lantern to show them the track they were to follow; then she turned back, and in silence she and Charity walked away together through the night. + 