THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND - CSIR

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some day you’ll learn to your sorrow!" He stumped off up the stairs without a goodnight. Oh, dear! Could there never be a pleasant moment without this senseless argument? After Matthew's departure the conversation never really righted itself. Kit jumped as the square clock in the corner twanged eight o'clock. Only one hour! It seemed like the longest evening she had ever lived through. William rose deliberately to his feet. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mistress Wood," he said politely. John looked up, startled that the time had passed so quickly, and followed William's example. As the door shut behind their backs, a long sigh escaped Kit. "Well, that's over with," she exclaimed. "At least we won't have to go through it again." "Not till next Saturday night at least," laughed Mercy. Kit shook her head positively. "He'll never come again," she said. Was she altogether relieved at the thought? "Why, whatever makes you say that, child?'' asked Rachel, busily raking up the fire. "Couldn't you see? He hardly spoke a word to me. And then Uncle Matthew-" "Oh, they all know about Father." Judith dismissed the quarrel airily. "William said he was starting to build his housel didn’t he? What more could you want him to say?" "He just happened to mention that." "William Ashby never just happened to mention anything in his life," said Judith. "He knew exactly what he was saying." "I can't see why just building a house--" "Don't you know anything, Kit?" scoffed Judith. "William's father gave him that land three years ago, on his sixteenth birthday, and William said that he would never start to build his house until his mind was made up." "That's ridiculous, Judith, He couldn't mean any such thing-so soon--could he, Mercy?"
"I'm afraid he could." Mercy smiled at her cousin's confusion. "i agree that William was telling all of us--you most of all--that his mind is made up. Whether you like it or not, Kit, William is going to come courting." "But I don't want him to!" Kit was close to panic. "I don't want him to come at all. We--we can't even talk to each other!" "Seems to me you're pretty choosy," snapped Judith. ‘Don’t you know William is able to build the finest house in Wethersfield if he wants to? Does he have to keep you amused as well?" Rachel put a reassuring hand on Kit's shoulder. "The girls are only teasing you, Katherine," she said gently. "Then you don't think--" "Yes, I do think William is serious. But you don't need to be worried, dear. No one is going to hurry you, least of all William himself. He is a very fine young man. Of course you feel like strangers now. Hut I think you’ll find sufficient to talk about before long." But would they? Kit wondered, climbing the stairs to bed. Her doubts persisted through the week. A second Saturday passed, a third and a fourth, and William's calls fell into a pattern. I shall ask Mercy to teach me to knit, Kit decided after the second Saturday, and thereafter she armed herself with wool and needles. At least they kept her hands occupied and gave her an excuse for not meeting that implacable gaze. William seemed to find nothing lacking in those evenings. For him it was enough simply to sit across the room and look at her. It was Battering, she had to admit. The most eligible bachelor in Wethersfield and handsome, actually, in his substantial way. Sometimes, as she sat knitting, aware that William's eyes were on her face, she felt her breath tightening in a way that was strange and not unpleasant. Then, just as suddenly, rebellion would rise in her. He was so sure! Without even asking, he was reckoning on her as deliberately as he calculated his growing pile of lumber. Perhaps she would not have thought about William so much had there been anything else to break the long monotonous stretch from Saturday to Saturday. It was incredible that every day should be the same, varied only in the work that filled every hour from sunrise to dark. Surely, a seemed, there must come a moment when all the tasks would be done and some brief leisure earned, yet always a new chore loomed ahead. A shearing had brought a veritable mountain of gray wool to be washed and bleached and dyed, enough to keep Mercy carding and spinning and weaving for the next twelve months. There was water to draw and linen to scrub and, everlastingly. the endless rows of vegetables to weed and hoe. Kit had not found a
Page 1 and 2: THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND ELIZABE
Page 3 and 4: "There are passengers to go ashore,
Page 5 and 6: woolen jumper and jerked her back,
Page 7 and 8: sister back in England, and that sh
Page 9 and 10: "No danger," Kit shuddered. "I woul
Page 11 and 12: appallingly dull history. "I suppos
Page 13 and 14: clammily against her skin. In the h
Page 15 and 16: to myself while he studied." "What
Page 17 and 18: Kit's head went higher. "I am entir
Page 19 and 20: ight fire crackled, throwing glanci
Page 21 and 22: "I declare, you look so like her it
Page 23 and 24: wasn't anything left, not even enou
Page 25 and 26: gorgeous!" "Here are the gloves." K
Page 27 and 28: "Kit has given me this dress. Did y
Page 29 and 30: It looked so easy, but the moment K
Page 31 and 32: "Why, daughter," her mother rebuked
Page 33 and 34: ears ring. She knew that her cheeks
Page 35 and 36: "You must bring your new pupil with
Page 37 and 38: "A very excellent dinner, Mistress
Page 39 and 40: understood as John began to read. "
Page 41 and 42: "Well, I told you so!" Judith final
Page 43: "Thank you, ma'am." "With all the n
Page 47 and 48: Or was it simply the sense of freed
Page 49 and 50: "Where is this school?" "Right here
Page 51 and 52: "That's fine," praised Kit. "Now go
Page 53 and 54: given for that much-loved volume th
Page 55 and 56: "I am shocked and disappointed," he
Page 57 and 58: "There's a well behind the house,"
Page 59 and 60: south, a single stalk of green thru
Page 61 and 62: Kit looked down at the door. All he
Page 63 and 64: "What shall I tell them at home?" "
Page 65 and 66: Nat made a bow. "Mistress Tyler and
Page 67 and 68: Hannah smiled up at her. "God go wi
Page 69 and 70: "I'm too big," stammered Prudence.
Page 71 and 72: "I know what we'll do," she suggest
Page 73 and 74: however, took a lively interest in
Page 75 and 76: CHAPTER TWELVE DAME SCHOOL ended in
Page 77 and 78: "Maybe you could at that," he repli
Page 79 and 80: Nat laughed. "That Shakespeare shou
Page 81 and 82: shouldn't have accepted her help, b
Page 83 and 84: what her answer would be. As Willia
Page 85 and 86: Sooner than you think, maybe though
Page 87 and 88: John shook his head, still smiling.
Page 89 and 90: she made an effort to gather her fo
Page 91 and 92: An odd confusion, half eagerness an
Page 93 and 94: "Well I certainly don't think much
Page 95 and 96:
it was all she could do to keep her
Page 97 and 98:
Presently a murmur arose as the fir
Page 99 and 100:
"No sir," he answered. "The room wa
Page 101 and 102:
"They came roistering into town jus
Page 103 and 104:
hereafter, on certainty of thirty l
Page 105 and 106:
"Can you sew, truly?" demanded Prud
Page 107 and 108:
affectionate smile. For a time they
Page 109 and 110:
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN FIVE DAYS after J
Page 111 and 112:
Late in the afternoon the doctor ro
Page 113 and 114:
"No," sighed Rachel. "Even that cou
Page 115 and 116:
Desperately Kit shook the old woman
Page 117 and 118:
Then, unbelievably, out of the mist
Page 119 and 120:
"Or you can go on to the West Indie
Page 121 and 122:
gone forever. Matthew came back pre
Page 123 and 124:
"Did you know you had lost it? Was
Page 125 and 126:
"Brought some supper," he growled.
Page 127 and 128:
poor child! And yet, how lovely it
Page 129 and 130:
deservest to die." There was a murm
Page 131 and 132:
"You admit then that her education
Page 133 and 134:
"Hold a minute, Captain!" called a
Page 135 and 136:
might as well tell it, Prudence has
Page 137 and 138:
trick to teach her to read." Goodwi
Page 139 and 140:
"Snowing!" Mercy struggled up on on
Page 141 and 142:
Kit said nothing. "You don't seem v
Page 143 and 144:
She could shut her eyes and see the
Page 145 and 146:
Barbados. At this very moment she m
Page 147 and 148:
John had resumed his studies with D
Page 149 and 150:
She had forgotten that summer would
Page 151 and 152:
"And the Dolphin? I)id something ha
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THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND - CSIR

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