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Speaker 1: A jury of her peers by Susan Glaspell. When Martha

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Hale opened the storm door and got a cut of

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the north wind, she ran back for her big woolen scarf.

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As she hurriedly wound that round her head, her eye

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made a scandalized sweep of her kitchen. It was no

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ordinary thing that called her away. It was probably further

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from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in Dixon County.

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But what her eye took in was that her kitchen

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was in no shape for leaving her bread already for mixing,

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half the flower sifted and half unsifted. She hated to

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see things half done, but she had been at that

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when the team from town stopped to get mister Hale,

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and then the sheriff came running in to say his

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wife wished missus Hale would come too, adding with a

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grin that he guessed she was getting scary and wanted

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another woman along. So she had dropped everything right where

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it was. Martha now came her husband's impatient voice, don't

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keep folks waiting out here in the cold. She again

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opened the storm door, and this time joined the three

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men and the one woman waiting for her in the

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big two seated buggy. After she had the robes tucked

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round her, she took another look at the woman who

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sat beside her on the back seat. She had met

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Missus Peters the year before at the county fair, and

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the thing she remembered about her was that she didn't

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seem like a sheriff's wife. She was small and thin

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and didn't have a strong voice. Missus Gorman, sheriff's wife

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before Gorman went out and Peters came in, had a

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voice that somehow seemed to be backing up the law

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with every word. But if Missus Peters didn't look like

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a sheriff's wife, Peters made it up in looking like

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a sheriff. He was, to a dot, the kind of

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man who could get himself elected sheriff, a heavy man

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with a big voice, who was particularly funial with the Laura,

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abiding as if to make it plain that he knew

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the difference between criminals and non criminals. And right there

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it came into Missus Hale's mind with a stab that

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this man who was so pleasant and lively with all

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of them, was going to the rights now as a sheriff.

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The country's not very pleasant this time of year. Missus

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Peters at last ventured as if she felt they ought

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to be talking as well as the men. Missus Hale

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scarcely finished her reply, for they had gone up a

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little hill and could see the right place now, and

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seeing it did not make her feel like talking. It

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looked very lonesome this cold March morning. It had always

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been a lonesome looking place. It was down in a hollow,

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and the poplar trees around it were lonesome looking trees.

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The men were looking at it and talking about what

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had happened. The County Attorney was bending to one side

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of the buggy and kept looking steadily at the place

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as they drew up to it. I'm glad you came

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with me, Missus Peters, said nervously, as the two women

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were about to follow the men in through the kitchen door.

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Even after she had her foot on the doorstep her

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hand on the knob, Martha Hale had a moment of

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feeling she could not cross that threshold and the reason

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it seemed she couldn't cross it now was simply because

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she hadn't crossed it before. Time and time again, it

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had been in her mind. I ought to go over

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and see Minnie Foster. She still thought of her as

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Minnie Foster, though for twenty years she had been Missus Wright.

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And then there was always something to do, and Minnie

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Foster would go from her mind. But now she could come.

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The men went over to the stove. The women stood

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close together by the door. Young Henderson, the county attorney,

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turned around and said, come up to the fire, ladies.

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Missus Peters took a step forward and stopped. I'm not cold,

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she said, And so the two women stood by the

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door at first, not even so much as looking around

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the kitchen. The men talked for a minute about what

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a good thing it was the sheriff had sent his

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deputy out that morning to make a fire for them.

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And then Sheriff Peters stepped back from the stove, unbuttoned

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his outer coat, and leaned his hands on the kitchen

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table in a way that seemed to mark the beginning

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of official business. Now, mister Hale, he said, in a

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sort of semi official voice, before we move things about, you,

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tell mister Henderson just what it was you saw when

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you came here yesterday morning. The county attorney was looking

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around the kitchen. By the way, he said, has anything

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been moved? He turned to the sheriff. Are things just

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as you left them yesterday? Peters looked from cupboard to sink,

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from that to a small worn rocker a little to

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one side of the g table. It's just the same.

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Somebody should have been here yesterday, said the county attorney. Oh, yesterday,

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returned the sheriff, with a little gesture, as of yesterday

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having been more than he could bear to think of

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when I had to send Frank to Morris Center for

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that man who went crazy. Let me tell you I

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had my hands full yesterday. I knew you could get

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back from Omaha by to day, George, And as long

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as I went over everything here myself, well, mister Hale,

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said the county attorney, in a way of letting what

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was past and gone go. Tell us just what happened

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when you came here yesterday morning. Missus Hale, still leaning

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against the door, had that sinking feeling of the mother

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whose child is about to speak a piece. Lewis often

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wandered along and got things mixed up in a story.

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He hoped he would tell this straightened, plain and not

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say unnecessary things that would just make things harder for

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Minnie Foster. He didn't begin at once, and she noticed

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that he looked queer, as if standing in that kitchen

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and having to tell what he had seen there yesterday

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morning made him almost sick. Yes, mister Hale, the county

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attorney reminded, Harry and I had started a town with

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a load of potatoes. Missus Hale's husband began. Harry was

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Missus Hale's oldest boy. He wasn't with them now for

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the very good reason that those potatoes never got to

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town yesterday, and he was taking them this morning, so

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he hadn't been home when the sheriff stopped to say

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he wanted mister Hale to come over to the right

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place and tell the county attorney his story there where

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he could point it all out with all Missus Hale's

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other emotions came the fear now that maybe Harry wasn't

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dressed warm enough. They hadn't any of them realized how

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that north wind did bite we come along this road.

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Hale was going on with a motion of his hand

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to the road over which they had just come. And

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as we got inside of the house, I says to Harry,

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I'm going to see if I can't get John Wright

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take a telephone, you see, he explained to Henderson. Unless

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I can get somebody to go in with me, they

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won't come out on this branch road except for a

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price I can't pay. I'd spoken to write about it

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once before, but he put me off, saying folks talk

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too much anyway, and all he asked was peace and quiet.

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Guess you know about how much he talked himself. But

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I thought maybe if I went to the house and

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talked about it before his wife and said all the

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women folks like the telephones, and that in this lonesome

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stretch of road, it would be a good thing. Well,

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I said to Harry that that was what I was

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going to say, though I said at the same time

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that I didn't know as what his wife wanted made

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much difference to John. Now there he was saying things

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he didn't need to say. Missus Hale tried to catch

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her husband's eye, but fortunately the county attorney interrupted with

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let's talk about that a little later, mister Hale. I

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do want to talk about that, but I'm very anxious

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now to get along to just what happened when you

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got here. When he began this time, it was very

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deliberately and carefully. I didn't see or hear anything. I

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knocked at the door, and still it was all quiet inside.

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I knew they must be up. It was past eight o'clock,

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so I knocked again louder, and I thought I heard

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somebody say come in. I wasn't sure. I'm not sure yet,

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but I opened the door this door, jerking a hand

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toward the door by which the two women stood, and

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there in that rocker, pointing to it, sat Missus Wright.

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Every one in the kitchen looked at the rocker. It

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came into missus Hale's mind that that rocker didn't look

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in the least like Minnie Foster, the mini Foster of

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twenty years before. It was a dingy read with wooden

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rungs up the back, and the middle rung was gone,

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and the chair sagged to one side. How did she look?

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The county attorney was inquiring, Well, said Hale, she looked queer.

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How do you mean queer? As he asked it, he

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took out a notebook and pencil. Missus Hale did not

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like the sight of that pencil. She kept her eye

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fixed on her husband, as if to keep him from

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saying unnecessary things that would go into that note book

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and make trouble. Hale did speak guardedly, as if the

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pencil had affected him too, well, as if she didn't

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know what she was going to do next, and kind

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of done up. How did she seem to feel about

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your coming? Why? I don't think she minded one way

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or other. She didn't pay much of I said, how

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do missus right? It's cold, ain't it? And she said

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is it? And went on pleating at her apron Well.

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I was surprised she didn't ask me to come up

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to the stove or to sit down, but just sat there,

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not even looking at me. And so I said, I

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want to see John, and then she laughed. I guessed

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you would call it a laugh. I thought of Harry

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and the team outside. So I said, a little sharp,

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can I see John? No? Says she kind of dull, like,

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ain't ye home? Says I. Then she looked at me, Yes,

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says she. He's home. Then why can't I see him?

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I asked her, out of patience with her now, because

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he's dead, says she just as quiet and dull and

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fell to pleat in her apron dead says I like

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you do when you can't take in what you've heard.

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She just nodded her head, not getting a bit excited,

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but rocking back and forth. Why where is he says, I.

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Not knowing what to say, she just pointed upstairs like this,

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pointing to the room above. I got up with the

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idea of going up there myself. By this time I

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didn't know what to do. I walked from there to hear.

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Then I says, why what did he die of? He

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died of a rope around his neck, says she, and

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just went on pleating at her apron. Hale stopped speaking

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and stood staring at the rocker, as if he were

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still seeing the woman who had sat there the morning before.

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Nobody spoke. It was as if everyone was seeing the

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woman who had sat there the morning before. And what

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did you do? Then? The attorney at last broke the silence.

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I went out and called Harry. I thought I might

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need help. I got Harry in and we went upstairs.

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His voice fell almost to a whisper. There he was

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lying over the I think I'd rather have you go

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into that upstairs, the county attorney interrupted, Where you can

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point it all out, Just go on now with the

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rest of the story. Well, my first thought was to

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get that rope off. It looked he stopped his face twitching.

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But Harry, he went up to him, and he said, no,

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he's dead, all right, and we'd better not touch anything.

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So we went downstairs. She was still sitting that same way.

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Has anybody been notified? I asked, No, says she, unconcerned.

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Who did this, missus Wright, said Harry. He said it

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business like, and she stopped pleating at her apron. I

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don't know, she says. You don't know, says Harry. Weren't

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you sleeping in the bed with him, yes, says she.

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But I was on the inside. Somebody slipped a rope

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round his neck and strangled him, and you didn't wake up,

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says Harry. I didn't wake up, she said after him.

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We may have looked as if we didn't see how

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that could be. For after a minute, she said, I

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sleep sound. Harry was going to ask her more questions,

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but I said, maybe that weren't our business. Maybe we

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ought to let her tell her story first to the

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coroner or the sheriff. So Harry went as fast as

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he could over to high road, the River's place, where

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there's a telephone, And what did she do when she

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knew you had gone for the coroner? The attorney got

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his pencil in his hand, all ready for writing. She

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moved from that chair to this one over here. Hale

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pointed to a small chair in the corner and just

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sat there with her hands held together and looking down.

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I got a feeling that I ought to make some conversation,

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so I said I had come in to see if

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John wanted to put in a telephone. And at that

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she started to laugh. And then she stopped and looked

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at me, scared at the sound of a moving pencil.

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The man who was telling the story looked up. I dunno,

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maybe it wasn't scared, he hastened. I wouldn't like to

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say it was. Soon Harry got back, and then doctor

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Lloyd came and knew mister Peters, And so I guess

239
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,279
that's all I know that you don't. He said that

240
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,639
last with relief, and moved a little, as if relaxing.

241
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,080
Everyone moved a little. The County attorney walked toward the

242
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,360
stair door. I guess we go upstairs first, then out

243
00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,440
to the barn and around there. He paused and looked

244
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,480
around the kitchen. You're convinced there was nothing important here,

245
00:15:02,919 --> 00:15:06,240
he asked the sheriff, Nothing that would point to any motive.

246
00:15:08,519 --> 00:15:11,919
The sheriff, too, looked all around as if to reconvince himself.

247
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,879
Nothing here but kitchen things, he said, with a little laugh,

248
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:22,039
for the insignificance of kitchen things. The county attorney was

249
00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,240
looking at the cupboard, a peculiar, ungainly structure, half closet

250
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,080
and half cupboard, the upper part of it being built

251
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,440
in the wall, and the lower part just the old

252
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,919
fashioned kitchen cupboard, as if its queerness attracted him. He

253
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,559
got a chair and opened the upper part and looked in.

254
00:15:39,639 --> 00:15:43,120
After a moment he drew his hand away. Sticky, here's

255
00:15:43,159 --> 00:15:47,600
a nice mess, he said, resentfully. The two women had

256
00:15:47,639 --> 00:15:52,519
drawn nearer, and now the Sheriff's wife spoke, Oh her fruit,

257
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,600
she said, looking to missus Hale for sympathetic understanding. She

258
00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:01,440
turned back to the county Attorney and explained she worried

259
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,519
about that when it turned so cold last night. She said,

260
00:16:04,519 --> 00:16:06,759
the fire would go out and her jars might burst.

261
00:16:08,159 --> 00:16:12,519
Missus Peter's husband broke into a laugh, Well can you

262
00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:16,480
beat the woman held for murder? And worrying about her preserves.

263
00:16:17,679 --> 00:16:21,200
The young attorney set his lips. I guess before we

264
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,639
are through with her, she may have something more serious

265
00:16:23,639 --> 00:16:28,879
than preserves to worry about. Oh well, said missus Hale's husband,

266
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:34,080
with good natured superiority. Women are used to worrying over trifles.

267
00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,600
The two women moved a little closer together. Neither of

268
00:16:38,639 --> 00:16:42,399
them spoke. The county attorney seemed suddenly to remember his

269
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:47,480
manners and think of his future. And yet said he,

270
00:16:47,879 --> 00:16:51,759
with the gallantry of a young politician, for all their worries,

271
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,679
what would we do without the ladies? The women did

272
00:16:56,679 --> 00:17:01,240
not speak, did not unbend. He went to the sink

273
00:17:01,399 --> 00:17:04,759
and began washing his hands. He turned to wipe them

274
00:17:04,759 --> 00:17:07,720
on the roller towel. Welled it for a cleaner place.

275
00:17:09,279 --> 00:17:12,599
Dirty towels. Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies.

276
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,839
He kicked his foot against some dirty pans under the sink.

277
00:17:18,799 --> 00:17:20,599
There's a great deal of work to be done on

278
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:26,400
a farm, said missus Hale, stiffly, to be sure, and yet,

279
00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,640
with a little bow to her I know there are

280
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,440
some Dixon County farm houses that do not have such

281
00:17:32,519 --> 00:17:36,799
roller towels. He gave it a pull to expose its

282
00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:42,119
full length again. Those towels get dirty orful quick. Men's

283
00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:46,160
hands aren't aways as clean as they might be. Ah

284
00:17:46,319 --> 00:17:50,119
loyal to your sex, I see, he laughed. He stopped

285
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,359
and gave her a keen look. But you and missus

286
00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:58,480
Wright were neighbors. I suppose you were friends too. Martha

287
00:17:58,519 --> 00:18:01,599
Hale shook her head. I've seen little enough of her

288
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,279
of late years. I've not been in this house it's

289
00:18:04,319 --> 00:18:07,880
more than a year. And why was that you didn't

290
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,880
like her? I liked her well enough, she replied with spirit.

291
00:18:13,559 --> 00:18:17,160
Farmer's wives have their hands full, mister Henderson, and then

292
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:25,079
she looked around the kitchen. Yes, he encouraged, it never

293
00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:29,480
seemed a very cheerful place, said she, more to herself

294
00:18:29,519 --> 00:18:34,119
than to him. No, he agreed, I don't think any

295
00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,599
one would call it cheerful. I shouldn't say she had

296
00:18:36,599 --> 00:18:41,279
the home making instinct. Well I don't know as right

297
00:18:41,319 --> 00:18:45,440
had either. She muttered, You mean they didn't get on

298
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:50,519
very well? He was quick to ask. No, I don't

299
00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:54,680
mean anything, she answered with decision. As she turned a

300
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,640
little away from him. She added, but I don't think

301
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,839
a place would be any the cheerfuller for John Wright's

302
00:18:59,839 --> 00:19:04,240
be in it. I'd like to talk to you about

303
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,799
that a little later, Missus Hale, he said, I'm anxious

304
00:19:07,839 --> 00:19:11,440
to get the lay of things upstairs now. He moved

305
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,400
toward the stair door, followed by the two men. I

306
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,119
suppose anything Missus Peters does will be all right, the

307
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,160
sheriff inquired. She was to take some clothes in for her,

308
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,599
you know, and a few little things we left in

309
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,759
such a hurry yesterday. The county attorney looked at the

310
00:19:27,799 --> 00:19:32,440
two women they were leaving there alone among the kitchen things. Yes,

311
00:19:32,599 --> 00:19:36,279
Missus Peters, he said, his glance resting on the woman

312
00:19:36,279 --> 00:19:39,160
who was not Missus Peters, the big farmer woman who

313
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,680
stood behind the sheriff's wife. Of course, Missus Peters is

314
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,680
one of us, he said, in a manner of intrusting responsibility.

315
00:19:48,559 --> 00:19:51,039
And keep your eye out, Missus Peters, for anything that

316
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,279
might be of use. No telling you. Women might come

317
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,960
upon a clue to the motive, and that's the thing

318
00:19:57,039 --> 00:20:01,640
we need. Mister Hale rubbed face, after the fashion of

319
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,359
a showman getting ready for a pleasantry. But would the

320
00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,240
women know a clue if they did come upon it?

321
00:20:07,839 --> 00:20:11,640
He said, And having delivered himself of this, he followed

322
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:16,519
the others through the stair door. The women stood motionless

323
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,680
and silent, listening to the footsteps, first upon the stairs,

324
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,359
then in the room above them. Then, as if releasing

325
00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,920
herself from something strange, missus Hale began to arrange the

326
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,680
dirty pans under the sink, which the county attorney's disdainful

327
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,200
push at the foot had deranged. I'd hate to have

328
00:20:36,319 --> 00:20:40,119
men coming into my kitchen, she said, testily, snooping round

329
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,640
and criticizing. Of course, it's no more than her duty,

330
00:20:45,279 --> 00:20:48,640
said the sheriff's wife, in her manner of timid acquiescence.

331
00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,759
Duty's all right, replied missus Hale bluffly. But I guess

332
00:20:53,799 --> 00:20:55,799
that deputy sheriff that come out to make the fire

333
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,400
might have got a little of this on. She gave

334
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,319
the roller towel a pull. Wish had thought of that sooner.

335
00:21:02,799 --> 00:21:04,920
Seems mean to talk about her for not having things

336
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,039
slicked up when she had to come away in such

337
00:21:07,079 --> 00:21:11,720
a hurry. She looked around the kitchen. Suddenly it was

338
00:21:11,759 --> 00:21:15,200
not slicked up. Her eye was held by a bucket

339
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,039
of sugar on a low shelf. The cover was off

340
00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:20,759
the wooden bucket and beside it was a paper bag

341
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:26,640
half full. Missus Hale moved toward it. She was putting

342
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,519
this in there, she said to herself. Slowly. She thought

343
00:21:31,559 --> 00:21:34,759
of the flower in her kitchen at home, half sifted,

344
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,400
half not sifted. She had been interrupted and had left

345
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:44,559
things half done. What had interrupted Minnie Foster? Why had

346
00:21:44,599 --> 00:21:48,680
that work been left half done? She made a move

347
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,960
as if to finish it. Unfinished things always bothered her.

348
00:21:52,799 --> 00:21:55,559
And then she glanced round and saw that Missus Peters

349
00:21:55,599 --> 00:21:58,480
was watching her, and she didn't want Missus Peters to

350
00:21:58,519 --> 00:22:01,359
get that feeling. She had got work begun and then

351
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,759
for some reason not finished. It's a shame about her fruit,

352
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,839
she said, and walked toward the cupboard that the County

353
00:22:08,839 --> 00:22:12,599
Attorney had opened, and got on the chair, murmuring, I

354
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,799
wonder if it's all gone. It was a sorry enough

355
00:22:15,839 --> 00:22:19,559
looking sight. But here's one that's all right, she said

356
00:22:19,559 --> 00:22:24,759
at last, she held it toward the light. Missus cherries too.

357
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,039
She looked again. I declare I believe that's the only one.

358
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,279
With a sigh, she got down from the chair, went

359
00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:37,160
to the sink and wiped off the bottle. She'll feel

360
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,759
awful bad after all, her hard work in the hot weather.

361
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,160
I remember the afternoon I put up my cherries last summer.

362
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,039
She set the bottle on a table, and, with another sigh,

363
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,759
started to sit down in the rocker. But she did

364
00:22:51,759 --> 00:22:55,200
not sit down. Something kept her from sitting down in

365
00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:01,039
that chair. She straightened, stepped back, and half turned away,

366
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,640
stood looking at it. Seeing the woman who had sat

367
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,640
there pleating at her apron, The thin voice of the

368
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,960
sheriff's wife broke in upon her. I must be getting

369
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,519
those things from the front room closet. She opened the

370
00:23:16,559 --> 00:23:20,960
door into the other room, started in, stepped back. You

371
00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:25,359
coming with me, Missus Hale, she asked, nervously. You you

372
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,440
could help me get them. They were soon back. The

373
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,039
stark coldness of that shut up room was not a

374
00:23:32,079 --> 00:23:37,240
thing to linger in my said Missus Peters, dropping the

375
00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:40,960
things on the table and hurrying to the stove. Missus

376
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,720
Hale stood examining the clothes the woman who was being

377
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,160
detained in town had said she wanted right. Was close,

378
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,079
she exclaimed, holding up a shabby black skirt that bore

379
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,680
the marks of much making over. I think maybe that's

380
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,440
why she kept so much to herself. I suppose she

381
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,240
felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't

382
00:24:01,319 --> 00:24:04,160
enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear

383
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,480
pretty clothes and be lively when she was Minnie Foster,

384
00:24:07,839 --> 00:24:12,720
one of the town girls, singing in the choir. But that, oh,

385
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:17,799
that was twenty years ago. With a carefulness in which

386
00:24:17,799 --> 00:24:21,559
there was something tender, she folded the shabby clothes and

387
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,880
piled them at one corner of the table. She looked

388
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,400
up at Missus Peters, and there was something in the

389
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,519
other woman's look that irritated her. She don't care, she

390
00:24:32,599 --> 00:24:35,480
said to herself, much difference it makes to her whether

391
00:24:35,519 --> 00:24:37,640
Minnie Foster had pretty clothes when she was a girl.

392
00:24:39,279 --> 00:24:43,519
Then she looked again, and she wasn't so sure. In fact,

393
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,759
she hadn't at any time been perfectly sure about Missus Peters.

394
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,039
She had that shrinking manner, and yet her eyes looked

395
00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:53,759
as if they could see a long way into things.

396
00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:59,640
This all you was to take, in, asked Missus Hale, No,

397
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,680
said the sheriff's wife. She said she wanted an apron

398
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,240
funny thing to want. She ventured in her nervous little way,

399
00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:09,839
For there's not much to get you dirty in jail.

400
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,319
Goodness knows but I suppose just to make her feel

401
00:25:13,319 --> 00:25:17,839
more natural if you're used to wearing an apron. She said,

402
00:25:17,839 --> 00:25:20,599
they were in the bottom drawer of this cupboard. Yes,

403
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,680
here they are, And then her little shawl that always

404
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,680
hung on the stair door. She took the small gray

405
00:25:27,759 --> 00:25:31,000
shawl from behind the door leading up stairs and stood

406
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,279
a minute looking at it. Suddenly missus Hale took a

407
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:40,680
quick step toward the other woman, Missus Peters. Yes, missus Hale,

408
00:25:41,799 --> 00:25:46,839
do you think she did it? A frightened look blurred

409
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,640
the other thing in missus Peters's eyes. Oh I don't know,

410
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,200
she said, in a voice that seemed to shrink away

411
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:58,039
from the subject. Well I don't think she did, affirmed

412
00:25:58,039 --> 00:26:01,920
missus Hale, stoutly asking for an apron and her little shawl,

413
00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:08,480
worrying about her fruit. Mister Peters says footsteps were heard

414
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,279
in the room above. She stopped, looked up, and then

415
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:16,720
went on in a lowered voice. Mister Peters says, it

416
00:26:16,799 --> 00:26:20,200
looks bad for her. Mister Henderson is awful sarcastic in

417
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,359
a speech, and he's going to make fun of her,

418
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,039
saying she didn't wake up for a moment. Missus Hale

419
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:31,359
had no answer. Then, well, I guess John Wright didn't

420
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,960
wake up when they were slipping that rope under his neck.

421
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:40,319
She muttered, No, it's strange, breathed missus Peters. So I

422
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,759
think it was such a funny way to kill a man.

423
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,279
She began to laugh. At sound of the laugh abruptly stopped.

424
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,640
That's just what mister Hale said, said Missus Hale, in

425
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,000
a resolutely natural voice. There was a gun in the house,

426
00:26:57,279 --> 00:27:01,759
he says. That's what he can't understand. Mister Henderson said

427
00:27:02,079 --> 00:27:04,400
coming out, though what was needed for the case was

428
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:10,440
a motive, something to show anger or sudden feeling. Well,

429
00:27:10,519 --> 00:27:13,200
I don't see any signs of anger around here, said

430
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,279
missus Hale. I don't. She stopped. It was as if

431
00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:22,160
her mind tripped on something. Her eye was caught by

432
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,160
a dish towel in the middle of the kitchen table.

433
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,119
Slowly she moved toward the table, One half of it

434
00:27:29,319 --> 00:27:34,279
was wiped clean, the other half messy. Her eyes made

435
00:27:34,279 --> 00:27:37,319
a slow, almost unwilling turn to the bucket of sugar

436
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,440
and the half empty bag beside it. Things begun and

437
00:27:42,599 --> 00:27:48,079
not finished. After a moment, she stepped back and said,

438
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,720
in that manner of releasing herself. Wonder how they're finding

439
00:27:51,759 --> 00:27:54,359
things upstairs. I hope she had it a little more

440
00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:59,839
redd up up there, you know, she paused, and feeling gathered.

441
00:28:01,079 --> 00:28:03,960
It seems kind of sneaking, locking her up in town

442
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,279
and coming out here to get her own house to

443
00:28:06,319 --> 00:28:10,920
turn against her. But missus Hale said the sheriff's wife.

444
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:16,279
The law is the law, I suppose tis, answered missus Hale.

445
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,599
Shortly she turned to the stove, saying something about that

446
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,880
fire not being much to brag of. She worked with

447
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,519
it for a minute, and when she straightened up, she

448
00:28:26,559 --> 00:28:30,079
said aggressively, the law is the law, and a bad

449
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,680
stove is a bad stove. How do you like to

450
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,000
cook on this? Pointing with the poker to the broken lining.

451
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,119
She opened the oven door and started to express her

452
00:28:40,119 --> 00:28:43,079
opinion of the oven. But she was swept in her

453
00:28:43,119 --> 00:28:46,559
own thoughts, thinking of what it would mean year after

454
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,440
year to have that stove to wrestle with the thought

455
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,279
of Minnie Foster trying to bake in that oven, and

456
00:28:53,319 --> 00:28:55,920
the thought of her never going over to see Minnie Foster.

457
00:28:58,319 --> 00:29:02,119
She was startled by hearing Missus Peters say a person

458
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:07,319
gets discouraged and loses heart. The sheriff's wife had looked

459
00:29:07,319 --> 00:29:10,119
from the stove to the sink, to the pail of

460
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,000
water which had been carried in from outside. The two

461
00:29:14,039 --> 00:29:17,519
women stood there, silent. Above them the footsteps of the

462
00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:20,079
men who were looking for evidence against the woman who

463
00:29:20,119 --> 00:29:24,359
had worked in that kitchen. That look of seeing into things,

464
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,720
of seeing through a thing to something else, was in

465
00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:31,720
the eyes of the sheriff's wife. Now. When missus Hale

466
00:29:31,839 --> 00:29:36,279
next spoke to her, it was gently, better loosen up

467
00:29:36,319 --> 00:29:38,799
your things, Missus Peters, will not feel them when we

468
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,319
go out. Missus Peters went to the back of the

469
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,920
room to hang up the fur tippet she was wearing.

470
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:49,400
A moment later, she exclaimed why she was piecing a

471
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,599
quilt and held up a large sewing basket piled high

472
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,759
with quilt pieces. Missus Hale spread some of the blocks

473
00:29:57,759 --> 00:30:02,079
on a table. It's low cabin patten, she said, putting

474
00:30:02,119 --> 00:30:06,640
several of them together. Pretty, isn't it. They were so

475
00:30:06,759 --> 00:30:09,039
engaged with a quilt that they did not hear the

476
00:30:09,079 --> 00:30:12,759
footsteps on the stairs. Just as the stair door opened,

477
00:30:13,039 --> 00:30:15,640
Missus Hale was saying, do you suppose she was going

478
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,000
to quilt it? Or just not it. The sheriff threw

479
00:30:19,079 --> 00:30:22,160
up his hands. They wonder whether she was going to

480
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,880
quilt it or just not it. There was a laugh

481
00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:28,920
for the ways of women, a warming of hands over

482
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:33,240
the stove, and then the county attorney said briskly, well,

483
00:30:33,599 --> 00:30:35,279
let's go right out to the barn and get that

484
00:30:35,319 --> 00:30:39,480
cleared up. I don't see as there's anything so strange,

485
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,680
missus Hale said, resentfully, after the outside door had closed on.

486
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,680
The three men are taking up our time with little

487
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,079
things while we're waiting for them to get the evidence.

488
00:30:49,759 --> 00:30:53,960
I don't see as it's anything to laugh about. Of course,

489
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,039
they've got awful important things on their minds, said the

490
00:30:57,079 --> 00:31:01,960
sheriff's wife apologetically. They returned to an inspection of the

491
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,839
block for the quilt. Missus Hale was looking at the fine,

492
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,160
even sewing and preoccupied with thoughts of the woman who

493
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,559
had done that sewing, when she heard the Sheriff's wife say,

494
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:18,359
in a queer tone, why look at this one? She

495
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,160
turned to take the block held out to her. The

496
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,480
sewing said Missus Peters in a troubled way. All the

497
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,000
rest of them have been so nice and even, but

498
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,160
this one, why it looks as if she didn't know

499
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:37,079
what she was about. Her eyes met, something flashed to

500
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,799
life passed between them. Then, as if with an effort,

501
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:46,039
they seemed to pull away from each other a moment.

502
00:31:46,119 --> 00:31:49,680
Missus Hale sat there, her hands folded over that sewing,

503
00:31:50,079 --> 00:31:52,200
which was so unlike all the rest of the sewing.

504
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,359
Then she had pulled a knot and drawn the threads.

505
00:31:57,799 --> 00:32:00,759
Oh what are you doing, missus Hale, asked the sheriff's

506
00:32:00,759 --> 00:32:04,480
wife startled, just pulling out a stitch or two that's

507
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,119
not sewed very good, said missus Hale, mildly. I don't

508
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,039
think we ought to touch things, Missus Peters said, a

509
00:32:12,079 --> 00:32:17,000
little helplessly. I'll just finish up this end, answered missus Hale.

510
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,000
Still in that mild, matter of fact fashion, she threaded

511
00:32:22,039 --> 00:32:25,079
a needle and started to replace bad sewing with good.

512
00:32:27,079 --> 00:32:31,720
For a little while she sewed in silence. Then in

513
00:32:31,799 --> 00:32:38,359
that thin, timid voice, she heard missus Hale. Yes, Missus Peters,

514
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:44,119
what do you suppose she was so nervous about? Oh?

515
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,279
I don't know, said missus Hale, as if dismissing a

516
00:32:47,319 --> 00:32:50,359
thing not important enough to spend much time on. I

517
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,119
don't know. As she was nervous. I sow awful queer

518
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:58,680
sometimes when I'm just tired. She cut a thread, and

519
00:32:58,759 --> 00:33:00,640
out of the corner of her eye, looked up at

520
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:04,759
Missus Peters. The small, lean face of the sheriff's wife

521
00:33:04,839 --> 00:33:08,200
seemed to have tightened up. Her eyes had that look

522
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:13,200
of peering into something. But next moment she moved and said,

523
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,279
in her thin, indecisive way, well, I must get those

524
00:33:17,279 --> 00:33:20,039
clothes wrapped. They may be through sooner than we think.

525
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:22,519
I wonder where I could find a piece of paper

526
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:27,720
and string in that cupboard, may be, suggested missus Hale.

527
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,359
After a glance around, one piece of the crazy sewing

528
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:37,480
remained unripped. Missus Peter's back turned. Martha Hale now scrutinized

529
00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:41,039
that piece compared it with the dainty, accurate sewing of

530
00:33:41,079 --> 00:33:46,480
the other blocks. The difference was startling. Holding this block

531
00:33:46,519 --> 00:33:49,519
made her feel queer, as if the distracted thoughts of

532
00:33:49,559 --> 00:33:51,880
the woman who had perhaps turned to it to try

533
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:57,240
and quiet herself, were communicating themselves to her. Missus Peter's

534
00:33:57,319 --> 00:34:02,160
voice roused her. Here's a bird, she said. Did she

535
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,039
have a bird? Missus Hale? Why? I don't know whether

536
00:34:06,039 --> 00:34:09,000
she did or not. She turned to look at the cage.

537
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,000
Missus Peters was holding up. I've not been here in

538
00:34:12,119 --> 00:34:16,840
so long, she sighed. There was a man round last

539
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,800
year selling canary's cheap, but I don't know as she

540
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,159
took one. Maybe she did. She used to sing real

541
00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:29,000
pretty herself. Missus Peters looked around the kitchen. Seems kind

542
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,000
of funny to think of a bird here, she half laughed.

543
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,320
An attempt to put up a barrier. But she must

544
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,559
have had one, or why would she have a cage?

545
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:42,360
I wonder what happened to it. I suppose maybe the

546
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:47,480
cat got it, suggested Missus Hale, resuming her sewing. No,

547
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,320
she didn't have a cat. She's got that feeling some

548
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,920
people have about cats being afraid of them. When they

549
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,480
brought her to our house yesterday. My cat got in

550
00:34:56,559 --> 00:34:58,800
the room and she was real upset and asked me

551
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,440
to take it out. My sister Bessie was like that,

552
00:35:03,079 --> 00:35:08,199
laughed missus Hale. The sheriff's wife did not reply. The

553
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,840
silence made missus Hale turn round. Missus Peters was examining

554
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:18,119
the bird cage. Look at this door, she said, slowly.

555
00:35:19,079 --> 00:35:24,440
It's broke. One hinge has been pulled apart. Missus Hale

556
00:35:24,519 --> 00:35:27,880
came nearer, looks as if some one must have been

557
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:35,800
rough with it. Again, their eyes met, startled, questioning, apprehensive.

558
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:42,760
For a moment, neither spoke nor stirred. Then missus Hale,

559
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:46,719
turning away, said briskly, if they're going to find any evidence,

560
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,480
I wish they'd be about it. I don't like this place,

561
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:52,960
but I'm awful glad you came with me, missus Hale.

562
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:55,960
Missus Peters put the bird cage on the table and

563
00:35:56,039 --> 00:36:01,880
sat down. It would be lonesome for me sitting here alone. Yes,

564
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:05,960
it would, wouldn't it, agreed missus Hale, a certain determined

565
00:36:06,039 --> 00:36:09,880
naturalness in her voice. She had picked up the sewing,

566
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,039
but now it dropped in her lap, and she murmured

567
00:36:13,079 --> 00:36:15,960
in a different voice. But I tell you what I

568
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,920
do wish, Missus Peters, I wish I had come over

569
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,599
here sometimes when she was here, I wish I had.

570
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,639
But of course you were awful busy, missus Hale, your

571
00:36:27,679 --> 00:36:32,760
house and your children. I could have come, retorted missus

572
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,519
Hale shortly. I stayed away because it weren't cheerful, and

573
00:36:36,599 --> 00:36:40,280
that's why I ought to have come. I She looked

574
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:44,480
around I've never liked this place, maybe because it's down

575
00:36:44,519 --> 00:36:46,920
in a hollow and you don't see the road. I

576
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,440
don't know what it is, but it's a lonesome place,

577
00:36:49,519 --> 00:36:52,519
and always was. I wish I had come over to

578
00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:57,199
see Minny Foster. Sometimes I can see now she did

579
00:36:57,199 --> 00:37:02,559
not put it into words. Well, you mustn't reproach yourself,

580
00:37:03,159 --> 00:37:06,800
counseled Missus Peters. Sometimes we just don't see how it

581
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:12,679
is with other folks till something comes up. Not having

582
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,840
children makes less work, mused Missus Hale after a silence,

583
00:37:17,639 --> 00:37:20,400
But it makes a quiet house. And write out to

584
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,519
work all day and no company. When he did come in.

585
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,119
Did you know John Wright? Missus Peters, not to know him.

586
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,800
I've seen him in town. They say he was a

587
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:38,599
good man. Yes, good, conceded John Wright's neighbor grimly. He

588
00:37:38,639 --> 00:37:40,840
didn't drink and kept his word as well as most,

589
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,880
I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a

590
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,679
hard man, Missus Peters. Just to pass the time of

591
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:51,679
day with him. She stopped, shivered a little, like a

592
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,800
raw wind that gets to the bone. Her eye fell

593
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,800
upon the cage on the table before her, and she added,

594
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:04,719
almost bitterly, I should think she would have wanted a bird. Suddenly,

595
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,920
she leaned forward, looking intently at the cage. But what

596
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,599
do you suppose went wrong with it? I don't know,

597
00:38:13,119 --> 00:38:17,920
returned missus Peters, unless it got sick and died. But

598
00:38:18,039 --> 00:38:20,360
after she said it, she reached over and swung the

599
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:24,559
broken door. Both women watched, as if somehow held by it.

600
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,679
You didn't know her, missus Hale asked, a gentler note

601
00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:34,880
in her voice. Not till they brought her yesterday, said

602
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:40,360
the sheriff's wife. She come to think of it, she

603
00:38:40,519 --> 00:38:43,880
was kind of like a bird herself, real sweet and pretty,

604
00:38:44,199 --> 00:38:49,639
but kind of timid and fluttery. How she did change

605
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:57,000
that held her for a long time. Finally, as if

606
00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,679
struck with a happy thought and relieved to get back

607
00:38:59,679 --> 00:39:03,199
to every every day things, she exclaimed, Tell you what,

608
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,760
missus Peters, why don't you take the quilt in with you?

609
00:39:06,199 --> 00:39:10,800
It might take up her mind. Why, I think that's

610
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,840
a real nice idea, missus Hale, agreed the Sheriff's wife,

611
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,280
as if she too were glad to come into the

612
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,480
atmosphere of a simple kindness. There couldn't possibly be any

613
00:39:20,519 --> 00:39:24,480
objection to that, could there? Now? Just what will I take.

614
00:39:25,039 --> 00:39:27,320
I wonder if her patches are in here and her

615
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:32,519
other things. They turned to the sewing basket. Here's some red,

616
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,559
said missus Hale, bringing out a roll of cloth underneath.

617
00:39:36,599 --> 00:39:40,119
That was a box here. Maybe her scissors are in

618
00:39:40,199 --> 00:39:44,599
here and her things. She held it up. What a

619
00:39:44,599 --> 00:39:47,280
pretty box. I'll warrant that was something she had a

620
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:51,199
long time ago, when she was a girl. She held

621
00:39:51,199 --> 00:39:54,960
it in her hand a moment, then, with a little sigh,

622
00:39:55,440 --> 00:40:00,880
opened it instantly. Her hand went to her nose. Why,

623
00:40:02,519 --> 00:40:07,800
missus Peters drew nearer, then turned away. There's something wrapped

624
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:12,519
up in this piece of silk, faltered missus Hale. This

625
00:40:12,679 --> 00:40:16,360
isn't her scissors, said Missus Peters in a shrinking voice.

626
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:22,559
Her hand not steady. Missus Hale raised the piece of silk. Oh,

627
00:40:22,639 --> 00:40:29,519
Missus Peters, she cried, it's Missus Peters bent closer. It's

628
00:40:29,559 --> 00:40:35,639
the bird, she whispered. But Missus Peters, cried missus Hale,

629
00:40:36,039 --> 00:40:39,719
look at it. It's neck, Look at its neck. It's

630
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:44,760
all other side too. She held the box away from her,

631
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:50,760
the sheriff's wife again benting closer. Somebody wrung its neck,

632
00:40:51,679 --> 00:40:54,639
said she, in a voice that was slow and deep,

633
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,639
and then again the eyes of the two women met,

634
00:40:59,599 --> 00:41:02,679
this time clung together in a look of dawning comprehension

635
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:07,360
of growing horror. Missus Peters looked from the dead bird

636
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:11,119
to the broken door of the cage. Again their eyes met,

637
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,440
and just then there was a sound at the outside door.

638
00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:18,920
Missus Hale slipped the box under the quilt pieces in

639
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,599
the basket and sank into the chair before it. Missus

640
00:41:22,599 --> 00:41:26,400
Peters stood holding the table. The county Attorney and the

641
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:31,679
sheriff came in from outside. Well, ladies, said the county attorney,

642
00:41:32,079 --> 00:41:35,559
as one turning from serious things to little pleasantries. Have

643
00:41:35,679 --> 00:41:37,639
you decided whether she was going to quilt it or

644
00:41:37,679 --> 00:41:42,119
not it? We think, began the Sheriff's wife, in a

645
00:41:42,119 --> 00:41:47,119
flurried voice, that she was going to not it. He

646
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,679
was too preoccupied to notice the change that came in

647
00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:54,480
her voice on that last. Well, that's very interesting, I'm sure,

648
00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:58,760
he said tolerantly. He caught sight of the bird cage.

649
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:03,519
Has the bird? We think the cat got it, said

650
00:42:03,519 --> 00:42:07,800
Missus Hale, in a voice curiously even He was walking

651
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:12,039
up and down, as if thinking something out. Is there

652
00:42:12,079 --> 00:42:17,159
a cat? He asked absently, Missus Hale shot a look

653
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:22,920
up at the sheriff's wife. Well not now, said Missus Peters.

654
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:28,039
They're superstitious, you know. They leave. She sank into her chair.

655
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:33,159
The county attorney did not heed her, no sign at

656
00:42:33,159 --> 00:42:35,480
all of anyone having come in from the outside. He

657
00:42:35,519 --> 00:42:39,159
said to Peters, in the manner of continuing an interrupted conversation,

658
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:44,039
their own rope. Now, let's go upstairs again and go

659
00:42:44,119 --> 00:42:47,239
over it piece by piece. It would have to have

660
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:51,400
been someone who knew just the The stair door closed

661
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:55,760
behind them, and their voices were lost. The two women

662
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:59,360
sat motionless, not looking at each other, but as if

663
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:02,599
peering into something, and at the same time holding back

664
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:06,360
when they spoke. Now it was as if they were

665
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:09,039
afraid of what they were saying, but as if they

666
00:43:09,039 --> 00:43:14,159
could not help saying it. She liked the bird, said

667
00:43:14,159 --> 00:43:18,239
Martha Hale, low and slowly. She was going to bury

668
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:22,679
it in that pretty box. When I was a girl,

669
00:43:23,119 --> 00:43:27,400
said Missus Peters under her breath, my kitten, there was

670
00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:31,599
a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyes, before

671
00:43:31,639 --> 00:43:35,400
I could get there, she covered her face an instant.

672
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,760
If they hadn't held me back, I would have she

673
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,599
caught herself, looked up stairs, where footsteps were heard, and

674
00:43:43,679 --> 00:43:51,079
finished weakly hurt him. Then they sat without speaking or moving.

675
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,719
I wonder how it would seem. Missus Hale at last began,

676
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:01,000
as if feeling her way over strange ground, never to

677
00:44:01,119 --> 00:44:05,440
have had any children around. Her eyes made a slow

678
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,360
sweep of the kitchen, as if seeing what that kitchen

679
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:13,519
had meant through all the years. No right wouldn't like

680
00:44:13,559 --> 00:44:17,480
the bird, she said, after that, a thing that sang

681
00:44:18,599 --> 00:44:23,559
she used to sing. He killed that too. Her voice tightened.

682
00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:29,159
Missus Peters moved uneasily. Of course, we don't know who

683
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:34,800
killed the bird. I knew John Wright, was missus Hale's answer.

684
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:38,360
It was an awful thing was done in this house

685
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,320
that night, missus Hale said, the sheriff's wife killing a

686
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:45,599
man while he slept, slipping a thing round his neck

687
00:44:45,679 --> 00:44:50,000
that choked the life out of him. Missus Hale's hand

688
00:44:50,079 --> 00:44:53,519
went out to the bird cage. We don't know who

689
00:44:53,679 --> 00:45:00,519
killed him, whispered missus Peters wildly. We don't know. Missus

690
00:45:00,519 --> 00:45:04,800
Hale had not moved. If there had been years and

691
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:08,239
years of nothing, then a bird to sing to you,

692
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:13,719
it would be awful still after the bird was still.

693
00:45:15,559 --> 00:45:18,679
It was as if something within her, not herself, had spoken,

694
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:21,599
and it found in Missus Peters something she did not

695
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:27,000
know as herself. I know what stillness is, she said,

696
00:45:27,079 --> 00:45:31,639
in a queer, monotonous voice, When we homesteaded in Dakota

697
00:45:32,039 --> 00:45:35,679
and my first baby died after he was two years old,

698
00:45:36,079 --> 00:45:42,599
and me with no other Then missus Hale stirred, how

699
00:45:42,639 --> 00:45:45,039
soon do you suppose they'll be through looking for the evidence.

700
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:51,239
I know what stillness is, repeated Missus Peters in just

701
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:55,840
that same way. Then she too pulled back. The law

702
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,039
has got to punish crime, Missus Hale, she said, in

703
00:45:59,079 --> 00:46:03,159
her tight little way. I wish you'd seen Minnie Foster

704
00:46:03,599 --> 00:46:06,079
was the answer. When she wore a white dress with

705
00:46:06,119 --> 00:46:08,480
blue ribbons and stood up there in a choir and

706
00:46:08,599 --> 00:46:12,840
sang the picture of that girl. The fact that she

707
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,639
had lived neighbor to that girl for twenty years and

708
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:18,480
had let her die for lack of life was suddenly

709
00:46:18,519 --> 00:46:21,800
more than she could bear. Oh I wish I'd come

710
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,840
over here once in a while, she cried. That was

711
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:29,199
a crime. Who's going to punish that? We mustn't take on,

712
00:46:29,519 --> 00:46:32,719
said Missus Peters with a frightened look toward the stairs.

713
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:37,159
I might have known she needed help. I tell you

714
00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:40,840
it's queer, Missus Peters. We lived close together, and we

715
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,159
live far apart. We all go through the same things.

716
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,039
It's all just a different kind of the same thing.

717
00:46:48,119 --> 00:46:52,039
If it weren't, why do you and I understand? Why

718
00:46:52,079 --> 00:46:56,599
do we know what we know? This minute? She dashed

719
00:46:56,599 --> 00:47:00,480
her hand across her eyes. Then see the jar of

720
00:47:00,519 --> 00:47:03,960
fruit on the table. She reached for it and choked out.

721
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:07,320
If I was you, I wouldn't tell her her fruit

722
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,800
was gone. Tell her it ain't. Tell her it's all right,

723
00:47:11,159 --> 00:47:14,159
all of it here. Take this in to prove it

724
00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:17,480
to her. She she may never know whether it was

725
00:47:17,519 --> 00:47:22,679
broke or not. She turned away. Missus Peters reached out

726
00:47:22,719 --> 00:47:24,559
for the bottle of fruit as if she were glad

727
00:47:24,599 --> 00:47:28,079
to take it, as if touching a familiar thing, having

728
00:47:28,119 --> 00:47:32,119
something to do, could keep her from something else. She

729
00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:35,239
got up, looked about for something to wrap the fruit in,

730
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,119
took a petticoat from a pile of clothes she had

731
00:47:38,119 --> 00:47:41,400
brought from the front room, and nervously started winding that

732
00:47:41,559 --> 00:47:46,880
round the bottle. My, she began, in a high, false voice.

733
00:47:47,559 --> 00:47:50,199
It's a good thing. The men couldn't hear us getting

734
00:47:50,199 --> 00:47:53,559
all stirred up over a little thing like a dead canary.

735
00:47:54,719 --> 00:47:57,800
She hurried over that, as if that could have anything

736
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:04,400
to do with with Why wouldn't they laugh? Footsteps were

737
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:09,360
heard on the stairs. Maybe they would, muttered missus Hale.

738
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:15,800
Maybe they wouldn't. No, Peters, said the county attorney incisively.

739
00:48:16,199 --> 00:48:19,159
It's all perfectly clear except the reason for doing it.

740
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:22,599
But you know juries when it comes to women. If

741
00:48:22,599 --> 00:48:25,920
there was some definite thing, something to show, something to

742
00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:28,800
make a story about, something that would connect up with

743
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:32,880
this clumsy way of doing it in a covert way.

744
00:48:33,079 --> 00:48:36,920
Missus Hale looked at missus Peters. Missus Peters was looking

745
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:41,880
at her. Quickly, they looked away from each other. The

746
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:45,679
outer door opened and mister Hale came in. I've got

747
00:48:45,679 --> 00:48:48,599
the team round now, he said, pretty cold out there.

748
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:52,760
I'm going to stay here a while by myself. The

749
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:56,159
county attorney suddenly announced, you can send Frank out for me,

750
00:48:56,239 --> 00:48:58,719
can't you? He asked the sheriff. I want to go

751
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:03,719
over everything. I'm not satisfied we can't do better again.

752
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:08,000
For one brief moment, the two women's eyes found one another.

753
00:49:09,559 --> 00:49:12,440
The sheriff came up to the table. Did you want

754
00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:14,440
to see what Missus Peters was going to take in?

755
00:49:15,639 --> 00:49:20,039
The county attorney picked up the apron He laughed, Oh,

756
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:22,320
I guess they're not very dangerous things the ladies have

757
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:26,800
picked out. Missus Hale's hand was on the sewing basket

758
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:30,199
in which the box was concealed. She felt that she

759
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:33,400
ought to take her hand off the basket. She did

760
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:36,880
not seem mabel to. He picked up one of the

761
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,639
quilt blocks which she had piled on to cover the box.

762
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:44,320
Her eyes felt like fire. She had a feeling that

763
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:46,840
if he took up the basket she would snatch it

764
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:50,880
from him, but he did not take it up. With

765
00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:55,079
another little laugh, he turned away, saying, no, Missus Peters

766
00:49:55,079 --> 00:49:58,760
doesn't need supervising for that matter, A sheriff's wife is

767
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,199
married to the law. Ever think of it that way,

768
00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:06,920
Missus Peters. Missus Peters was standing beside the table. Missus

769
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:09,079
Hale shot a look up at her, but she could

770
00:50:09,119 --> 00:50:12,960
not see her face. Missus Peters had turned away. When

771
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:17,440
she spoke, her voice was muffled. Not just that way,

772
00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:22,800
she said, married to the law, chuckled. Missus Peters husband

773
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,320
He moved toward the door into the front room and

774
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,119
said to the county Attorney, I just want you to

775
00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:31,039
come in here a minute, George. We ought to take

776
00:50:31,039 --> 00:50:36,880
a look at these windows. Oh windows, said the county attorney, scoffingly.

777
00:50:38,159 --> 00:50:40,760
We'll be right out, mister Hale, said the sheriff to

778
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,360
the farmer, who was still waiting by the door. Hale

779
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:47,639
went to look after the horses. The sheriff followed the

780
00:50:47,639 --> 00:50:52,440
county attorney into the other room again for one final moment,

781
00:50:53,119 --> 00:50:57,679
the two women were alone in that kitchen. Martha Hale

782
00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,360
sprang up her hands tight together, looking at that other

783
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:05,079
woman with whom it rested. At first, she could not

784
00:51:05,119 --> 00:51:08,000
see her eyes, for the Sheriff's wife had not turned

785
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,679
back since she had turned away at that suggestion of

786
00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:14,519
being married to the law. But now Missus Hale made

787
00:51:14,559 --> 00:51:20,599
her turn back. Her eyes made her turn back slowly, unwillingly.

788
00:51:21,119 --> 00:51:24,320
Missus Peters turned her head until her eyes met the

789
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:28,320
eyes of the other woman. There was a moment when

790
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:31,800
they held each other in a steady, burning look in

791
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:36,000
which there was no evasion or flinching. Then Martha Hale's

792
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,719
eyes pointed the way to the basket in which was

793
00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:41,719
hidden the thing that would make certain the conviction of

794
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:45,079
the other woman, that woman who was not there, and

795
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:48,239
yet who had been there with them all through that hour.

796
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:53,360
For a moment Missus Peters did not move, and then

797
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:56,239
she did it with a rush forward. She threw back

798
00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:59,000
the quilt pieces, got the box, tried to put it

799
00:51:59,039 --> 00:52:03,519
in her hand bag. It was too big. Desperately she

800
00:52:03,639 --> 00:52:07,000
opened it, started to take the bird out, but there

801
00:52:07,039 --> 00:52:13,440
she broke. She could not touch the bird. She stood there, helpless, foolish.

802
00:52:14,920 --> 00:52:16,679
There was the sound of a knob turning in the

803
00:52:16,719 --> 00:52:20,519
inner door. Martha Hale snatched the box from the sheriff's

804
00:52:20,559 --> 00:52:23,199
wife and got it in the pocket of her big coat,

805
00:52:23,679 --> 00:52:25,960
just as the sheriff and the county attorney came back

806
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:31,039
into the kitchen. Well, Henry said the county attorney facetiously.

807
00:52:31,599 --> 00:52:33,559
At least we found out that she was not going

808
00:52:33,559 --> 00:52:36,559
to quilt it. She was going to what is it

809
00:52:36,599 --> 00:52:40,639
you call it, ladies, Missus Hale's hand was against the

810
00:52:40,679 --> 00:52:46,400
pocket of her coat. We call it not it, mister Henderson.

811
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:54,400
End of a Jury of her Peers by Susan Glaspell