kind of whinny-laugh, and catching up an
empty coffee-pot from the shelf, shook it at us
with a look positively vindictive.

Grandmother went on talking in her polite
Virginia way, not admitting their stark need
or her own remissness, until Jake arrived with
the hamper, as if in direct answer to Mrs.
Shimerda's reproaches. Then the poor woman
broke down. She dropped on the floor beside
her crazy son, hid her face on her knees, and
sat crying bitterly. Grandmother paid no
heed to her, but called Antonia to come and
help empty the basket. Tony left her corner
reluctantly. I had never seen her crushed like
this before.

"You not mind my poor _mamenka,_ Mrs.
Burden. She is so sad," she whispered, as she
wiped her wet hands on her skirt and took the
things grandmother handed her.

The crazy boy, seeing the food, began to
make soft, gurgling noises and stroked his
stomach. Jake came in again, this time with a
sack of potatoes. Grandmother looked about
in perplexity.

"Haven't you got any sort of cave or cellar
outside, Antonia? This is no place to keep veg-
etables. How did your potatoes get frozen?"

[[84]]

p083 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p084w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p085

v?