Presently grandfather came in and spoke to
me: "Jimmy, we will not have prayers this
morning, because we have a great deal to do.
Old Mr. Shimerda is dead, and his family are
in great distress. Ambrosch came over here in
the middle of the night, and Jake and Otto
went back with him. The boys have had a
hard night, and you must not bother them
with questions. That is Ambrosch, asleep on
the bench. Come in to breakfast, boys."

After Jake and Otto had swallowed their
first cup of coffee, they began to talk excitedly,
disregarding grandmother's warning glances.
I held my tongue, but I listened with all my
ears.

"No, sir," Fuchs said in answer to a ques-
tion from grandfather, "nobody heard the
gun go off. Ambrosch was out with the ox
team, trying to break a road, and the women-
folks was shut up tight in their cave. When
Ambrosch come in it was dark and he didn't
see nothing, but the oxen acted kind of queer.
One of 'em ripped around and got away from
him -- bolted clean out of the stable. His
hands is blistered where the rope run through.
He got a lantern and went back and found
the old man, just as we seen him."

[[109]]

p108 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p109w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p110

v?