I-XVI

Mr. Shimerda lay dead in the barn four days,
and on the fifth they buried him. All day
Friday Jelinek was off with Ambrosch digging
the grave, chopping out the frozen earth with
old axes. On Saturday we breakfasted before
daylight and got into the wagon with the
coffin. Jake and Jelinek went ahead on horse-
back to cut the body loose from the pool of
blood in which it was frozen fast to the ground.

When grandmother and I went into the
Shimerdas' house, we found the women-folk
alone; Ambrosch and Marek were at the
barn. Mrs. Shimerda sat crouching by the
stove, Antonia was washing dishes. When
she saw me she ran out of her dark corner and
threw her arms around me. "Oh, Jimmy," she
sobbed, "what you tink for my lovely papa!"
It seemed to me that I could feel her heart
breaking as she clung to me.

Mrs. Shimerda, sitting on the stump by the
stove, kept looking over her shoulder toward
the door while the neighbors were arriving.
They came on horseback, all except the post-

[[131]]

p130 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p131w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p132

v?