”

“It’s just that, suh. Even if I could tell you, I don’t guess you could understand. Even if I went yonder on the mountain and cried to heaven to set me free, I’d have to bide here and do the work that is mine to do, as mother has done hers, and her mother before her.”

“But they did it contentedly and happily — because they wished it. Your mother married your father because she loved him, and was glad — ”

“Yes, I reckon she did — but he was different. She could do it for him. He lived alone — alone. Mother knew he did — she could understand. It was like he had a room to himself high up on the mountain, where she never could climb, nor open the door.”