Stead had contrived a lean-to, with timbers from
the old house, and wattled sides stuffed with moss, where he and
little Ben slept in summer time, and they had bought or made some
furniture--a chair and table, some stools, bedding, and kitchen
utensils, and she toiled to keep things clean, but still it was a
mere hovel, with the door opening out into the glade. Foxes and
polecats prowled, owls hooted, and the big dog outside was a needful
defender, even in summer time, and in winter the cold was piteous,
the wet even worse, and they often lost some of their precious
animals--chickens died of cold, and once three lambs had been carried
away in a sudden freshet. Yet Patience, when she saw Steadfast
convinced, made up her mind to stand by him, and defended him when
the younger girls murmured.
Rusha was of a quiet, acquiescent, contented nature, and said little,
as Emlyn declared, "She knew nothing better;" but Emlyn was more and
more weary of the gulley, and as nothing was heard of her friends,
and she was completely one of the home, she struggled more with the
dullness and loneliness.
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