Finding Rivers still sullen upon his return, he
got out some old magazines and read them aloud. Rivers swore under his
breath, but Blanche listened to the reading with relief. The stories
dealt mostly with young people who wished to marry, but were prevented
by somebody who wished them to "wed according to their station." They
were innocent creatures who had not known any other attachment, and
their bliss was always complete and unalloyed at the end.
Bailey read the tender passages in the same prosaic tone with which he
described the shipwreck, and his elocution would have been funny to any
other group of persons; as it was, neither of his hearers smiled.
Blanche's heart was filled with rebellion. Why could she not have known
Jim in the days when she, too, was young and innocent like the heroines
of these stories?
At noon, when Rivers went out to feed the team, Bailey went over toward
the wretched woman. His face was kind but firm:
"Mrs. Burke, I hope you've decided not to do this thing."
She looked at him with shrinking eyes.
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