Chapter IV Home and Its Sorrowsâ
Summary: In this chapter, Adam Bede and his brother Seth are seen carrying a coffin to a nearby village. Adam's mother, Lisbeth, is anxious about their father, who has not yet returned home. Adam is frustrated with his father's drinking and irresponsibility. Lisbeth pleads with Adam to eat his supper and not work himself too hard, but Adam is determined to finish the coffin. Seth suggests that Adam take a break and let him continue the work, but Adam refuses. Lisbeth worries about Adam's anger towards his father and expresses her fear that he will leave and never come back. Seth tries to comfort his mother and urges her to pray for their father. They all kneel together and pray. Adam and Seth complete the coffin and deliver it to Broxton. On their way back home, they discover their father's body in the brook. Adam rushes to get their mother while Seth stays with their father's body. Lisbeth is devastated by the news, and Adam tries to comfort her by giving her tasks to do. They bring their father's body home and prepare for his funeral.
Main Characters: ['Adam Bede', 'Seth Bede', 'Lisbeth Bede']
Location: A small village in England
Time Period: 19th century
Themes: ['Family', 'Responsibility', 'Death']
Plot Points: ['Adam and Seth carry a coffin to a nearby village', 'Lisbeth worries about their father and pleads with Adam to eat his supper', "Adam is frustrated with his father's drinking", 'Seth suggests that Adam take a break, but Adam refuses', 'Lisbeth prays with Seth and urges him to pray for their father', 'Adam and Seth complete the coffin and deliver it to Broxton', "They find their father's body in the brook", "Adam rushes to get their mother while Seth stays with their father's body", 'Lisbeth is devastated by the news', "They bring their father's body home and prepare for his funeral"]
Significant Quotations: ['âWell, my lad, itâs gone seven by thâ clock. Theeât allays stay till the last childâs born. Thee wants thy supper, Iâll warrand.', 'Whatâs thâ use oâ telling me things as I only think too much on every day? If I didna think on âem, why should I do as I do, for the sake oâ keeping things together here?', 'âWhat signifies how long it takes me? Isnât the coffin promised? Can they bury the man without a coffin? Iâd work my right hand off sooner than deceive people with lies iâ that way. It makes me mad to think onât. I shall overrun these doings before long. Iâve stood enough of âem.â', 'âThose are the words oâ the Bible, Mother,â said Seth. âThey donât mean as we should be idle. They mean we shouldnât be overanxious and worreting ourselves about whatâll happen to-morrow, but do our duty and leave the rest to Godâs will.â', 'âIâll run to Mother,â he said, in a loud whisper. âIâll be back to thee in a minute.â']
Chapter Keywords: ['coffin', 'family', 'responsibility', 'death', 'prayer']
Chapter Notes: This chapter focuses on the strained relationship between Adam and his father, as well as the love and concern between Adam and his mother and brother. It also introduces the theme of death and the characters' different ways of coping with it.
A green valley with a brook running through it, full almost to overflowing with the late rains, overhung by low stooping willows. Across this brook a plank is thrown, and over this plank Adam Bede is passing with his undoubting step, followed close by Gyp with the basket; evidently making his way to the thatched house, with a stack of timber by the side of it, about twenty yards up the opposite slope.
The door of the house is open, and an elderly woman is looking out; but she is not placidly contemplating the evening sunshine; she has been watching with dim eyes the gradually enlarging speck which for the last few minutes she has been quite sure is her darling son Adam. Lisbeth Bede loves her son with the love of a woman to whom her first-born has come late in life. She is an anxious, spare, yet vigorous old woman, clean as a snowdrop. Her grey hair is turned neatly back under a pure linen cap with a black band round it; her broad chest is covered with a buff neckerchief, and below this you see a sort of short bedgown made of blue-checkered linen, tied round the waist and descending to the hips, from whence there is a considerable length of linsey-woolsey petticoat. For Lisbeth is tall, and in other points too there is a strong likeness between her and her son Adam. Her dark eyes are somewhat dim nowâperhaps from too much cryingâbut her broadly marked eyebrows are still black, her teeth are sound, and as she stands knitting rapidly and unconsciously with her work-hardened hands, she has as firmly upright an attitude as when she is carrying a pail of water on her head from the spring. There is the same type of frame and the same keen activity of temperament in mother and son, but it was not from her that Adam got his well-filled brow and his expression of large-hearted intelligence.
Family likeness has often a deep sadness in it. Nature, that great tragic dramatist, knits us together by bone and muscle, and divides us by the subtler web of our brains; blends yearning and repulsion; and ties us by our heart-strings to the beings that jar us at every movement. We hear a voice with the very cadence of our own uttering the thoughts we despise; we see eyesâah, so like our motherâs!âaverted from us in cold alienation; and our last darling child startles us with the air and gestures of the sister we parted from in bitterness long years ago. The father to whom we owe our best heritageâthe mechanical instinct, the keen sensibility to harmony, the unconscious skill of the modelling handâgalls us and puts us to shame by his daily errors; the long-lost mother, whose face we begin to see in the glass as our own wrinkles come, once fretted our young souls with her anxious humours and irrational persistence.
It is such a fond anxious motherâs voice that you hear, as Lisbeth says, âWell, my lad, itâs gone seven by thâ clock. Theeât allays stay till the last childâs born. Thee wants thy supper, Iâll warrand. Whereâs Seth? Gone arter some oâs chapellinâ, I reckon?â
âAye, aye, Sethâs at no harm, mother, thee mayst be sure. But whereâs father?â said Adam quickly, as he entered the house and glanced into the room on the left hand, which was used as a workshop. âHasnât he done the coffin for Tholer? Thereâs the stuff standing just as I left it this morning.â
âDone the coffin?â said Lisbeth, following him, and knitting uninterruptedly, though she looked at her son very anxiously. âEh, my lad, he went aff to Treddlesâon this forenoon, anâs niver come back. I doubt heâs got to thâ âWaggin Overthrowâ again.â
A deep flush of anger passed rapidly over Adamâs face. He said nothing, but threw off his jacket and began to roll up his shirt-sleeves again.
âWhat art goinâ to do, Adam?â said the mother, with a tone and look of alarm. âThee wouldstna go to work again, wiâout haâin thy bit oâ supper?â
Adam, too angry to speak, walked into the workshop. But his mother threw down her knitting, and, hurrying after him, took hold of his arm, and said, in a tone of plaintive remonstrance, âNay, my lad, my lad, thee munna go wiâout thy supper; thereâs the taters wiâ the gravy in âem, just as thee likâst âem. I saved âem oâ purpose for thee. Come anâ haâ thy supper, come.â
âLet be!â said Adam impetuously, shaking her off and seizing one of the planks that stood against the wall. âItâs fine talking about having supper when hereâs a coffin promised to be ready at Broxâon by seven oâclock to-morrow morning, and ought to haâ been there now, and not a nail struck yet. My throatâs too full to swallow victuals.â
âWhy, thee canstna get the coffin ready,â said Lisbeth. âTheeât work thyself to death. It âud take thee all night to doât.â
âWhat signifies how long it takes me? Isnât the coffin promised? Can they bury the man without a coffin? Iâd work my right hand off sooner than deceive people with lies iâ that way. It makes me mad to think onât. I shall overrun these doings before long. Iâve stood enough of âem.â
Poor Lisbeth did not hear this threat for the first time, and if she had been wise she would have gone away quietly and said nothing for the next hour. But one of the lessons a woman most rarely learns is never to talk to an angry or a drunken man. Lisbeth sat down on the chopping bench and began to cry, and by the time she had cried enough to make her voice very piteous, she burst out into words.
âNay, my lad, my lad, thee wouldstna go away anâ break thy motherâs heart, anâ leave thy feyther to ruin. Thee wouldstna haâ âem carry me to thâ churchyard, anâ thee not to follow me. I shanna rest iâ my grave if I donna see thee at thâ last; anâ howâs they to let thee know as Iâm a-dyinâ, if theeât gone a-workinâ iâ distant parts, anâ Seth belike gone arter thee, and thy feyther not able to hold a pen forâs hand shakinâ, besides not knowinâ where thee art? Thee mun forgie thy feytherâthee munna be so bitter againâ him. He war a good feyther to thee afore he took to thâ drink. Heâs a clever workman, anâ taught thee thy trade, remember, anâs niver gen me a blow nor so much as an ill wordâno, not even in âs drink. Thee wouldstna haâ âm go to the workhusâthy own feytherâanâ him as was a fine-growed man anâ handy at everythinâ amost as thee art thysen, five-anâ-twenty âear ago, when thee wast a baby at the breast.â
Lisbethâs voice became louder, and choked with sobsâa sort of wail, the most irritating of all sounds where real sorrows are to be borne and real work to be done. Adam broke in impatiently.
âNow, Mother, donât cry and talk so. Havenât I got enough to vex me without that? Whatâs thâ use oâ telling me things as I only think too much on every day? If I didna think on âem, why should I do as I do, for the sake oâ keeping things together here? But I hate to be talking where itâs no use: I like to keep my breath for doing iâstead oâ talking.â
âI know thee dost things as nobody else âud do, my lad. But theeât allays so hard upoâ thy feyther, Adam. Thee thinkâst nothing too much to do for Seth: thee snappâst me up if iver I find faut wiâ thâ lad. But theeât so angered wiâ thy feyther, more nor wiâ anybody else.â
âThatâs better than speaking soft and letting things go the wrong way, I reckon, isnât it? If I wasnât sharp with him heâd sell every bit oâ stuff iâ thâ yard and spend it on drink. I know thereâs a duty to be done by my father, but it isnât my duty to encourage him in running headlong to ruin. And what has Seth got to do with it? The lad does no harm as I know of. But leave me alone, Mother, and let me get on with the work.â
Lisbeth dared not say any more; but she got up and called Gyp, thinking to console herself somewhat for Adamâs refusal of the supper she had spread out in the loving expectation of looking at him while he ate it, by feeding Adamâs dog with extra liberality. But Gyp was watching his master with wrinkled brow and ears erect, puzzled at this unusual course of things; and though he glanced at Lisbeth when she called him, and moved his fore-paws uneasily, well knowing that she was inviting him to supper, he was in a divided state of mind, and remained seated on his haunches, again fixing his eyes anxiously on his master. Adam noticed Gypâs mental conflict, and though his anger had made him less tender than usual to his mother, it did not prevent him from caring as much as usual for his dog. We are apt to be kinder to the brutes that love us than to the women that love us. Is it because the brutes are dumb?
âGo, Gyp; go, lad!â Adam said, in a tone of encouraging command; and Gyp, apparently satisfied that duty and pleasure were one, followed Lisbeth into the house-place.
But no sooner had he licked up his supper than he went back to his master, while Lisbeth sat down alone to cry over her knitting. Women who are never bitter and resentful are often the most querulous; and if Solomon was as wise as he is reputed to be, I feel sure that when he compared a contentious woman to a continual dropping on a very rainy day, he had not a vixen in his eyeâa fury with long nails, acrid and selfish. Depend upon it, he meant a good creature, who had no joy but in the happiness of the loved ones whom she contributed to make uncomfortable, putting by all the tid-bits for them and spending nothing on herself. Such a woman as Lisbeth, for exampleâat once patient and complaining, self-renouncing and exacting, brooding the livelong day over what happened yesterday and what is likely to happen to-morrow, and crying very readily both at the good and the evil. But a certain awe mingled itself with her idolatrous love of Adam, and when he said, âLeave me alone,â she was always silenced.
So the hours passed, to the loud ticking of the old day-clock and the sound of Adamâs tools. At last he called for a light and a draught of water (beer was a thing only to be drunk on holidays), and Lisbeth ventured to say as she took it in, âThy supper stanâs ready for thee, when thee likâst.â
âDonna thee sit up, mother,â said Adam, in a gentle tone. He had worked off his anger now, and whenever he wished to be especially kind to his mother, he fell into his strongest native accent and dialect, with which at other times his speech was less deeply tinged. âIâll see to Father when he comes home; maybe he wonna come at all to-night. I shall be easier if theeât iâ bed.â
âNay, Iâll bide till Seth comes. He wonna be long now, I reckon.â
It was then past nine by the clock, which was always in advance of the days, and before it had struck ten the latch was lifted and Seth entered. He had heard the sound of the tools as he was approaching.
âWhy, Mother,â he said, âhow is it as Fatherâs working so late?â
âItâs none oâ thy feyther as is a-workinââthee might know that well anoof if thy head warna full oâ chapellinââitâs thy brother as does iverything, for thereâs niver nobody else iâ thâ way to do nothinâ.â
Lisbeth was going on, for she was not at all afraid of Seth, and usually poured into his ears all the querulousness which was repressed by her awe of Adam. Seth had never in his life spoken a harsh word to his mother, and timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle. But Seth, with an anxious look, had passed into the workshop and said, âAddy, howâs this? What! Fatherâs forgot the coffin?â
âAye, lad, thâ old tale; but I shall get it done,â said Adam, looking up and casting one of his bright keen glances at his brother. âWhy, whatâs the matter with thee? Theeât in trouble.â
Sethâs eyes were red, and there was a look of deep depression on his mild face.
âYes, Addy, but itâs what must be borne, and canât be helped. Why, theeâst never been to the school, then?â
âSchool? No, that screw can wait,â said Adam, hammering away again.
âLet me take my turn now, and do thee go to bed,â said Seth.
âNo, lad, Iâd rather go on, now Iâm in harness. Theeât help me to carry it to Broxâon when itâs done. Iâll call thee up at sunrise. Go and eat thy supper, and shut the door so as I maynât hear Motherâs talk.â
Seth knew that Adam always meant what he said, and was not to be persuaded into meaning anything else. So he turned, with rather a heavy heart, into the house-place.
âAdamâs niver touched a bit oâ victual sinâ home heâs come,â said Lisbeth. âI reckon theeâst hed thy supper at some oâ thy Methody folks.â
âNay, Mother,â said Seth, âIâve had no supper yet.â
âCome, then,â said Lisbeth, âbut donna thee ate the taters, for Adam âull happen ate âem if I leave âem stanninâ. He loves a bit oâ taters anâ gravy. But heâs been so sore anâ angered, he wouldnât ate âem, for all Iâd putten âem by oâ purpose for him. Anâ heâs been a-threateninâ to go away again,â she went on, whimpering, âanâ Iâm fast sure heâll go some dawninâ afore Iâm up, anâ niver let me know aforehand, anâ heâll niver come back again when once heâs gone. Anâ Iâd better niver haâ had a son, as is like no other bodyâs son for the deftness anâ thâ handiness, anâ so looked on by thâ grit folks, anâ tall anâ upright like a poplar-tree, anâ me to be parted from him anâ niver see âm no more.â
âCome, Mother, donna grieve thyself in vain,â said Seth, in a soothing voice. âTheeâst not half so good reason to think as Adam âull go away as to think heâll stay with thee. He may say such a thing when heâs in wrathâand heâs got excuse for being wrathful sometimesâbut his heart âud never let him go. Think how heâs stood by us all when itâs been none so easyâpaying his savings to free me from going for a soldier, anâ turninâ his earninâs into wood for father, when heâs got plenty oâ uses for his money, and many a young man like him âud haâ been married and settled before now. Heâll never turn round and knock down his own work, and forsake them as itâs been the labour of his life to stand by.â
âDonna talk to me aboutâs marrâinâ,â said Lisbeth, crying afresh. âHeâs setâs heart on that Hetty Sorrel, as âull niver save a penny, anâ âull toss up her head atâs old mother. Anâ to think as he might haâ Mary Burge, anâ be took partners, anâ be a big man wiâ workmen under him, like Mester BurgeâDollyâs told me so oâer and oâer againâif it warna as heâs setâs heart on that bit of a wench, as is oâ no more use nor the gillyflower on the wall. Anâ he so wise at bookinâ anâ figurinâ, anâ not to know no better nor that!â
âBut, Mother, thee knowâst we canna love just where other folks âud have us. Thereâs nobody but God can control the heart of man. I could haâ wished myself as Adam could haâ made another choice, but I wouldnât reproach him for what he canât help. And Iâm not sure but what he tries to oâercome it. But itâs a matter as he doesnât like to be spoke to about, and I can only pray to the Lord to bless and direct him.â
âAye, theeât allays ready enough at prayinâ, but I donna see as thee gets much wiâ thy prayinâ. Thee wotna get double earninâs oâ this side Yule. Thâ Methodies âll niver make thee half the man thy brother is, for all theyâre a-makinâ a preacher on thee.â
âItâs partly truth thee speakâst there, Mother,â said Seth, mildly; âAdamâs far before me, anâs done more for me than I can ever do for him. God distributes talents to every man according as He sees good. But thee mustna undervally prayer. Prayer mayna bring money, but it brings us what no money can buyâa power to keep from sin and be content with Godâs will, whatever He may please to send. If thee wouldst pray to God to help thee, and trust in His goodness, thee wouldstna be so uneasy about things.â
âUnaisy? Iâm iâ thâ right onât to be unaisy. Itâs well seen on thee what it is niver to be unaisy. Theeât giâ away all thy earninâs, anâ niver be unaisy as theeâst nothinâ laid up againâ a rainy day. If Adam had been as aisy as thee, heâd niver haâ had no money to pay for thee. Take no thought for the morrowâtake no thoughtâthatâs what theeât allays sayinâ; anâ what comes onât? Why, as Adam has to take thought for thee.â
âThose are the words oâ the Bible, Mother,â said Seth. âThey donât mean as we should be idle. They mean we shouldnât be overanxious and worreting ourselves about whatâll happen to-morrow, but do our duty and leave the rest to Godâs will.â
âAye, aye, thatâs the way wiâ thee: thee allays makes a peck oâ thy own words out oâ a pint oâ the Bibleâs. I donna see how theeât to know as âtake no thought for the morrowâ means all that. Anâ when the Bibleâs such a big book, anâ thee canst read all throât, anâ haâ the pick oâ the texes, I canna think why thee dostna pick better words as donna mean so much more nor they say. Adam doesna pick a thatân; I can understanâ the tex as heâs allays a-sayinâ, âGod helps them as helps theirsens.ââ
âNay, Mother,â said Seth, âthatâs no text oâ the Bible. It comes out of a book as Adam picked up at the stall at Treddlesâon. It was wrote by a knowing man, but overworldly, I doubt. However, that sayingâs partly true; for the Bible tells us we must be workers together with God.â
âWell, howâm I to know? It sounds like a tex. But whatâs thâ matter wiâ thâ lad? Theeât hardly atinâ a bit oâ supper. Dostna mean to haâ no more nor that bit oâ oat-cake? Anâ thee lookst as white as a flick oâ new bacon. Whatâs thâ matter wiâ thee?â
âNothing to mind about, Mother; Iâm not hungry. Iâll just look in at Adam again, and see if heâll let me go on with the coffin.â
âHaâ a drop oâ warm broth?â said Lisbeth, whose motherly feeling now got the better of her ânatteringâ habit. âIâll set two-three sticks a-light in a minute.â
âNay, Mother, thank thee; theeât very good,â said Seth, gratefully; and encouraged by this touch of tenderness, he went on: âLet me pray a bit with thee for Father, and Adam, and all of usâitâll comfort thee, happen, more than thee thinkst.â
âWell, Iâve nothinâ to say againâ it.â
Lisbeth, though disposed always to take the negative side in her conversations with Seth, had a vague sense that there was some comfort and safety in the fact of his piety, and that it somehow relieved her from the trouble of any spiritual transactions on her own behalf.
So the mother and son knelt down together, and Seth prayed for the poor wandering father and for those who were sorrowing for him at home. And when he came to the petition that Adam might never be called to set up his tent in a far country, but that his mother might be cheered and comforted by his presence all the days of her pilgrimage, Lisbethâs ready tears flowed again, and she wept aloud.
When they rose from their knees, Seth went to Adam again and said, âWilt only lie down for an hour or two, and let me go on the while?â
âNo, Seth, no. Make Mother go to bed, and go thyself.â
Meantime Lisbeth had dried her eyes, and now followed Seth, holding something in her hands. It was the brown-and-yellow platter containing the baked potatoes with the gravy in them and bits of meat which she had cut and mixed among them. Those were dear times, when wheaten bread and fresh meat were delicacies to working people. She set the dish down rather timidly on the bench by Adamâs side and said, âThee canst pick a bit while theeât workinâ. Iâll bring thee another drop oâ water.â
âAye, Mother, do,â said Adam, kindly; âIâm getting very thirsty.â
In half an hour all was quiet; no sound was to be heard in the house but the loud ticking of the old day-clock and the ringing of Adamâs tools. The night was very still: when Adam opened the door to look out at twelve oâclock, the only motion seemed to be in the glowing, twinkling stars; every blade of grass was asleep.
Bodily haste and exertion usually leave our thoughts very much at the mercy of our feelings and imagination; and it was so to-night with Adam. While his muscles were working lustily, his mind seemed as passive as a spectator at a diorama: scenes of the sad past, and probably sad future, floating before him and giving place one to the other in swift succession.
He saw how it would be to-morrow morning, when he had carried the coffin to Broxton and was at home again, having his breakfast: his father perhaps would come in ashamed to meet his sonâs glanceâwould sit down, looking older and more tottering than he had done the morning before, and hang down his head, examining the floor-quarries; while Lisbeth would ask him how he supposed the coffin had been got ready, that he had slinked off and left undoneâfor Lisbeth was always the first to utter the word of reproach, although she cried at Adamâs severity towards his father.
âSo it will go on, worsening and worsening,â thought Adam; âthereâs no slipping uphill again, and no standing still when once you âve begun to slip down.â And then the day came back to him when he was a little fellow and used to run by his fatherâs side, proud to be taken out to work, and prouder still to hear his father boasting to his fellow-workmen how âthe little chap had an uncommon notion oâ carpentering.â What a fine active fellow his father was then! When people asked Adam whose little lad he was, he had a sense of distinction as he answered, âIâm Thias Bedeâs lad.â He was quite sure everybody knew Thias Bedeâdidnât he make the wonderful pigeon-house at Broxton parsonage? Those were happy days, especially when Seth, who was three years the younger, began to go out working too, and Adam began to be a teacher as well as a learner. But then came the days of sadness, when Adam was someway on in his teens, and Thias began to loiter at the public-houses, and Lisbeth began to cry at home, and to pour forth her plaints in the hearing of her sons. Adam remembered well the night of shame and anguish when he first saw his father quite wild and foolish, shouting a song out fitfully among his drunken companions at the âWaggon Overthrown.â He had run away once when he was only eighteen, making his escape in the morning twilight with a little blue bundle over his shoulder, and his âmensuration bookâ in his pocket, and saying to himself very decidedly that he could bear the vexations of home no longerâhe would go and seek his fortune, setting up his stick at the crossways and bending his steps the way it fell. But by the time he got to Stoniton, the thought of his mother and Seth, left behind to endure everything without him, became too importunate, and his resolution failed him. He came back the next day, but the misery and terror his mother had gone through in those two days had haunted her ever since.
âNo!â Adam said to himself to-night, âthat must never happen again. It âud make a poor balance when my doings are cast up at the last, if my poor old mother stood oâ the wrong side. My backâs broad enough and strong enough; I should be no better than a coward to go away and leave the troubles to be borne by them as arenât half so able. âThey that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of those that are weak, and not to please themselves.â Thereâs a text wants no candle to showât; it shines by its own light. Itâs plain enough you get into the wrong road iâ this life if you run after this and that only for the sake oâ making things easy and pleasant to yourself. A pig may poke his nose into the trough and think oâ nothing outside it; but if youâve got a manâs heart and soul in you, you canât be easy a-making your own bed anâ leaving the rest to lie on the stones. Nay, nay, Iâll never slip my neck out oâ the yoke, and leave the load to be drawn by the weak uns. Fatherâs a sore cross to me, anâs likely to be for many a long year to come. What then? Iâve got thâ health, and the limbs, and the sperrit to bear it.â
At this moment a smart rap, as if with a willow wand, was given at the house door, and Gyp, instead of barking, as might have been expected, gave a loud howl. Adam, very much startled, went at once to the door and opened it. Nothing was there; all was still, as when he opened it an hour before; the leaves were motionless, and the light of the stars showed the placid fields on both sides of the brook quite empty of visible life. Adam walked round the house, and still saw nothing except a rat which darted into the woodshed as he passed. He went in again, wondering; the sound was so peculiar that the moment he heard it it called up the image of the willow wand striking the door. He could not help a little shudder, as he remembered how often his mother had told him of just such a sound coming as a sign when some one was dying. Adam was not a man to be gratuitously superstitious, but he had the blood of the peasant in him as well as of the artisan, and a peasant can no more help believing in a traditional superstition than a horse can help trembling when he sees a camel. Besides, he had that mental combination which is at once humble in the region of mystery and keen in the region of knowledge: it was the depth of his reverence quite as much as his hard common sense which gave him his disinclination to doctrinal religion, and he often checked Sethâs argumentative spiritualism by saying, âEh, itâs a big mystery; thee knowâst but little about it.â And so it happened that Adam was at once penetrating and credulous. If a new building had fallen down and he had been told that this was a divine judgment, he would have said, âMay be; but the bearing oâ the roof and walls wasnât right, else it wouldnât haâ come downâ; yet he believed in dreams and prognostics, and to his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand. I tell it as he told it, not attempting to reduce it to its natural elementsâin our eagerness to explain impressions, we often lose our hold of the sympathy that comprehends them.
But he had the best antidote against imaginative dread in the necessity for getting on with the coffin, and for the next ten minutes his hammer was ringing so uninterruptedly, that other sounds, if there were any, might well be overpowered. A pause came, however, when he had to take up his ruler, and now again came the strange rap, and again Gyp howled. Adam was at the door without the loss of a moment; but again all was still, and the starlight showed there was nothing but the dew-laden grass in front of the cottage.
Adam for a moment thought uncomfortably about his father; but of late years he had never come home at dark hours from Treddleston, and there was every reason for believing that he was then sleeping off his drunkenness at the âWaggon Overthrown.â Besides, to Adam, the conception of the future was so inseparable from the painful image of his father that the fear of any fatal accident to him was excluded by the deeply infixed fear of his continual degradation. The next thought that occurred to him was one that made him slip off his shoes and tread lightly upstairs, to listen at the bedroom doors. But both Seth and his mother were breathing regularly.
Adam came down and set to work again, saying to himself, âI wonât open the door again. Itâs no use staring about to catch sight of a sound. Maybe thereâs a world about us as we canât see, but thâ earâs quicker than the eye and catches a sound fromât now and then. Some people think they get a sight onât too, but theyâre mostly folks whose eyes are not much use to âem at anything else. For my part, I think itâs better to see when your perpendicularâs true than to see a ghost.â
Such thoughts as these are apt to grow stronger and stronger as daylight quenches the candles and the birds begin to sing. By the time the red sunlight shone on the brass nails that formed the initials on the lid of the coffin, any lingering foreboding from the sound of the willow wand was merged in satisfaction that the work was done and the promise redeemed. There was no need to call Seth, for he was already moving overhead, and presently came downstairs.
âNow, lad,â said Adam, as Seth made his appearance, âthe coffinâs done, and we can take it over to Broxâon, and be back again before half after six. Iâll take a mouthful oâ oat-cake, and then weâll be off.â
The coffin was soon propped on the tall shoulders of the two brothers, and they were making their way, followed close by Gyp, out of the little woodyard into the lane at the back of the house. It was but about a mile and a half to Broxton over the opposite slope, and their road wound very pleasantly along lanes and across fields, where the pale woodbines and the dog-roses were scenting the hedgerows, and the birds were twittering and trilling in the tall leafy boughs of oak and elm. It was a strangely mingled pictureâthe fresh youth of the summer morning, with its Edenlike peace and loveliness, the stalwart strength of the two brothers in their rusty working clothes, and the long coffin on their shoulders. They paused for the last time before a small farmhouse outside the village of Broxton. By six oâclock the task was done, the coffin nailed down, and Adam and Seth were on their way home. They chose a shorter way homewards, which would take them across the fields and the brook in front of the house. Adam had not mentioned to Seth what had happened in the night, but he still retained sufficient impression from it himself to say, âSeth, lad, if Father isnât come home by the time weâve had our breakfast, I think itâll be as well for thee to go over to Treddlesâon and look after him, and thee canst get me the brass wire I want. Never mind about losing an hour at thy work; we can make that up. What dost say?â
âIâm willing,â said Seth. âBut see what clouds have gathered since we set out. Iâm thinking we shall have more rain. Itâll be a sore time for thâ haymaking if the meadows are flooded again. The brookâs fine and full now: another dayâs rain âud cover the plank, and we should have to go round by the road.â
They were coming across the valley now, and had entered the pasture through which the brook ran.
âWhy, whatâs that sticking against the willow?â continued Seth, beginning to walk faster. Adamâs heart rose to his mouth: the vague anxiety about his father was changed into a great dread. He made no answer to Seth, but ran forward preceded by Gyp, who began to bark uneasily; and in two moments he was at the bridge.
This was what the omen meant, then! And the grey-haired father, of whom he had thought with a sort of hardness a few hours ago, as certain to live to be a thorn in his side was perhaps even then struggling with that watery death! This was the first thought that flashed through Adamâs conscience, before he had time to seize the coat and drag out the tall heavy body. Seth was already by his side, helping him, and when they had it on the bank, the two sons in the first moment knelt and looked with mute awe at the glazed eyes, forgetting that there was need for actionâforgetting everything but that their father lay dead before them. Adam was the first to speak.
âIâll run to Mother,â he said, in a loud whisper. âIâll be back to thee in a minute.â
Poor Lisbeth was busy preparing her sonsâ breakfast, and their porridge was already steaming on the fire. Her kitchen always looked the pink of cleanliness, but this morning she was more than usually bent on making her hearth and breakfast-table look comfortable and inviting.
âThe lads âull be fine anâ hungry,â she said, half-aloud, as she stirred the porridge. âItâs a good step to Broxâon, anâ itâs hungry air oâer the hillâwiâ that heavy coffin too. Eh! Itâs heavier now, wiâ poor Bob Tholer inât. Howiver, Iâve made a drap more porridge nor common this morninâ. The feyther âull happen come in arter a bit. Not as heâll ate much porridge. He swallers sixpennâorth oâ ale, anâ saves a hapâorth oâ por-ridgeâthatâs his way oâ layinâ by money, as Iâve told him many a time, anâ am likely to tell him again afore the dayâs out. Eh, poor mon, he takes it quiet enough; thereâs no denyinâ that.â
But now Lisbeth heard the heavy âthudâ of a running footstep on the turf, and, turning quickly towards the door, she saw Adam enter, looking so pale and overwhelmed that she screamed aloud and rushed towards him before he had time to speak.
âHush, Mother,â Adam said, rather hoarsely, âdonât be frightened. Fatherâs tumbled into the water. Belike we may bring him round again. Seth and me are going to carry him in. Get a blanket and make it hot as the fire.â
In reality Adam was convinced that his father was dead but he knew there was no other way of repressing his motherâs impetuous wailing grief than by occupying her with some active task which had hope in it.
He ran back to Seth, and the two sons lifted the sad burden in heart-stricken silence. The wide-open glazed eyes were grey, like Sethâs, and had once looked with mild pride on the boys before whom Thias had lived to hang his head in shame. Sethâs chief feeling was awe and distress at this sudden snatching away of his fatherâs soul; but Adamâs mind rushed back over the past in a flood of relenting and pity. When death, the great Reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness that we repent of, but our severity.