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Show Page 256 Anne is whimpering for her food, though she seems content to play a while longer. I am in no hurry to leave my spot of shade to do her bidding. I will sit quietly for a time longer and enjoy the kicks and squirms of the little one who will soon join our household, though I will be spared the demands of that new voice for a few months yet. Soon William will come from the field where he is helping John, to haul water for me, milk Nellie, and tend Anne while I cook. A comely lad is this brother of Johns--and a good help. John will come soon after, the bobbing of his head telling me, even while his figure is still a dark splotch on the horizon, that it is he, for his broken leg left him with a slight limp. Perhaps after we eat he will lead me through our fields and show me how the tobacco grows, tall and full. I shall breathe in the sultry Virginia air and smile as John takes up Anne to set her upon his shoulders. Remember when you and Twig called me a dunderhead? I will ask John, and we will laugh a quiet laugh together. But that is later. Now I will sit quietly under my tree, writing in this journal, watching as, through my daughter ' s tiny fingers, sifts the soil of my Virginia . THE END |