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He certainly didn't want a wife who was fickle as Ann.

The easiest thing would be to sell out to Al Budd and leave the country, but there was a stubborn streak in him that wouldn't allow it.

each day the hurt was a little duller, a little less poignant.

Because the summer was unusually dry and hot, the spring produced a smaller stream than in ordinary years.

He could not afford to lose a drop of the precious water, so he spent most of his waking hours along the ditches in his meadows.

Morgan watched the two figures for a time, puzzled.

When they were closer and he saw that one was a woman, he was more puzzled than ever.

Now he saw that both the man and woman were moving slowly and irregularly, staggering, as if they found it a struggle to remain on their feet.

Morgan hesitated, thinking that if this was a trick, it was a good one.

He asked, `` Could we have a drink ''??

She had reached a point at which she didn't even care how she looked.

Any lingering suspicion that this was a trick Al Budd had thought up was dispelled.

No girl would go this far to fool a man so she could kill him.

Besides, she had a sweet face that attracted him.

He put her down on the couch, and going into the kitchen, saw that the boy had dropped into a chair beside the table.

They looked a good deal alike, Morgan thought.

Both had blonde hair and blue eyes, and there was even a faint similarity of features.

He stood looking down at her for a moment, wondering what could have reduced her to this condition.

He had seen a few nester wagons go through the country, the families almost starving to death, but he had never seen any of them on foot and as bad off as these two.

Morgan returned to the kitchen, built a fire, and carried in several buckets of water from the spring which he poured into the copper boiler that he had placed on the stove.

`` This is a mighty empty country '', Morgan said.

Could you give us a job, Mr. ''

He was silent a moment, thinking he could use a man this time of year, and if the girl could cook, it would give him more time in the meadows, but he knew nothing about the couple.