Sister Jane - 1896 Author:Joel Chandler Harris Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. WHAT THE STORM LEFT AT OUR DOOR. One night in the winter of 1848 — I think it was the 17th of January — I was sitting in my room ruminating as usual. ... more »The fire on the hearth had burned low, the weather having been rainy and warm during the day. Through the closed door, I heard the subdued hum of conversation between Mrs. Beshears and my sister Jane, and it made my solitude more cheerful. Once, hearing the whistle of the rising wind, I looked from the door, and saw that the rain-clouds that had been coming from the west all day were now driving swiftly before a northwest wind. Patches of dark- blue sky showed here and there in the zenith, and in these the stars twinkled as freshly as if they had been washed clean by the white vapors that Went whirling through the sky. By the tune the nine o'clock bell had rung, the temperature had fallen considerably, and I was compelled to replenish my fire. The northwest wind increased to a gale, and presently I heard the tinkling spatter of sleet as the wind hurled it against my window-blinds. Sometimes the wind would rise away from the earth and roar in thetops of the trees and chimneys; then it would fall to the ground again, bringing with it a blast of cutting sleet. Mrs. Beshears had stayed longer than usual, and I wondered how she and the negro boy who always accompanied her would manage to get home through the storm. Worried somewhat by this thought, I rose from my rocking-chair and walked nervously about the room. Suddenly I heard the sound of voices on the sidewalk. What they said at first was drowned by the roaring wind, but presently I heard a woman's voice: — "I ain't goin' narry step, an' you can't make me. I 'll die fust." Then came the voice of a man: "Ef you don't come, you'll rue it. You've come this fur; you m...« less