Elijah came one night, for I had sent for him without asking mother or even mentioning it to Tom. He was thinner and more serious than I had ever known him before. He spoke to mother but I do not think she knew who had come to see her, and he went away at last very sad. In the night she called me to her and said, “Our Susan, I have been dreaming. I think I saw someone I know in a dream, a young Mr. Perkins who used to come courting me before I ever knew your father. He stood by my bed and said, ‘Never mind, love. God will be with you.’ ”
And I was troubled for Elijah had said just those words to her. I almost tried to tell her that she had not been dreaming; but she prattled on so calmly about it that I could not bring myself to break her fantasy.
All this remembrance harrows me and hurt
