With low, coddling cries, she sank on her knees by the mourner's chair, and put her arms about her.

The other women began to groan in different keys.
"Yer poor misguided chil' is gone now, Mary, an' let us hope it's fer deh bes'.

Yeh'll fergive her now, Mary, won't yehs, dear, all her disobed'ence?
All her t'ankless behavior to her mudder an' all her badness?
She's gone where her ter'ble sins will be judged." The woman in black raised her face and paused.

The inevitable sunlight came streaming in at the windows and shed a ghastly cheerfulness upon the faded hues of the room.

Two or three of the spectators were sniffling, and one was loudly weeping.