The widow, a young thing, nearly lost her senses with grief, and James, a man of dour exterior and few words, set himself to keep things going on the farm till she was able to look life in the face again.

Her sister came to be with her, and there, was a child born, which died.

She was left better provided for than most women of her class, and she had expectations from her parents.
After the child's death, when the widow began to go about again, and James still managed all the work of the farm, the neighbours naturally fell talking.

James took no notice, and he was not a man to meddle with, either in a public-house or elsewhere.

But presently a crop of suitors for the widow began to appear, and it became necessary also to settle the destiny of the farm.