Jed and I were large for our age, and we were nine besides; so Lee put us with the older bunch and told us we were to march with the women on foot.
When he took our baby from mother and put it in a wagon she started to object.

Then I saw her lips draw tightly together, and she gave in.

She was a gray-eyed, strong-featured, middle-aged woman, large-boned and fairly stout.

But the long journey and hardship had told on her, so that she was hollow-cheeked and gaunt, and like all the women in the company she wore an expression of brooding, never-ceasing anxiety.
It was when Lee described the order of march that Laban came to me.

Lee said that the women and the children that walked should go first in the line, following behind the two wagons.