Now let's begin. Adam
is awfully tired this morning; he says, 'Eve, I've been workin' all night and
I can't eat my breakfuss.' Now, Mary, you be Cain, he's a little boy, and you
must say, 'Fardie, play a little with me, please!' and Fardie will say,
'Child'en should n't talk at the--'"
What subjects of conversation would have been aired at the Adamic family board
before breakfast was finished will never be known, for Eldress Abby, with a
firm but not unkind grasp, took Shaker Jane and Mary by their little hands and
said, "Morning's not the time for play; run over to Sister Martha and help her
shell the peas; then there'll be your seams to oversew."
Sue watched the disappearing children and saw the fabric of her dream fade
into thin air; but she was a person of considerable individuality for her
years. Her lip quivered, tears rushed to her eyes and flowed silently down her
cheeks, but without a glance at Eldress Abby or a word of comment she walked
slowly away from the laundry, her chin high.
"Sue meant all right, she was only playing the plays of the world," said
Eldress Abby, "but you can well understand, Susanna, that we can't let our
Shaker children play that way and get wrong ideas into their heads at the
beginning.
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