THE MORNING WATCH
209
you're told, and not punish him. Or no he would maybe look mad when
he heard that about the second watch and say, "And you dare
to
use
that
for an excuse?" And yet the year before he had stayed a second
watch and there had not been any trouble. But that year nobody had
told him to come right on back to bed. That was the year three of
the
boys had never even showed up for the watch they signed for but went
over to Lost Cove and got some whiskey.
If
they'd gone on back he was in trouble already.
Breathing light, and the breathing shaken by his heart, with the
greatest possible stealth he approached the vestry door and, stiffening
beside the frame like an Indian scout, spied slopewise between the door
and the jamb. George was carefully arranging wild azaleas in a Karo
bucket. Lee was not there. Hobe squatted against the wall
i
Richard
could see only his cheek, brown-orange in the light of the fiery mount
of wax, which had grown much larger. Willard hung out all over the
folding-chair; the quietly snoring head lay back and the blue chin
was the highest part of it. Jimmy sat on the floor between his thighs;
he looked very sleepy. Lee Allen came quickly out of the back passage at
the far end and he seemed to look straight at Richard and Richard
flinched away and froze, but
it
was clear by Lee's voice that he had not
actually seen him. "Ought to wake up Burgy and send these kids to
bed," he said. "They aren't doing any harm," George said. "] don't
keer," Lee said, "but I don't want to get in no trouble either, you
know what they told us." George said nothing for a little while and
then he said, "Me neither," and after a while he said, "I don't want you
to get in trouble, count of me, Lee. You send them out if you want to.
Don't let me hinder you." After thinking, Lee said, "Nobody hindem
me." After a little he said, "Where's Sockertees?" which was one of
Richard's nicknames, and Richard felt his breathing go thin. And
Hobe said, exactly as Richard had fore-heard him, "Last I seen
him
he
was still in Lady Chape1." "Well he ain't there now," Lee said.
"Probly went on back to bed," George said. "No," he reflected, "we'd
a heard him go out." "Crazy kid," Lee said. Richard tried to be sure
whether this was said in affection or dislike, but so far as he could see
it was neither, just an indifferent statement of fact. Dislike would almost
have been better ; and now he knew that he could not go in, right after
Lee's saying that, and that although he felt very lonely, and suddenly
wanted very much to be in there with them where no fuss was being
made about not going to bed, he wanted still more not to be anywhere
near them or anywhere near anybody. Crazy kid: crazy kid; yet he could
