But lo and behold , Mistress Blythe , Henry looks up at me , with those bright old black eyes of his in his wizened face and says , says he , ` Tell me something I do n't know , Jim Boyd , if you want to give me information . I 've known THAT for a week . ' I was too astonished to speak , and Henry , he chuckled . ` To see you coming in here , ' says he , ` with your face as solemn as a tombstone and sitting down there with your hands clasped over your stomach , and passing me out a blue-mouldy old item of news like that ! It 'd make a cat laugh , Jim Boyd , ' says he . ` Who told you ? ' says I , stupid like . ` Nobody , ' says he . ' A week ago Tuesday night I was lying here awake -- and I jest knew . I 'd suspicioned it before , but then I KNEW . I 've been keeping up for the wife 's sake . And I 'd LIKE to have got that barn built , for Eben 'll never get it right . But anyhow , now that you 've eased your mind , Jim , put on a smile and tell me something interesting , ' Well , there it was . They 'd been so scared to tell him and he knew it all the time . Strange how nature looks out for us , ai n't it , and lets us know what we should know when the time comes ? Did I never tell you the yarn about Henry getting the fish hook in his nose , Mistress Blythe ? '' `` No . '' `` Well , him and me had a laugh over it today . It happened nigh unto thirty years ago . Him and me and several more was out mackerel fishing one day .
It was a great XXXXX -- never saw such a school of mackerel in the gulf -- and in the general excitement Henry got quite wild and contrived to stick a fish hook clean through one side of his nose .
Blythe Boyd Eben Henry Jim day right unto week years