`` I would rather , '' said Melissa , with the same awful calmness , `` jump down from this roof and break my neck , or be devoured piecemeal by that fiend down there than marry Isaac Appleby . '' It did n't seem worth while to say anything more after that . We sat there in stony silence and the time dragged by . I was hot , hungry , thirsty , cross ; and besides , I felt that I was in a ridiculous position , which was worse than all the rest . We could see Isaac sitting in the shade of one of his apple trees in the front orchard comfortably reading a newspaper . I think if he had n't aggravated me by doing that I 'd have given in sooner . But as it was , I was determined to be as stubborn as everybody else . We were four obstinate creatures -- Isaac and Melissa and Julius Caesar and I . At four o'clock Isaac got up and went into the house ; in a few minutes he came out again with a basket in one hand and a ball of cord in the other . `` I do n't intend to starve you , of course , ladies , '' he said politely , `` I will throw this ball up to you and you can then draw up the basket . '' I caught the ball , for Melissa never turned her head . I would have preferred to be scornful , too , and reject the food altogether ; but I was so dreadfully thirsty that I put my pride in my pocket and hauled the basket up . Besides , I thought it might enable us to hold out until some loophole of escape presented itself . Isaac went back into the house and I unpacked the basket . There was a bottle of milk , some bread and butter , and a pie . Melissa would n't take a morsel of the food , but she was so thirsty she had to take a drink of milk . She tried to lift her veil -- and something caught ; Melissa gave it a savage twitch , and off came veil and hat -- and all her front hair ! You never saw such a sight . I 'd always suspected Melissa wore a false front , but I 'd never had any proof before . Melissa pinned on her hair again and put on her hat and drank the milk , all without a word ; but she was purple .
I felt sorry XXXXX her .
Besides by down for from if into of that to