It hurts me so to see him going about , day after day , with his head hanging and that look on his face , as if he had something fearful on his conscience -- him that never harmed a living soul . And then the way he groans and mutters in his sleep ! He has always lived a just , upright life . He has n't no right to go on like this , disgracing his family . '' Mrs. Bell 's angry sob was cut short by the sleigh at the door . Her husband poked in his busy , iron-gray head and said , `` Now , mother . '' He helped her into the sleigh , tucked the rugs warmly around her , and put a hot brick at her feet . His solicitude hurt her . It was all for her material comfort . It did not matter to him what mental agony she might suffer over his strange attitude . For the first time in their married life Mary Bell felt resentment against her husband . They drove along in silence , past the snow-powdered hedges of spruce , and under the arches of the forest roadways . They were late , and a great stillness was over all the land . David Bell never spoke . All his usual cheerful talkativeness had disappeared since the revival meetings had begun in Avonlea . From the first he had gone about as a man over whom some strange doom is impending , seemingly oblivious to all that might be said or thought of him in his own family or in the church . Mary Bell thought she would go out of her mind if her husband continued to act in this way . Her reflections were bitter and rebellious as they sped along through the glittering night of the winter 's prime . `` I do n't get one bit of good out of the meetings , '' she thought resentfully . `` There ai n't any peace or joy for me , not even in testifying myself , when David sits there like a stick or stone .
If he 'd been opposed to the revivalist coming here , XXXXX old Uncle Jerry , or if he did n't believe in public testimony , I would n't mind .
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