I do n't want either his or Charles ' permission to die . You can go and milk at your ease . I wo n't die till you 're done -- I wo n't deprive you of the pleasure of seeing me . '' Mrs. Holland shut her lips and went out of the room with a martyr-like expression . In some ways Naomi Holland was not an exacting patient , but she took her satisfaction out in the biting , malicious speeches she never failed to make . Even on her death-bed her hostility to her sister-in-law had to find vent . Outside , at the steps , Sarah Spencer was waiting , with the milk pails over her arm . Sarah Spencer had no fixed abiding place , but was always to be found where there was illness . Her experience , and an utter lack of nerves , made her a good nurse . She was a tall , homely woman with iron gray hair and a lined face . Beside her , the trim little Caroline Anne , with her light step and round , apple-red face , looked almost girlish . The two women walked to the barnyard , discussing Naomi in undertones as they went . The house they had left behind grew very still . In Naomi Holland 's room the shadows were gathering . Eunice timidly bent over her mother . `` Ma , do you want the light lit ? '' `` No , I 'm watching that star just below the big cherry bough . I 'll see it set behind the hill . I 've seen it there , off and on , for twelve years , and now I 'm taking a good-by look at it . I want you to keep still , too .
I 've got a few things to think over , and I do n't want XXXXX be disturbed . ''
In behind for of on over that till to with