Chapter 19 The Watch Comes Back

Gild Ingelbeck came to the yard at two in the morning on the fifty-first day, and he came with his hat on and his pack on his back, and he sat on the wheel and did not look at Kessin, and Kessin woke in the room at the back and heard the wheel turn, and she put her boots on and she went out to the yard, and he was there, and he was watching the road. "You are the watch," said Kessin. "I am the watch," said Gild. "I have a hall," said Kessin. "The hall has a watch," said Gild. "I have paid for the watch," said Kessin. "The hall has paid for the watch," said Gild. "Where were you," said Kessin. "I was on the road," said Gild. "I was on the road for a year." "The road is the road," said Kessin. "I was on the road," said Gild. "And I came back to the hall." "The hall has you," said Kessin. "The hall has me," said Gild. "Will you stay," said Kessin. "I will stay," said Gild. "How long," said Kessin. "I do not know," said Gild. "I will stay until the hall does not need me." "Then the hall will have the watch," said Kessin. "And the hall will have the road, and the hall will have the night." "The hall will have the watch," said Gild. "At four," said Gild. "At four," said Kessin. He got up at four and he walked the road, and he walked the road to the crossing and the road to the bridge, and he walked the road back to the yard, and he came back at seven, and he sat on the wheel, and Kessin came out to the yard and she stood at the foot of it, and she did not speak, and he did not speak, and the mist came up off the grass and lay there. At half eight he got up and he went in to the hall and he sat at the table, and Kessin put the bread on the table and the coffee on, and he ate the bread and drank the coffee, and did not speak, and she did not speak, and the boy came in at eight with his case and he sat down across from him, and he ate the bread and drank the coffee, and did not speak, and neither of them spoke to the other. "You have come back," said Peth. "I have come back," said Gild. "Where did you go," said Peth. "I went on the road," said Gild. "The road is the road," said Peth. "I went on the road," said Gild. "And I came back." "I will not ask you," said Kessin. "I have not said," said Gild. "I will not ask you," said Kessin. "I will not say," said Gild. At nine he got up and he put his hat on and he went out through the gate, and he did not come back for a week, and the hall had the watch, and the hall had the road, and the hall had the night. Kessin wrote the line on the ledger, and put the card on the board, and sat with the lamp and the bread and the coffee, and the boy sat across from her with his case, and the donkey slept at the gate, and the board had nine cards on it, and the hall had taken in a watch. "He came back because the hall has a keeper," said Peth. "He came back because the hall has a keeper," said Kessin. "I will not ask him," said Kessin. "I will not ask him," said Turrel. "Then the hall has the watch," said Kessin. "Then the hall has the watch," said Turrel. He came back on the seventh night, at two, and he sat on the wheel, and Kessin woke and went out to the yard, and he was there, and he did not look at her, and he did not speak, and she did not speak. "At four," said Gild. "At four," said Kessin. He walked the road, and he came back at seven, and he sat at the table, and he ate the bread and drank the coffee, and the boy sat across from him, and the boy did not ask him where he had been, because the boy did not ask the watch, and the watch did not say, and the donkey slept at the foot of the stove. "He came back," said Peth. "He came back," said Kessin. "He will come back again," said Peth. "He will come back again," said Kessin. Kessin sat at the table with the lamp and the ledger, and she wrote the line, and the line was small and neat, and she put the pen down, and the yard was the yard, and the road was the road, and the hall was the hall. The night was quiet, and the board had nine cards on it, and the seventh card was blank. "I will not ask him," said Kessin. "I have not asked him," said Turrel. "I will not ask him," said Kessin. "I will not ask him," said Turrel. "Then the hall has the watch," said Kessin. "Then the hall has the watch," said Turrel. The watch came back at two, and the watch sat on the wheel, and the watch did not speak, and Kessin did not ask, and Turrel did not ask, and Peth did not ask, and the donkey did not ask, and the hall had the watch, and the hall had the road, and the hall had the night. He walked the road at four, and he walked the road to the crossing, and he walked the road to the bridge, and he walked the road back to the yard, and he came back at seven, and he sat at the table, and he ate the bread, and he drank the coffee, and he did not speak, and the hall had the watch, and the hall had the road, and the hall had the night. He went out at nine, and he went out through the gate, and the gate opened and closed behind him, and the sound of it went out into the road and the road went on, and the hall had the watch, and the hall had the road, and the hall had the night.---