hopeless, impossible. He had loved her because he could not have her: and now she was here for his arms. The Dipper and the wind in the pine trees said, Poor fool, if you want her, take her. The black flap in the sky, where the starry pinning has fallen out (it opens into the law of gravity) said, It concerns only yourselves, no one will know. The tide and the whistling sand dunes said, She's yours already.
From the sleeping porch over their heads he heard one of the children cough.
"George," she whispered, "I'll do whatever you tell me."
He turned to her. "I'd like to see any one laugh at locksmiths."
