Yes, there was something to
do. Before it got too dark. Something very important to do. And it wasn't
right not to do it. The scrubwoman sighed again and put her hand against
her side. The burn had dropped to there. It had also gone into her head.
But that was a thing which must be forgotten. Mrs. Rodjezke had learned
how to forget it during the eight years.
* * * * *
A girl saw it first. She was laughing in a group of young men from the
hotel. Then she exclaimed, suddenly:
"Heavens! Look at that woman!"
The group looked. They saw a middle-aged woman in a humorous bathing
costume crawling patiently down the beach on her hands and knees. Soon
other people were looking. Nobody interfered at first. Perhaps this was a
curious exercise. Some of them laughed.
But the woman's actions grew stranger. She would stop as she crawled and
lift up handfuls of water from the edge of the lake. Then she would start
scratching in the sand. A crowd collected and the beach policeman arrived.
The beach policeman looked down at the woman on her hands and knees.
She had stopped and her face had grown sad.
"What's the matter here?" the policeman asked of her.
The woman began to cry.
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