had left the men alone in the barred room.
“ ‘I put the bars on this room the day that Indian Joe shot the crows,’ Eleazer said.
“ ‘The day he shot the crows?’ Aaron said.
“ ‘That’s right,’ Eleazer said. ‘I was out cutting timber that day. I broke a chain hauling out a big log and came on down to the house to fetch another chain,
leaving the oxen in the woodlot. That’s when I heard Joe’s shot and saw the crows fall. Joe was standing in the clearing, reloading his gun. He never saw me. Joe was the best shot
around in those days, wouldn’t you say?’
“ ‘Yes,’ said Aaron, ‘I’d say that about Joe.’
“ ‘Joe wasn’t sure where the birds fell, and he was still looking for them when I lost sight of him. I played a little trick on Joe on the way down the mountain, but I’ll
come back to that. I kept my spare chains in the tool shed; the door to that shed is right beside the window to this room. As I put my hand on the door, I heard a bumping sound: bump, bump-bump,
bump-bump-bump-bump. Like that. Couldn’t place the sound. Melody was new then, we’d only been married a year or two, and I didn’t know her habits the way I do now. I thought she
might be doing something I could tease her about, so I sneaked up to that window.’ Eleazer pointed to one of the barred windows.
“ ‘There was a good bit of sun that day,’ Eleazer said, ‘so I couldn’t see into the room without shading my eyes. I took off my hat to block out the sun and looked
in. What I saw, Aaron, was Melody on the bed. She had her legs around a man. He had his boots against the footboard so that he could push at her better. The sound I’d heard was the headboard
banging against the wall. I could tell by the way Melody was acting that this wasn’t the first time she and this fellow had banged that headboard against the wall. I watched till it was over
and the fellow rolled over on his back. It was John Parker; Melody had always been sweet on him, though when I’d ask her she’d say no, no, she was never sweet on anybody. As soon as he
got off her, she got on top of him. He was still wearing his boots. Neither one of them saw me.’
“Eleazer stopped speaking. Under that mound of covers, he looked small and wasted, but there was a feverish light in his eyes, as if the memory of his wife with another man gave him
something to live for.
“ ‘What did you do then?’ Aaron asked.
“ ‘I got a shotgun, came right into the kitchen next door and took it off the wall. Them two never heard me over the banging of the headboard. Then I went up and waited on the cow
path where it goes into the maples. It was two hours or more before John came up the path. When he did, I killed him. Then I came down and hitched Melody to the bed with a cow chain and a couple of
padlocks and put the bars on the windows. Took me all night and most of the morning, but I got it done. This is Melody’s room. Until today, when I sent her over to the Harbor to fetch you,
she never went out of it again except to cook for me in the kitchen, and you can be damn sure nobody else ever got in. That’s the story of the iron bars on the windows, Aaron.’
“Ten thousand times, Aaron had imagined learning the truth, and he’d always thought that when he did he would feel some overwhelming emotion. But for long moments, as he stood in
silence, staring down at Eleazer on his deathbed, he felt nothing. The truth had been lying here all these years, while Aaron glared at the congregation on Sunday, and now he’d found it the
way he’d found Joe’s crows—by accident.
“ ‘Eleazer,’ Aaron said, ‘what was the trick you played on Joe? Do you call killing John Parker a trick?’
“Eleazer said no, that wasn’t it. ‘The trick,’ said Eleazer, ‘was what I did to his crows. I found them, lying in a couple of juniper bushes. They’d fallen
about twenty feet apart. I picked up the crows and tossed them up into an old
“ ‘I put the bars on this room the day that Indian Joe shot the crows,’ Eleazer said.
“ ‘The day he shot the crows?’ Aaron said.
“ ‘That’s right,’ Eleazer said. ‘I was out cutting timber that day. I broke a chain hauling out a big log and came on down to the house to fetch another chain,
leaving the oxen in the woodlot. That’s when I heard Joe’s shot and saw the crows fall. Joe was standing in the clearing, reloading his gun. He never saw me. Joe was the best shot
around in those days, wouldn’t you say?’
“ ‘Yes,’ said Aaron, ‘I’d say that about Joe.’
“ ‘Joe wasn’t sure where the birds fell, and he was still looking for them when I lost sight of him. I played a little trick on Joe on the way down the mountain, but I’ll
come back to that. I kept my spare chains in the tool shed; the door to that shed is right beside the window to this room. As I put my hand on the door, I heard a bumping sound: bump, bump-bump,
bump-bump-bump-bump. Like that. Couldn’t place the sound. Melody was new then, we’d only been married a year or two, and I didn’t know her habits the way I do now. I thought she
might be doing something I could tease her about, so I sneaked up to that window.’ Eleazer pointed to one of the barred windows.
“ ‘There was a good bit of sun that day,’ Eleazer said, ‘so I couldn’t see into the room without shading my eyes. I took off my hat to block out the sun and looked
in. What I saw, Aaron, was Melody on the bed. She had her legs around a man. He had his boots against the footboard so that he could push at her better. The sound I’d heard was the headboard
banging against the wall. I could tell by the way Melody was acting that this wasn’t the first time she and this fellow had banged that headboard against the wall. I watched till it was over
and the fellow rolled over on his back. It was John Parker; Melody had always been sweet on him, though when I’d ask her she’d say no, no, she was never sweet on anybody. As soon as he
got off her, she got on top of him. He was still wearing his boots. Neither one of them saw me.’
“Eleazer stopped speaking. Under that mound of covers, he looked small and wasted, but there was a feverish light in his eyes, as if the memory of his wife with another man gave him
something to live for.
“ ‘What did you do then?’ Aaron asked.
“ ‘I got a shotgun, came right into the kitchen next door and took it off the wall. Them two never heard me over the banging of the headboard. Then I went up and waited on the cow
path where it goes into the maples. It was two hours or more before John came up the path. When he did, I killed him. Then I came down and hitched Melody to the bed with a cow chain and a couple of
padlocks and put the bars on the windows. Took me all night and most of the morning, but I got it done. This is Melody’s room. Until today, when I sent her over to the Harbor to fetch you,
she never went out of it again except to cook for me in the kitchen, and you can be damn sure nobody else ever got in. That’s the story of the iron bars on the windows, Aaron.’
“Ten thousand times, Aaron had imagined learning the truth, and he’d always thought that when he did he would feel some overwhelming emotion. But for long moments, as he stood in
silence, staring down at Eleazer on his deathbed, he felt nothing. The truth had been lying here all these years, while Aaron glared at the congregation on Sunday, and now he’d found it the
way he’d found Joe’s crows—by accident.
“ ‘Eleazer,’ Aaron said, ‘what was the trick you played on Joe? Do you call killing John Parker a trick?’
“Eleazer said no, that wasn’t it. ‘The trick,’ said Eleazer, ‘was what I did to his crows. I found them, lying in a couple of juniper bushes. They’d fallen
about twenty feet apart. I picked up the crows and tossed them up into an old
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