Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 10, 2023 February 3, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Robert is woken from his sleep by the sound of thunder and rain. Seeing that his window is open and water is pouring in, he gets up to close it and notices a light on in the shed. Hearing voices from downstairs, Robert decides not to go back to bed and instead goes to the top of the stairs to listen. He hears Mrs. Peck, Aunt Carrie, and a foreign voice that he later deduces as belonging to Mrs. Hillman, a neighbor.
Mrs. Hillman is standing in the doorway of the house with a lantern in her hand. Mrs. Peck and Aunt Carrie are trying to convince her to come inside for a cup of tea, and she finally does. The door closes and Rob can hear much better without the sound of the rain coming in. Mrs. Hillman tells Mrs. Peck and Aunt Carrie that her husband, Sebring has taken the team and the spade and ran off. "He picked a night like this so nobody'd see him rile her grave. I know," she says. "That's Letty Phelps, your husband's kin," she explains, and then describes how her husband had hired Letty while she was ill. Mr. Hillman and Letty Phelps had an affair that resulted in a baby. The ordeal had been too much for Letty Phelps, however, and shortly after the baby is born, she drowned it and killed herself.
Suddenly, Haven Peck comes in from the rain, and Rob heads back for bed. He just makes it when Haven calls to him to put his clothes on and prepare the team. Rob gets ready so fast that he puts his pants on backwards and hitches Solomon to the long wagon. He is just about to head back to the house when Haven arrives with a big lantern and the family shotgun. Haven throws Robert up on the wagon, gives him an old buffalo robe, and hands him the lantern. They head down the road toward town, and Haven tells Robert that they are heading for the churchyard. Robert asks why, and Haven responds, "We don't let Sebring Hillman desecrate what's ours that's buried there." Robert, not quite understanding, just wants to get out of the cold and back to sleep.
When Robert and Haven arrive in Learning, they see a lantern glowing through the rain in back of the churchyard. As they pull up and dismount, they hear a spade hitting the ground and then, "Who's there?" "Neighbors, Seeb. It's Haven Peck and son Robert. And we come to take you home," Haven replies. Sebring says that he cannot leave until his work is done and his sin is exposed to the world, but Haven replies that Letty was his kin and that he will not let her grave be desecrated. Sebring comes out of the hole, covered in mud and holding his shovel high. Haven tells him, "It's for varmits, not for neighbors." Sebring then explains that he does not intend to dig up Letty, just the child. Haven gets out of the wagon and helps Sebring find the small coffin and then replace the dirt.
Sebring explains to Haven that the girl is his and yelling, he claims her for the entire world to hear, then carries the box to his wagon. Haven offers him a slicker and blanket, and the three of them leave the graveyard and head back toward the Peck farm. On the way, Sebring tries to apologize to Haven for what happened between him and Letty, but Haven won't hear any of it, saying, "It's over and done. And all I want is breakfast."
When they get home, the rain stops and the sun is coming out. Mrs. Peck offers Sebring Hillman a cup of coffee and then drags Robert into the pantry and dries him with a bag of flour. On his way up to bed, Robert hears Mr. Hillman say to Mrs. Hillman, "Let's go home, May."
Please wait while we process your payment