“Nothin’ . . . . . nothin’ . . . . . the colour . . . . . it burns . . . . . cold an’ wet, but it burns . . . . . it lived in the well . . . . . I seen it . . . . . a kind o’ smoke . . . . . jest like the flowers last spring . . . . . the well shone at night . . . . . Thad an’ Merwin an’ Zenas . . . . . everything alive . . . . . suckin’ the life out of everything . . . . . in that stone . . . . . it must o’ come in that stone . . . . . pizened the whole place . . . . . dun’t know what it wants . . . . . that round thing them men from the college dug outen the stone . . . . . they smashed it . . . . . it was that same colour . . . . . jest the same, like the flowers an’ plants . . . . . must a’ ben more of ’em . . . . . seeds . . . . . seeds . . . . . they growed . . . . . I seen it the fust time this week . . . . . must a’ got strong on Zenas . . . . . he was a big boy, full o’life . . . . . it beats down your mind an’ then gits ye . . . . . burns ye up . . . . . in the well water . . . . . you was right about that . . . . . evil water . . . . . Zenas never come back from the well . . . . . can’t git away . . . . . draws ye . . . . . ye know summ’at’s comin’, but ’tain’t no use . . . . . I seen it time an’ agin Zenas was took . . . . . whar’s Nabby, Ammi? . . . . . my head’s no good . . . . . dun’t know how long sence I fed her . . . . . it’ll git her ef we ain’t keerful . . . . . jest a colour . . . . . her face is gittin’ to hev that colour sometimes towards night . . . . . an’ it burns an’ sucks . . . . . it come from some place whar things ain’t as they is here . . . . . one o’ them professors said so . . . . . he was right . . . . . look out, Ammi, it’ll do suthin’ more . . . . . sucks the life out . . . . . ”