The Boarded Window

Not far from Cincinnati in 1830 lies a “great forest” occupied by the scattered homes of early settlers. Among them is an old, neglected cabin with a front door and boarded-up window. For decades, a white-haired man named Murlock has lived there; he looks 70 but is really 50. He lets his yard grow wild and provides for himself by selling animal skins.

Murlock is found dead at his cabin, apparently of natural causes. He’s buried next to his wife’s grave on the property. Few remember her, and only the narrator’s grandfather knew the cause of Murlock’s isolation. Now, only the narrator knows the tale.

The story flashes back to Murlock’s youth. Murlock and his young bride head west and carve a homestead out of the forest. One day, he returns from hunting to find his wife in a delirium of fever. Doctors are far away, so he tries to help her, but she fades away and all signs of life depart. Quietly he prepares her body for burial. Without tears and unaccustomed to tragedy, Murlock places her on a table, thinking his grief will pour forth when he puts her in the grave the next day.