"He did in fact believe this. This was a thought he tried consciously to discourage — it was both useless and gruesome — but the thought of life without Misery was so terrible that it sometimes crept up on him and surprised him. If you think that means I was out any number of times, go on and fill in the blank! He got it out something big and black with a long barrel and brown woodgrips — and then Annie reappeared, sitting tall in the saddle and driving the Lawnboy as fast as it would go.
But it just wouldnt play.
His eyes were bulging, his mouth was open, his tongue straight down between his teeth like the pull on a window-shade. Her labor had been long and hard, but no longer and no harder than that of many other young ladies she had seen, the midwife declared.