“I must spit it right out, hey?”
“Yes.”
“If so be, so good. Well, gal, I’ve got a powerful long pair of ears. I were a-passing back of the wigwam where the little gal is, a few minutes ago, and I heerd something that made me want to hear more.”
“Indeed?” Kate’s face was as impassible as the face of a statue, and her voice as cold as ice.
“So I listened and heerd a good deal.”
“What did you hear?”
“’Bout all you said to the little gal,” replied Kendrick, with a grin. “I heerd you tell her ’bout the young feller that you saved in the ravine. I s’pose he’s the one I saw in your cabin t’other day, hey?”
“Yes,” Kate replied.
“Well, I thought so when you spoke of him. And then it struck me what a funny idea it was for you to be ’tending and fussing over another gal’s feller.”
“It is strange, isn’t it?” said Kate, with a peculiar look. Her father did not notice the odd look.