Cousin Ben striding along did not at first see the little girl, but at her calling “Cousin Ben, Cousin Ben,” he stopped short.
“Why, you little monkey, what are you doing here?” he said. “The bugaboos will catch you here in these dark woods.”
“There isn’t such a thing as bugaboos,” returned Edna stoutly, “and I should be very silly to think so, but something will catch you if you don’t look out.”
“‘The gob-e-lins will get you if you don’t look out,’” replied Cousin Ben, laughing. “Is that what you are trying to say? If you are not afraid of bugaboos neither am I afraid of goblins. What do you think is going to get a big fellow like me?”
“Why,” said Edna at once becoming serious, “I will tell you; I heard some college boys talking back there by the edge of the woods.”
“You did? and what did they say?”
“They said: ‘We’ll nab him as he comes out, boys.’”
“Humph! What did they look like? Did you know any of them?”
“The one who said that was John Fielding, and there was another that I’ve seen before. He sits back of our pew at church.”
“Sophs, both of them, and did you come all this way to tell me about it?”