"I know; but that woman—don't place me, helpless as I am, with that strange woman!"
"You will find a capital nurse there; I left her preparing a warm bed!" whispered Agnes, stooping toward Harrington, till her breath floated across his face; "the walk is a little toilsome, but short; between us, I think she could manage it."
Mabel heard the whisper, and sinking back on her bed of leaves, pleaded against the measure.
"I cannot go up there," she said with some resolution, "I could not rest with that woman near."
"Of whom does she speak?" inquired Harrington.
"It is impossible for me to guess; the fright has unsettled her mind, I fear," answered Agnes.
"No, I am sane enough," murmured Mrs. Harrington, "but I have been warned. No human voice ever spoke more plainly than that lone night bird, as I went up the hollow—he knew that it was unholy ground I trod upon!"
"But you are not strong enough to reach home," persisted the girl Agnes, "the river is yet rough—the wind unsettled."
"She is well enough to go just where she's a mind to, I reckon," said Ben Benson, crashing through the undergrowth, "and I'm here to help her do it."
"Thank you," said Mabel, gently, "I wish to go home!"