"Don't fret, child. A few hasty words in answer to over rough wooing can easily be made up for. The young man was sorely put about; but I rated him soundly for coming here when I was away. He will think twice before he does it again."
"He must never do it again. Never—never!" cried Ruth, desperately. "See to that, father. He never must."
"Ruth!"
"Oh, father, do not ask me ever to see this man again. I cannot—I cannot!"
"Hush, child—hush! It is only a quarrel, which must not break the compact of a lifetime. Till now, you and Dick have always been good friends."
"Have we? I don't know. Not lately, I'm sure; and we never, never can be anything like friends again."
"Ruth!"
The girl lifted her great wild eyes to her father, and dropped them again. She was too much terrified for tears now.
"Ruth, was any person here to-night beyond Dick?"
The girl did not answer. She seemed turning to stone. Her silence irritated the poor man, who stood watching like a criminal for her reply. He spoke more sharply.