“That no one was watching him,” he answered.
“Watching him? I don't understand.”
“Yes; he has been shot at from the woods at night and——”
The girl shivered. “But who watches him?”
“The young men of the town. He has a habit of taking long walks after dark, and he is heedless of all remonstrance. He laughs at the idea of curtailing the limit of his strolls or keeping within the town when night has fallen; so the young men have organized a guard for him, and every evening one of them follows him until he goes to the office to work for the night. It is a different young man every evening, and the watcher follows at a distance so that he does not suspect.”
“But how many people know of this arrangement?”
“Nearly every one in the county except the Cross-Roads people, though it is not improbable that they have discovered it.”
“And has no one told him”
“No; it would annoy him; he would not allow it to continue. He will not even arm himself.”
“They follow and watch him night after night, and every one knows and no one tells him? Oh, I must say,” cried the girl, “I think these are good people.”