"Wait a minute," Anne called, and vanished into the house.
She was gone a long time and Cherry waited patiently for her return. When she appeared again she held a folded paper in her hand and her hair was in disorder about her face.
"I had a time gettin' it," she said, coming towards Cherry and holding the paper before her. "I had to wake him up to tell me where it was. But he told me. One thing about Bill—he knows when he's beat—an' that's sayin' something for a man that was never beat before—ain't it?"
She smiled comically, and Cherry could not help smiling at her in reply.
"Anyhow, here it is," she said, giving the paper to Cherry. "I thought of takin' it over myself—I like that boy—but you'd better give it to him."
Cherry knew little or nothing about official documents, but she could not help guessing the meaning of the paper she held in her hand. She opened it and glanced quickly over the written record of a timber claim in the hills, interjected between the lines of legally phrased printed matter.
"Take it to him," Anne continued after a pause. "He'll know what to do with it. If he don't—ask old man Hurley."
"But Anne——" Cherry protested, only to be interrupted again.
"Don't worry—I ain't stealin' it. Ain't I his wife?" she asked with a laugh. "Anyhow there's something else. I had a claim once out west—a good claim, too—never mind!"
She broke off abruptly and gave Cherry a little push.