"You're a clever lass if you do. But I don't see how you intend to go about it."
"I will make him," repeated Tera; "that is enough. And now let us go into the house. Tolai is cold, for the sun goes down."
"Mayne is inside," said Jack, hanging back, for he was enjoying the hour too much to shorten it.
"I know," answered Tera, and walked towards the farm. "I want to see Mr. Mayne, and Rachel too."
She spoke rather mysteriously, and Finland could not catch the drift of her meaning. However, she said nothing, and the three of them entered the house together. Tolai bestowed himself in a corner, where he sat cross-legged on the floor, after the fashion of his tribe, keeping his faithful eyes ever fastened on Tera. Mayne and Rachel were seated near the window, chatting, and the conversation had not been uninteresting, to judge from Rachel's high colour and bright eyes. Finland guessed that Herbert Mayne had proposed and been accepted. He nudged Tera with a chuckle, but the girl did not respond to his merriment. Indeed, she looked so severely at Herbert when she greeted him that the young man was quite disconcerted. He did not look well, for his face was colourless and his manner uneasy. Yet if Rachel had accepted him--and there was no reason to believe that she had done otherwise--he should surely have been glowing with happiness.
"I am glad to see you again. Miss Bithiah," said he; "we all mourned you as dead."
"It was a strange mistake, Mr. Mayne."
"Oh, I shouldn't say that. The poor girl who was murdered wore your clothes, and as her body was not found for a month, the face was not recognizable. No one dreamed that the corpse was that of a gipsy girl."
"Did not you, Mr. Mayne?"
"I! No," replied Herbert, with frank surprise. "Why should I?"