"Have you lost it?" asked Winnie.
But the child's grief seemed too overpowering for her to give any answer; she only rocked herself backwards and forwards, sobbing as if her heart would break.
Winnie stood looking at her for a moment, not quite knowing what to do; then to her great relief Murtagh appeared at her side.
"What's the matter?" he whispered.
"I don't exactly know; somebody's going to kill her," returned Winnie. She climbed up the bank, and knelt down beside the girl, saying:
"Look here, don't cry like that. Here's my brother and there are some more of us down there, and we won't let anybody kill you."
"Yes, he will," replied the girl. "He always does what he says."
"But," said Murtagh, "he'll be put in prison, and hanged if he does." The child sobbed on, giving no heed to Murtagh's words.
"What's he going to kill you for?" asked Murtagh.
"When I lost the goat he said he'd kill me next time," replied the child. "Look here," she continued, rapidly unfastening her frock, and displaying her bare neck and shoulder. "That's what he did to me yesterday."