"Did you tell him my father said that?" he demanded.
"No. I had more sense left than that," said Kate. "I only said all his boys FELT like that. Then I pulled the table after me to block the door, and smashed half the dishes and he slipped in the fried potatoes and went down with a crash—"
"Bloody Murder!" cried young Adam, aghast.
"Me, too!" said Kate. "I'll never step in that house again while he lives. I've spilled the beans, now."
"That you have," said Adam, slacking his horse to glance back. "He is standing in the middle of the road shaking his fist after you."
"Can you see Nancy Ellen?" asked Kate.
"No. She must have climbed the garden fence and hidden behind the privet bush."
"Well, she better make it a good long hide, until he has had plenty of time to cool off. He'd have killed me if he had caught me, after he fell—and wasted all those potatoes already cooked——"
Kate laughed a dry hysterical laugh, but the boy sat white-faced and awed.
"Never mind," said Kate, seeing how frightened he was. "When he has had plenty of time he'll cool off; but he'll never get over it. I hope he doesn't beat Mother, because I was born."