“Go on,” said Gene with dry lips and stiff articulation. The horror of it froze his senses. In spite of him his mother’s face came reproachfully between him and the stranger. What had he done to Joyce? How had he been responsible for all this that had happened to her? He was not a bad man. He did not want her inheritance at the expense of her life. He was merely a selfish man. This girl was his own blood and kin, and he was responsible for her safety. Fear sat upon his face. What might not come to him when the town heard this?
But the stranger was asking him a question.
With an effort he pulled himself back to attend.
“Just when did you say you seen her last? April? Twenty-four? Yep. That’s the day. Long toward evenin’ wasn’t it? She went down acrost lots to her yants grave, didn’t she? What say? You didn’t know that? Oh, I thought—well, it don’t matter. That’s where she went, and he met her thar. Must uv had a date. He was waitin’ there for her. You see we was doin’ some work there round a lot, in the cem’try, me an’ a couppla others, an’ when we got back home we found we hadta go ’nother place next day so we walks back t’get our tools we’d lef’ hid. Seein’ there was somebody there seemin’ to be feelin’ bad—she was cryin’ real hard, an’ he was coaxin’ her—we didn’t like to intrude, so we set awhile under the hedge thinkin’ he’d get away. We knowed him, ya know, a great one with the dames. They always fall fer him, no matter what they are! Pretty soon we see ’em walk away down a piece to the road jes’ as we thought they would, only she was talkin’ fast, an’ cryin’. Still we didn’t think nothin’ of it, knowin’ him an’ all, till suddenly we seen him pick her up strugglin’ and chuck her into a autymobile he had standin’ there, an’ fore we could sense what was goin’ on they was off down the road.
“We talked it over an’ we come to the conclusion it was just a little quarrel they was havin’ an’ none o’ our business. But two days after that Billy he missed one o’ his wedges, an’ he reckoned he musta lef’ it up to the cem’try, so we all decides to walk up, bein’ a pleasant evenin’, jus’ fer the walk. On the way we talked about the girl we’d seen an’ decided to look at the headstone an’ see if we could make out if she was a relative of ennybody we knowed. I ain’t from Meadow Brook myself but I got frien’s buried up there. But when we come in sight o’ the cem’try we seen that there car thar again, jus’ in the same place, kinda hid like behind the alders, backed down off the road, an’ we listened, an’ heard the ring of a spade. We thought that was queer, an’ we clum the bank an’ stole round to the back of the cem’try where we could see. We hadta go awful still, cause he stopped every now an’ agen to listen, but we fin’lly got where we could see, an’ he was diggin’ a grave!”
Gene caught his breath and Tyke sat watching him cautiously to see just how far he could go with his tale.
“Thur was a long bundle did up in a carridge robe layin’ on the ground, and bime bye when he’d dug a long time he turns around and he listens, an’ then he snaps on his flashlight, an’ turns back the cloth an’ there was ’er face, jes’ as plain, same girl as we’d seen settin’ on the grave, only dead as a door-nail. Her face shone bright in his light an’ we couldn’t make no mistake. Then he covers up her face an’ snaps off the light and rolls her into the hole, an’ we could hear the dirt bein’ shovelled down in again, an’ me an’ my pards were weak as little babies. We couldn’t do nothin’, jes’ lay in the grass there an’ never moved till we hear his autymobile chuggin’ down the road. We was most too scared to speak then. An’ we got away acrost the fields an’ never come home till mornin’ we was so plumb scared.
“We was tryin’ to figger out what to do, but next thing we heard the girl had went away visitin’, an’ we figgered it out that what you didn’t know wouldn’t never make you all feel bad, so we kep’ our mouths shet. But here lately, I ain’t ben sleepin’ well. Keep a dreamin’ I see that there girl with her purty white face a cryin’ out to me fer justice to be done on that there feller, an’ I made up my mind I wouldn’t hold back no longer, I’d tell you the truth, an’ you kin do what you like about it. My han’s is washed clean, enyhow. But if you all want ter prosecute him its a clear case of murder in the first degree, an’ we’ll all stan’ by ya.”
“But you haven’t told me who the man is,” said Gene, his breath coming fast and his eyes taking on a wild look. “Murder! Think of it! To one of our family!”
“Why, I ’sposed you knowed a course. Ain’t he ben comin’ here to see her? I knowed he was here the night after he took her away ’cause I seen him myself, follered him to the gate. Fact, there ain’t been much happened to him sence that I ain’t knowed ’bout. Had him watched, ya know. Can’t take no chances with a feller like that. Why, his name is Sherwood. Darcy Sherwood. Great baseball pitcher. Often had his name in the paper. That kind takes the girls ya know.”