"How came you here?" cried Ann sharply, when she had at last gathered her senses.
"I might ask you the same thing," replied Everett suavely. "This is scarcely a place for a girl like you."
"I came after Fledra," she said slowly. "I didn't know—"
Everett came forward and crowded back her words with:
"And I came for the same person!"
Brimbecomb reasoned quickly that he dared not tell Ann the truth, and that so long as she thought his actions were for Fledra's welfare she would stand by him.
"I found out that these ruffians had taken her, and I came after her. I thought a good school would be better than this." He swept his hand over the hut, and did not notice the expression that flitted across Ann's face.
Lem uttered an unintelligible grunt, and growled:
"He's a damned liar, Miss! He wanted to buy the gal from me and Lon."
Everett laughed sneeringly.