When Mrs. Grandoken brought the water, they worked over the cat for a long time, and at length Peg carried the poor little mangled body to the kitchen, Bobbie following her.
Jinnie sat down beside the cobbler on the bench.
“There’s something I don’t know, Jinnie,” he said.
Fully and freely she told him all—all that had happened that day. She explained Molly’s recognition of her and the terrors of the afternoon’s ride.
“She hates barn-cats,” went on the girl, “and, Lafe, 173 when the wheels gritted over him, I flew right out on the ground.”
Lafe’s arms tightened about her.
“You just couldn’t help it,” he murmured. “God bless my little girl!”
“Then Mr. King took me with him,” concluded Jinnie.
Lafe had his own view of Molly the Merry, but he didn’t tell the faint, white girl at his side that he thought the woman was jealous of her.
As Jinnie again recounted nervously the conversation about her Uncle Jordan, the cobbler said softly: