"The brat ain't mine—it air a woman's on the hill. She didn't like it, and gave it to me, with a little money, till Daddy comes back."
"Whose brat air it?"
"A woman's I says, a-livin' on the hill."
The words struggled through the fishy hand.
"Ye'll take it back to her to-night, ye does; then ye comes with me to the shanty. Yer Daddy ain't a-comin' here no more."
Suddenly Tess heard footsteps crushing the pebbles near the hut. She could be saved, if she— She wrenched her face upward, and screamed,
"Rescue ther perishin'!"
The words were sent out in such a strain of agony that Ben Letts thrust his fingers to her throat. With an oath he closed them together.
"I loves ye, ye hussy; that air why I chokes ye!"
The room whirled around before Tessibel's gaze. She tried to draw her breath beneath the tightening grasp. The door burst open, and Frederick Graves received a desperate look of entreaty from the squatter-girl.