"Ye did?" Gabe snarled. "So that's where ye were, eh? Why didn't ye tell me that before?"
"I didn't have to, Gabe Grimsby. If you'd acted like a man when you came home, I might have told you. But, no, when you got here and found that I was away, instead of staying with the children you went off to the store. Then when you did come home and found that supper was not ready because I just got back, you began to act like a demon. If it hadn't been for Eben here, I don't know what would have happened to me."
"An' he hit ye fer that?" Eben asked in surprise.
"Yes, for that, and because of the money."
"What money?"
"Hush-money; that's what it was. He dragged it out of Mrs. Hampton, that's what he did, the villain. She paid him to keep silent."
The light of understanding dawned in Eben's eyes, and he even smiled.
"It had to do with the girl, eh?" he queried. "Mrs. Hampton paid Gabe to say nuthin' about her, I s'pose. She wants to keep her hidden from her dad. I came here in his car, and I tell ye he's mighty mad."
"Has he found her?" Grimsby asked, forgetting in his interest his battered face.
"Naw, he hasn't found her. But he will, though, if you don't git a hustle on. He knows where she is."