"Home! Guess not. I'd surely know it if she was."
"But she left before we did," Jess explained.
"She did! How's that? Didn't yez come in the same car?"
"No, you see——" Jess hesitated, and then stopped.
"I see, I see," and Abner nodded. "Ye needn't explain."
Deep in his heart Abner was pleased that his wife was not present at this awkward moment, but he wondered what had become of her. Although Jess worried about her mother, she was anxious to change the subject which might lead to embarrassing questions.
"Won't you tell me about those boys in my bed?" she asked. "Surely you must know where they came from."
Abner chuckled, and just then Belle appeared in the doorway.
"You do know," Jess insisted. "You're laughing. I know you are. Come, confess everything."
It took Abner some time to relate his experience with the waifs of the night, and when he was through he ordered the girls off to bed.