"I'm glad they've gone—I guess I have to thank you for what you did," she said. "It was right smart, and I'm not sure my mother caught on to the thing."
"How did you know?" Alison asked in rather disturbed astonishment.
Lucy laughed.
"Mavy saw you through the window. The mail-carrier told him Nevis was here, and it was quite easy to figure what he was after. That's why Mavy hitched his team behind the willows and crept up quiet to see what was going on, so he could spoil his game, but he left it to you when he saw that you were on to it. Said he felt quite sure you could fix the man."
Alison remembered the footstep at the window, but she was curious about another aspect of the matter.
"Why did he tell you?" she asked.
Lucy's manner changed, and there was a hint of hardness in her expression.
"Well," she answered, "perhaps he wanted me to know what you had done, and, anyway, he had to put me on my guard. Still, though Mavy's quick, they're none of them very smart after all, and there was a point that didn't seem to strike him. He wasn't clear as to why Nevis would try to pick up Jake's trail through me."
The last words were flung sharply at the listener, and Alison made a gesture of appeal.
"Of course," she returned, "he wouldn't tell you that."