“Then you will probably come across her somewhere about the straw-pile with the kiddies.”
Sproatly took the hint, and when he went out Mrs. Hastings laughed.
“You would hardly suppose that was a young man of excellent education!” she exclaimed. “So it’s on Winifred’s account he has driven over; at first I fancied it was on yours.”
Agatha was astonished, but she smiled. “If Winifred favors him with her views about young men he will probably be rather sorry for himself. He lives near you?”
“No,” said Mrs. Hastings. “In the summer he lives in his wagon, or under it, I don’t know which. Of course, if he’s really taken with Winifred he will have to alter that.”
“But he has only seen her once—you can’t mean that he is serious.”
“I really can’t speak for Sproatly, but it would be quite in keeping with the customs of the country if he was.”
A minute or two later Agatha saw Winifred in the wagon when it reappeared from behind the straw-pile, and Mrs. Hastings turned toward the window.
“She has gone with him,” she commented significantly. “Unfortunately, he has taken my kiddies too. If he brings them back with no bones broken it will be a relief to me.”