“Brace, dear,” she whispered, “I’m so afraid. The storm; everything frightens me. Take me in your arms.”
And at that moment Kathryn believed that she loved Northrup, had saved him from a great peril, and she was prepared to act the part, in the future, of a faithful wife.
CHAPTER XVIII
Noreen and Jan-an late that afternoon returned to the yellow house. They were both rather depressed and forlorn, for they knew that Northrup was gone and had taken away with him much that had stimulated and cheered.
Finding the yellow house empty, the two went up the opposite hill and leisurely made their way to the brook that marked the limit of free choice. Here they sat down, and Noreen suggested that they sing Northrup’s old songs and play some of his diverting games. Jan-an solemnly agreed, shaking her head and sighing as one does who recalls the dead.
So Noreen piped out the well-beloved words of “Green Jacket” and, rather heavily, acted the jovial part. But Jan-an refused to be comforted. She cried distractedly, and always when Jan-an wept she made such abnormal “faces” that she disturbed any onlookers.
“All right!” Noreen said at last. “We’ll both do something.”
This clever psychological ruse brought Jan-an to her normal state.