For a moment every one was quiet. Surprise, delight, stayed speech. Then Ann asked: “And did you do it behind the locked door, father?”
“Yes, Ann.”
“Well, I’m glad I kept Billy out!”
“And Lyn—did you know?” Betty said, her pretty face aglow.
“I—I guessed.”
But the men kept still after the cordial handshakes. McPherson was recalling something Jim White had said to him recently while he was with the sheriff in the hills.
“Doc, that thar chap yo’ once sent down here—thar war a lot to him us-all didn’t catch onter.”
And Brace was thinking of the night, long, long ago, when Conning threw some letters upon the glowing coals and groaned!