“She hadn’t nothing of the kind!” declared her angry husband. “You be still, Almiry. I glory in the gal’s spunk. If she’d stopped, they’d mebbe had her in jail till this time. The Elder’s got one of his mean fits on and he’s gotter have satisfaction. But I’ll give him satisfaction.”
“Oh, Jason!” quavered his timid wife. “Don’t you git inter no law-fight with Elder Concannon. He’s got more money’n us, and he’ll beat ye.”
“I’d like ter see him!” declared Uncle Jason valiantly. “I’m going to stick by Broxton’s gal if it takes the last dollar I got. An’ I’d be glad ter fight old Concannon, anyway.”
“Hurray for Dad!” burst out Marty. “He talks right, he does!”
“Oh, I hope it will make nobody any trouble but myself,” murmured Janice. “Really, I never did travel so fast on the road before to-day; and there was a reason——”
“It don’t matter. He shows a mighty poor sperit,” grunted Uncle Jason. “I shell tell Concannon so.”
“Seems mighty small pertaters,” quoth Aunt ’Mira, “for them two men to pitch upon a girl.”
Uncle Jason put on his hat without eating his supper. “Never mind the victuals,” he grunted. “I kin eat any time, Almiry. I’m a-goin’ downtown ter see what kin be done about it.”
Uncle Jason was as good as his word, and his interest brought forth fruit that rather staggered Janice. In the first place, the constable never served the warrant; but early in the morning the farmer took Janice down to the justice’s office, all the way advising her not to be frightened, “for all her friends would stand by her.”
And it really did look as though many of Janice Day’s friends intended literally to do that thing. Judge Little held court in a big room over the feed store. Flour and meal dust powdered the stairway going up, had searched out the crevices through the floor from the warehouse below, and masked the spider-webs in the windows with a curtain through which the winter sun had hard work to penetrate.