The barking turned to growls; horrible, crunching growls which brought his heart up into his throat as he broke into a run, forgetting his pain. He had not gained the top 33of the rise in the road, however, when the growls gave place to wild yelps and howls which rapidly diminished in the distance and presently Lou appeared holding carefully before her something round and white which gleamed in the starlight.
“Good Heavens!” he exclaimed when she neared him. “What on earth have you been doing?”
“Git on back ’round the other side of the mill!” ordered Lou. “I gotta go slow or I’ll spill it.”
“What is it?”
But she vouchsafed him no reply until they reached a ledge of rock over the tumbling stream, well out of sight of that light on the hill. Then she set down the object she was carrying and he saw that it was a bright tin pan, filled almost to the brim with milk.
“I thought it would go good with our bread an’ ham,” she explained ingenuously. “I figgered from what I learned at that Hess place that they’d leave some out in the summer cellar to cream, for they ain’t got any spring-house, an’ they won’t be likely to miss one 34pan out of fifteen. Besides, there’s nothin’ in them rules you told me that stops me from beggin’ or borrowin’, or stealin’, either, an’ if I give you some of this you ain’t got any call to ask me where it come from.”
This feminine logic left Jim almost speechless, but he managed to gasp out:
“The dog! Didn’t he attack you?”
“I guess that was what he intended, but I put down the pan an’ fit him off.” She added, with evident pride. “I never spilled a drop, either!”
“Good Lord!” Jim ejaculated. “I believe you’d do anything once!”