“Hello, Virginia. Where have you been hiding yourself?” was her father’s friendly greeting, but he gave her a sharp glance.
She sat down as she told him. “I have been to the hospital, Daddy.”
Obadiah’s face hardened and he scanned the page before him.
She watched his movements with unconcealed anxiety. She was very pale and it was only with an effort that she could calm herself to say, “A committee of ladies from Amity came to see you this afternoon.”
“What did any committee of women want with me? Money?” he suggested, with a suspicious eye upon his daughter.
“No, they came, they said, because the waste from the mill is spoiling the river water and causing sickness in their town.”
“Why didn’t they come to my office about that?”
“They did, but you were not in.”
He shifted uneasily in his chair. “Did you talk to them about it?”
“Yes. They explained the matter to me. They said that the Board of Health has found that the water is unfit to drink. They wanted to persuade you not to go into court about the decision. A law suit might last for years.”