They promised never to breathe a word of the story. Secretly they thought all the more of Ralph for his genuine self-condemnation. No doubt, it would be a good lesson to all of them; which was really one reason why Ralph, at Rob’s suggestion, had mentioned the facts; for they could see how easy it must always be to think evil of one’s best friend when circumstances arise that seem convincing, although an explanation, if sought, may brush them away as though they were mere cobwebs.
During that morning there must have been dozens of times when one or another of the boys walked to the end of the porch as if to stretch their legs, when in reality it was to look along the road in the direction that a traveler must take if coming from that farmhouse where they had seen Peleg driving up in what appeared to be a hired buggy.
“Here he comes!” suddenly called out Tubby all of a sudden, as he stood at that particular end of the porch.
No one demanded to know who was meant, because the same thought was in every fellow’s brain. They scrambled to their feet from hammock, swing, and easychairs to twist their heads around, and stare in the quarter in which Tubby was looking.
Yes, a vehicle could be seen approaching, with the dust rising behind the lazy shuffling motion of the horse’s hoofs. Apparently, whoever drove was in no particular hurry to get on.
“Why, there seem to be two persons in the buggy!” ejaculated keen-eyed Sim.
“But one’s Peleg, all right,” added Tubby, stubbornly, not wishing to be shorn of his right as first discoverer.
“Just who it is,” Ralph assured them, and he ought to know. “The other person seems to be a girl, and it wouldn’t surprise me now if she turned out to be Hetty Pinder.”
“You mean Peleg’s sister, the one who was working in service on that other farm?” asked Andy, more than a little excited as he seemed to scent something interesting in the coming back of Peleg under such odd conditions.
Mr. Jeffords came out on the porch. Possibly he had noticed the coming of Peleg up the lane that led from the main road; and felt a mild curiosity to know why he had remained away so long; also what possessed him to fetch his sister over from the farm where she had engaged to work.