“Yes.” This, then, was the sister of the black-haired boy he had seen in the Lonesome Cove.
“Haven't you got some kinfolks over the mountain?”
“Yes, I got an uncle livin' over thar. Devil Judd, folks calls him,” said the girl simply. This girl was cousin to little June in Lonesome Cove. Every now and then she would look behind them, and when Hale turned again inquiringly she explained:
“I'm worried about my cousins back thar. I'm afeered somethin' mought happen to 'em.”
“Shall we wait for them?”
“Oh, no—I reckon not.”
Soon they overtook two men on horseback, and after they passed and were fifty yards ahead of them, one of the men lifted his voice jestingly:
“Is that your woman, stranger, or have you just borrowed her?” Hale shouted back:
“No, I'm sorry to say, I've just borrowed her,” and he turned to see how she would take this answering pleasantry. She was looking down shyly and she did not seem much pleased.
“They are kinfolks o' mine, too,” she said, and whether it was in explanation or as a rebuke, Hale could not determine.