“Was that what she said?” cried Cora excitedly.
“She did, miss!”
“What sort of a woman was she?” With her eyes Cora signalled to Jack to remain quiet. She knew the girls would.
“Well, I couldn’t rightly say, miss, as it was so dark right after the storm. But before I knew what she was doin’ she had come into the pasture that I hired for the sheep over night, and run toward a hay stack. She stumbled over a lamb, fell down, the dogs barked, and it took all I could do to quiet them sheep.”
“What became of the woman?” asked Cora, making a motion with her lips to signify that she thought her the same mysterious one who had been in her barn.
“Well, she was real sorry for having made me so much trouble, and it was trouble. She said she didn’t see the sheep in the field, and she was as scar’t as they was, I reckon. I asked her what she was doin’ out and she said looking for a girl.”
“A girl?” asked Jack, sharply.
“Yes. I ast her if it was her girl–thinkin’ she might be a farmer’s wife from around there, but she didn’t say any more. Only she kept sort of moanin’ like, an’ sayin’ as how her life was spoilt, an’ how if she could only find a girl–well, I couldn’t make much head or tail of it, an’ anyhow I was worried about the sheep, for one got torn on a barbed wire fence. But I was sorry for the woman. I ast her if she intended to spend the night out-doors, and she said yes.
“I couldn’t hardly stand for that–for by her voice I could tell she wasn’t a common kind. So I ast her if she had any money. I was goin’ to give her some myself, so she could get a night’s lodging anyhow. She put her hand in her pocket–sort of absent-minded like, and then she got a surprise, I guess, for she pulled out a silver purse, that she didn’t seem to expect to find there. I could see it plain for I was lightin’ my pipe just then to quiet my nerves.”
“A silver purse?” cried Cora.