"Burke!" I exclaimed, a tremor creeping over me at the thought of that cruel villain and his soft, purring way. "What did they do with him?"
"They put him in prison, but when Blott refused to appear against him he was released."
"Why wouldn't Blott appear?" I asked, surprised.
"Every one urged him to, but he said he was as bad as Burke."
"They ought not to have let Burke go!" I cried, thinking of Uncle Job.
"That is what papa said, but the jail was full and they would have had to board him, and the town being poor, they didn't want to do that, no one appearing against him."
"It's too bad," I answered, all Burke's cunning and wickedness rising before me. "Didn't Uncle Job try to detain him?"
"No; and he seemed much relieved when Burke was released and left the town, at which we all wondered."
"It was like him not to think of himself," I answered, remembering the Singletons, and why Uncle Job should wish Burke anywhere but in Appletop.
"Has he anything to fear from Burke any more than others?" Constance asked, as if my alarm had in some way communicated itself to her.