“How many with him?”
“All of them—eight. Seven of them stay at home, but Mary French travels with him. Didn't you notice her in the Tabernacle—the girl with the rose in her hair, sitting near the platform?”
“Yes, I noticed her. Was that one of his wives?”
Roxy waited until they had struck into the woods path, and then looked guardedly behind her.
“Mary French is the youngest one. She was sealed to the Prophet only two years ago; and last winter she went travelling with him, and we heard she dressed in men's clothes and acted as his secretary.”
“But why did she do that when she was his wife according to your religion?”
“I don't know,” responded Roxy, mysteriously. “The Gentiles on the mainland are very hard on us.”
They followed the track between fragrant grape-vine and hickory, and the girl bred to respect polygamy inquired—
“Do you feel afraid of the Prophet, Cousin Emeline?”