“Do you think you ought to be here?”
“Certainly,” he answered. “Wouldn’t it be rather uncanny for you to be alone when a man’s face comes staring at you in the mirror—Rex’s, for instance.”
“Tom!” was Rena’s only answer, as she stepped upon the stone projecting over the well.
“See that you don’t fall when he comes,” Tom said. “You have just ten seconds before he ought to be starting. Shall I count?”
He began counting very deliberately and loudly, while Rena held her breath wishing he would stop. He did stop just as the village bell began to strike the hour of noon.
“Now for it,” he said. “Look close; don’t miss him. Do you see him yet? I believe I hear a rustling in the air.”
Rena did not reply, and after a moment Tom called again. “Time he was there unless you are to be an old maid.”
“Tom Giles, will you stop!” Rena exclaimed, “How can I keep in a proper frame of mind if you go on like that?”
For half a minute Tom was silent; then he called again:
“Has he come?”