"Tell us, Elsie," said Fanny imploringly.
"I will not!" said her sister—"not to this woman! Go back, Mrs. Ticehurst! What are you doing here?"
Helen caught her by the arm, and looked in her face.
"Girl, I know your thoughts!" she said; "but you are wrong—I tell you, you are wrong! You love him——"
"I do not!" said Elsie angrily. "I love no other woman's lover!"
Surely, though there were two dazed onlookers, these women were in a state to speak their natural minds.
"Girl, girl!" said Helen, once more, "I tell you again, you are wrong! You are endangering your lover's life. Is he not your lover, or did you go over there to find out nothing? I tell you, I came to save him, and to save him for you—no, not for you, you are not worth it, though he thinks you perfection! You are a wicked girl, and a fool! Come, come! why don't you speak? What has become of him? Is he over there now?"
Elsie was silent, but yielding. Fanny spoke again.
"Elsie—Elsie, speak—answer her! What happened over there, and where is the horse?"
Elsie turned to her, as though disdaining to answer Helen.