"There's news, Lina," he said to his niece, who was laying the cloth on the table, and deftly arranging the tea-things.
Jaquelina looked at him with a start and a blush. She fancied he had brought her a letter from her lover.
"Well, Uncle Charlie?" she said, expectantly.
"Yes," said Farmer Meredith, "there's wonderful news for you. The horse-thief, Gerald Huntington, attempted to escape night before last. He knocked down two keepers, and got almost a mile away before he was caught and taken back. They say he fought like a lion for his freedom."
Jaquelina started and grew deadly pale at his words.
"I have brought the newspaper with me," went on the farmer. "It's all written there. Stop clattering the dishes a minute, Lina, and I'll read it out for you."
His niece stood still with her hand resting on the table, and listened while he turned the paper and read out, slowly:
"Attempted escape of Gerald Huntington, the chief of the outlaw gang that had infested the mountains so long, and who was so summarily captured little more than a year ago by a brave young girl."
Having read this much, which was printed in flaring head lines and capitals, Mr. Meredith cleared his throat, and proceeded to attack the smaller type: