“Yes, on you. He has got hold of a pistol somehow, and he is no longer very steady at his work. I fear he drinks some. He vows he will shoot you on sight.”
“Oh, my Heaven!”
“But do not be frightened, dear. It is nothing but boyish bluster, I am sure. Only I am afraid of him just yet, while the drink fires his blood. So it is better to keep your room a while.”
“Every one knows, then, mamma?” with a burning blush.
“We could not keep it a secret. Every one suspected you,” sighed the unhappy woman, bursting into a flood of tears.
But she wept more bitterly still next morning, for, in spite of the locked door, Pansy was missing, and a tiny note on her pillow told the story:
Bless you, my faithful mamma, and help you to forgive me for my willful ways that caused you so much sorrow. Tell Willie not to drink any more. I will never come back, never disgrace him again.
Unhappy Pansy.
CHAPTER X.
A HEARTSICK FUGITIVE.
Pansy Laurens meant to keep her word when she wrote to her mother that she would never come back. She felt that this would be best.