The man repeated his remark.
'Well, I dessay there was,' said Bessie—'I dessay there was. I s'pose there's plenty of 'em. Where do I get 'em?—why I get 'em at Bedford, of course, when I goes for my money.'
She looked round defiantly. No one said anything; but everybody instinctively suspected a lie. The sudden silence was striking.
'Well, give me my change, will yer?' she said, impatiently to the landlord. 'I can't stan here all night.'
He gave it to her, and she went out showering reckless good-nights, to which there was little response. The door had no sooner closed upon her than every one in the taproom pressed round the bar in a close gathering of heads and tongues.
Bessie ran across the green and began to climb the hill at a rapid pace. Her thin woolen shawl blown back by the wind left her arms and bosom exposed. But the effects of the spirit in her veins prevented any sense of cold, though it was a bitter night.
Once or twice, as she toiled up the hill, she gave a loud sudden sob.
'Oh my God!' she said to herself. 'My God!'
When she was halfway up, she met a neighbour.
'Have yer seen Isaac?' Bessie asked her, panting.