Nothing daunted, Wickliff continued: “When you gave the boys warning, where were they?”

“In my house.”

“How came they there?”

“They had brought over a bucket of water.”

“Why?”

“Because we had only well-water, they said.”

“That was rather kind on the part of Mrs. Armstrong, don’t you think? In every respect, besides playing the organ, she was a kind neighbor, wasn’t she?”

“I don’t complain of her.”

“Wasn’t she rather noted in the neighborhood as a lady of great kindness? Didn’t she often send in little delicacies—flowers, fruit, and such things—gifts that often pass between neighbors to different people?”