Eileen slowly pushed the door shut, keeping her frightened eyes upon the incomer who tottered weakly to the wall and leaned against it for support.
Dirty from head to heel, he was dressed only in a pair of ragged trousers and a torn, mud-stained shirt. His stockingless feet were partly hidden in a pair of broken boots. Several days’ growth of beard made it hard to guess him young or old. But his blue eyes, despite their tired and bloodshot appearance, betrayed, as they gazed in wonder at the girl, many characteristics of a youthfulness not yet really past.
While the two stood thus, the far-away sound of voices floated up the hill from below.
The fugitive’s eyes roved like those of a hunted animal. He braced himself as if ashamed of his momentary show of fear. He tried hard to smile, but the smile was a dismal failure.
“Sorry,” he panted, “but––but–––” His voice sounded harsh and hoarse from exposure. “Is there anywhere––any place where you could hide me till they pass. They were only––only a little behind me. Guess––I––shouldn’t––shouldn’t have got you mixed up in this. They are coming this way. They want to take me back––but I can’t––I won’t go back there. Ah!”
He clung with his fingers against the wall to prevent him from collapsing.
In a moment, anxious and all alert, Eileen searched the kitchen for a place of safe hiding. She thought of 14 the cupboards, the clothes-closets in her own bedroom, even her bed of spotless linen; but none of these afforded security. At last, her ready eyes found what her nimble mind was seeking.
“Quick––here!” she cried, turning to the huge box in the corner which she used for holding the short firewood for her stove. “Help me unload this wood. The box is good and big. You can get inside; I’ll pile the wood on top of you. They’ll never guess.”
The girl, although slight in appearance, set to with a vigour and an agility that carried a swift contagion. The man was by her side at once. He gave a little crackle of a laugh in his throat, and shot a glance of admiration at her. In sixty seconds more, the box was emptied of its contents. The man clambered inside and crouched in the bottom of it.
It was only then that the girl noticed his very great physical weakness.