Barbara came out on the platform of rock. Eve stood before her trembling, with downcast eyes, conscious of having done wrong, and of being put in a position from which it was difficult to escape.
Barbara had walked fast. She was hot and excited, and her temper was roused. She loved Eve dearly, but Eve tried her.
‘Eve,’ she said sharply, ‘what is the meaning of this? Who has been here with you?’
The young girl hung her head.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ she repeated, and her tone of voice showed her irritation. Barbara had a temper.
Eve murmured an inarticulate reply.
‘What is it? I cannot understand. Jane came tearing home with a rhodomontade about a boy jumping down on her from a tree, and I saw him just now at the gate making faces at me. He put his fingers into his mouth, hooted like an owl, and dived into the bushes. What is the meaning of this?’
Eve burst into tears, and hid her face on her sister’s neck.
‘Come, come,’ said Barbara, somewhat mollified, ‘I must be told all. Your giddiness is leading you into a hobble. Who was that on the rock with you? I caught a glimpse of a man as I passed the Scotch fir, and I thought the voice I heard was that of Jasper.’
The girl still cried, cried out of confusion, because she did not know how to answer her sister. She must not tell the truth; the secret had been confided to her. Poor Martin’s safety must not be jeopardised by her. Barbara was so hot, impetuous, and frank, that she might let out about him, and so he might be arrested. What was she to say and do?