‘Do I want him? No, Barbara, but I do not choose that he shall escape. Go and look if there is a light in his window.’
She was about to send Jane, when her father impatiently insisted on her going herself. Wondering at his caprice she obeyed.
No sooner was the door closed behind her, than the old man signed Jane Welsh to come near him.
‘Jane,’ he said in a whisper, ‘I want you to do something for me. No one must know about it. You have a sweetheart, I’ve heard, the policeman, Joseph Woodman, at Tavistock.’
The girl pulled at the ends of her apron, and looking down, said, ‘Lawk! How folks do talk!’
‘Is it true, Jane?’
‘Well, sir, I won’t deny us have been keeping company, and on Sunday went to a love-feast together.’
‘That is well,’ said Mr. Jordan earnestly, with his wild eyes gleaming. ‘Quick, before my daughter comes. Stand nearer. No one must hear. Would you do Joseph a good turn and get him a sergeantry?’
‘O please, sir!’