“Land, no, sir! Didn’t she tell you? Why, she went away on the train this afternoon.”
“On the train?” Martin repeated automatically.
“Yes, sir.”
“When is she comin’ back?”
“She ain’t comin’ back,” announced the Portuguese. “She’s goin’ out West or somewheres to live.”
A quick shiver vibrated through Martin’s body, arresting the beat of his pulse. Scarcely knowing what he did, he caught the lad roughly by the shoulder. 287
“When did she go?” he demanded. “What time? What did she say?”
Tony raised a frightened glance to his questioner’s face.
“She went this afternoon,” gasped he, “about five o’clock it was. She took the Boston train. She said she guessed she’d go back out West ’cause she didn’t want to stay here any more. She was afraid of ghosts.”
“Ghosts!”