“But three in one week, Liza!”
“Well, what of it, so long’s he had the time an’ didn’t catch cold? Now if it was only summer time an’ the pump was workin’ an’ the pipes wasn’t all froze up, he could use the bathroom.”
“If he sees it he’ll maybe stop till summer time jist to try it out.”
“Maybe. What’s brought him to Forkville, anyhow?”
“You ask him, Liza. I’d like fine to know. Whatever brought him, he come jist in time for Joe Hinch, that’s a sure thing. He’s a cool hand, whatever he’s after; an’ he knows how many beans makes five, I reckon.”
“What was he doin’ out to Wilson’s camp?”
“Snoopin’ ’round in the woods all day an’ swappin’ yarns with the boys at night, that’s all, far’s I ever heard. He paid for his grub.”
Jard Hassock was a bachelor and Liza was a spinster. Liza was tall, large-boned and large-featured, square-shouldered, mannish looking and ten years Jard’s senior—sixty years of age, if a day. She was straighter than Jard, who suffered from a chronic rheumatic crick in the back. She was level-headed, extraordinarily capable—and extraordinarily soft-hearted. She could do anything outdoors or in, from plowing sod to whipping cream, and do it right. Her hand was light and sure at the cooking, and light and sure on a horse’s mouth. Her knowledge of horses was as great as Jard’s, and her ways with them were as wise as his, but she never said so, and he never thought so. Jard didn’t know that she was his guardian and his manager; he didn’t realize that he would have been cheated out of his very boots years ago but for her; but other people knew these things and stood in awe of her.
Vane appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. He bowed to Miss Hassock, and thanked her for the breakfast, making special mention of the coffee. Jard had his eyes on Liza, though she was not aware of it. That was the way with Jard. One either did not feel his glance or did not heed it, for it never suggested a search for anything more important than a humorous point of view or intention. A great joker was Jard Hassock in his own dry way; but the fact is that he looked at life and people for many things beside jokes and could see them as quickly and as far as the next man. And now he saw that Liza was pleased with the stranger.
“I’ll go fetch my pipe, an’ then I’ll show you around outside,” he said to the guest, and presently they were sauntering in the direction of the stables. Here were six open stalls on one side of the floor and two box stalls and a room devoted to harness and oat bins on the other. Only two open stalls and one box stall were occupied.