Miss Masters hesitated. “The name seems familiar,” she said.
“He was a stranger in Millville,” Patience went on. “My mother wired to her sister, Sarah, for money after Elsie left us and my father died. My aunt sent us forty dollars.”
There was a pause after this explanation, then Miss Masters went on hesitatingly.
“Forgive me, Miss Welcome,” she said, “if I speak plainly to you. Were there any strangers in Millville about the time your sister went away?”
“Strangers?” repeated Patience.
“Any attractive young men,” pursued Miss Masters.
“Why—why—I—” stammered Patience in confusion.
“There were, I see.”
“You don’t think my sister—” burst out Patience.
“Forgive me,” interrupted Miss Masters, “but when an innocent country girl leaves her home suddenly it is a good rule to look for—the man.”