“You think some one lured Elsie away?” said Patience stifled by the thought. “That some man is to blame?”
“It isn’t an easy thing to say, my dear, but I do.”
“Aren’t there laws against such crimes?”
“Yes,” replied Miss Masters, “but these laws were made by men, and men have always shown an unwillingness to legislate against their sex. Now there were some young men in Millville at the time your sister went away, weren’t there?”
“Yes,” admitted Patience, “two.”
“Do you know their names?”
“Martin Druce.”
“Ah!”
“You know him?”
“I have seen him.” Miss Masters opened her memorandum book. “Martin Druce,” she read, “dealer in live stock.”