“I won’t do it!” he said, with decision, and slipped the shell into his pocket.
As he stepped into the hall, Maggie hailed him from the top of the stairs.
“Is that you, Sam?” she called. “I thought I heard the front door open, and I wondered who ’twas.”
So she hadn’t seen him enter the house; therefore she could not know that he had been carrying the gun. Thus was another danger of investigation avoided.
“Yes; I came in that way,” he said. “Father home yet?”
“No.”
“Where’s Mother?”
“Lon’s drivin’ her over to see old Mis’ Hardee at Webster Mills.”
There are times when things do seem to have been arranged most fortunately. Sam could have thrown up his cap and cheered. But Maggie was beginning to descend the stairs.
“Look here, Sam Parker! Why didn’t you come home to dinner?” she demanded.