A sane expression came into her eyes, and she settled herself back to think. With her pondering came a clear thought--her boy was seeking his father! Still somewhat dazed, she tottered to one corner of the hut and fumbled for her shawl.
"He axed for Lon!" she whispered. "Nope, he axed for Lem, his own daddy. Now, Lemmy'll take me with 'em--oh, how I love 'em both! And the boy'll eat all he wants, and his little hand'll smooth my face when my head aches!"
Muttering fond words, she opened the door and slid out into the night. She paused on the rustic bridge, the sound of footsteps in the lane that led to the tracks bringing her to a standstill. Several persons were approaching her. They came steadily nearer, passed the footpath that led to her hut, and she crept out. Two men and a woman were near enough for Screech Owl to touch them, if she had put out her hand. She remained perfectly quiet, and Lon Cronk's voice, muttering words she did not understand, came to her through the underbrush. Then, in her joy, Scraggy speedily forgot them, and, as she hurried down the hill sent out cry after cry into the clear night.
* * * * *
For a long time Miss Shellington stood staring at Everett, and the man as fixedly at her. The movements were still going on in the loft.
"How came you here?" cried Ann sharply, when she had at last gathered her senses.
"I might ask you the same thing," replied Everett suavely. "This is scarcely a place for a girl like you."
"I came after Fledra," she said slowly. "I didn't know--"
Everett came forward and crowded back her words with: "And I came for the same person!"
Brimbecomb reasoned quickly that he dared not tell Ann the truth, and that so long as she thought his actions were for Fledra's welfare she would stand by him.
"I found out that these ruffians had taken her, and I came after her. I thought a good school would be better than this." He swept his hand over the hut, and did not notice the expression that flitted across Ann's face.
Lem uttered an unintelligible grunt, and growled: "He's a damned liar, Miss! He wanted to buy the gal from me and Lon."
Everett laughed sneeringly.
"Miss Shellington would not believe such a tale as that," said he; "she knows me too well."
"I do believe him," said Ann. "I saw the letter you lost, which Fledra wrote you. You dropped it in our drawing-room. Horace found it."