"Me, Parson, me!" demanded Mr. Todd.
"A broader, younger man, Todd," answered the parson, and he was casting
his eye over the huddled people before him when a wail came clear and
distinct from within the ruin.
"Stranger is caught and bleeding! Hurry, hurry!" were the words that
Charlotte sent forth with all the strength of her young lungs.
"It's my child, Oh, it's mine!" came an answering, cry, and from behind
some hiding place Martha Ensley flung herself across the front of the
huddled group of the Settlement people and against the defense of
Gregory Goodloe's strong arm which held her from the tottering doorway
he was supporting. "Let me get him out!"
"No, Martha," the parson said calmly and tenderly, as he held her back.
"Then you come and get him," Martha said, as she suddenly straightened
herself and looked out among us of the Town. "He's yours--come and save
him!" But even in her agony she was cautious in her appeal, which came
without the demand of a name. We all held our breath for an instant,
Settlement and Town. Who would answer her?