"So it is trouble, then?"
"No, no! it's--oh! it's the--joy, Miss Lois Ann."
"Ha! ha! And you've found out that the young scamp is back--that
Lawson?" Lois Ann, for a moment, knew relief.
"It--it isn't Burke," the words came lingeringly. "Yes, I know he's
back--is he here?" This affrightedly.
"No--but he's been. He may come again. His maw's always empty, but I
will say this for the scoundrel--he gives more than he takes, in the
long run. But if it isn't Lawson, who then? Not that snake-in-the-grass,
Jed?" Love and trouble were synonymous with Lois Ann when one was young
and pretty and a fool.
"Jed? Jed indeed!"
"Child, out with it!"
"I--I am going to tell you, Miss Lois Ann."
Then the knotted old hand fell like a withered leaf upon the soft
hair--the woman-heart was ready to bear another burden. Not a word did
the closed lips utter while the amazing tale ran on and on in the gentle
drawl. Consternation, even doubt of the girl's sanity, held part in the
old woman's keen mind, but gradually the truth of the confession
established itself, and once the fact was realized that a stranger--and
_such_ a one--had been hidden in the hills while this thing, that the
girl was telling, was going on--the strong, clear mind of the listener
interpreted the truth by the knowledge gained through a long, hard life.
"And so, you see, Miss Lois Ann, it's like he opened heaven for me; and
I want to hide here till he comes to take me up, up into heaven with
him.
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