"Didn't you hear something, Hannibal?" she whispered fearfully.
For answer Hannibal pointed mysteriously, and glancing in the
direction he indicated, Betty saw a woman advancing along the
path toward them. The look of alarm slowly died out of his eyes.
"I think it's the overseer's niece," she told Hannibal, and they
kept on toward the boat.
The girl came rapidly up the path, which closely followed the
irregular line of the shore in its windings. Once she was seen
to stop and glance back over her shoulder, her attitude intent
and listening, then she hurried forward again. Just by the boat
the three met.
"Good evening!" said Betty pleasantly.
The girl made no reply to this; she merely regarded Betty with a
fixed stare. At length she broke silence abruptly.
"I got something I want to say to you--you know who I am, I
reckon?" She was a girl of about Betty's own age, with a certain
dark, sullen beauty and that physical attraction which Tom, in
spite of his vexed mood, had taken note of earlier in the day.
"You are Bess Hicks," said Betty.
"Make the boy go back toward the house a spell--I got something I
want to say to you." Betty hesitated. She was offended by the
girl's manner, which was as rude as her speech. "I ain't going
to hurt you--you needn't be afraid of me, I got something
important to say--send him off, I tell you; there ain't no time
to lose!" The girl stamped her foot impatiently.
Betty made a sign to Hannibal and he passed slowly back along the
path.
Pages:
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318