Page:Frank Packard - Greater Love Hath No Man.djvu/266

 for I dunno how long. Yes; reckon it have—full insurance on the Mary K. too! An' naou what might it all be 'baout, miss?"

They had halted halfway to the cliff, far enough from the road to be unobserved in the darkness—back along the road behind a score of tiny lights scintillated from cottage windows, but that was all, there was no other light; if moon there was, it was hidden in the black scudding clouds—they could scarcely see each other's faces.

"It's about Varge," she said quickly.

"Varge?"—Jonah Sully shook his head perplexedly. "Dunno as I ever heerd tell of it," said he doubtfully.

"Varge—the man you know as Peters—the man my father arrested to-night," she said hastily.

"Oh—him!" exclaimed Jonah Sully. "Sakes naow! You know 'baout that, do you? Naow that's too bad! I reckon some of the men must have been talkin' to their wives after promisin' solemn to keep their mouths shet, an' the wives has gone an' blabbed it 'raound." Then, in profound disgust: "Never could count on the women folks to hold their tongues ever since the world began!"

"I am afraid you are doing even your own sex an injustice this time," said Janet, and a little laugh seemed trying to struggle through the anxiety in her voice. "I have not heard a word from any one. My father has no suspicion that I know. He does not even know that I am out of the house—I am supposed to be in my room with a bad headache. I saw you passing, at least I was almost sure it was you, and I stole out of the house after you."

"What for?" demanded Jonah Sully, frankly puzzled.