Page:The Knife.pdf/7

Rh mind, or, to use the common expression, her wits more about her than a man. Harriet Lynn turned white as the ghastly idea suggested itself; but she proceeded to the shop, followed by her companion, who thought that as she went, he must go too. The sight was too fearful; and for a moment she walked again into the garden, till the fresh air restored her from her feeling of deadly sickness. Perhaps the distinction between the two witnesses was, that in the girl horror was the predominant sensation, while in the man it was terror. "There is no likelihood of the murderer having hidden himself here; however, we must see." And she resolutely returned to the house. Fright had quite paralysed John Dodd's faculties, and he went after her mechanically. The cottage was only one story high, and the small room behind the shop was where the old woman slept. Marks of violence were visible in every part; a cupboard had been forced open, and the contents of a chest of drawers were scattered about the room. The shop bore even more evident signs of spoliation—that reckless wastefulness which seems the constant companion of cruelty; but little of the grocery appeared to have been touched, excepting the sweet things. "We must go," said Harriet, "and get assistance as fast as we can. Is Mr. March still our justice?" The proposal of leaving was very welcome to