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The sight of the marked baby horrified him, but he took the basket from her hands, and placed her forcibly in a chair. Tess allowed him to do so without speaking. Young set his teeth fiercely. "Tessibel Skinner, do you want to save your father from hanging?" "Yep," she answered, her eyes roving toward the babe. "Then listen to me. Is that child yours?"
"He helped you once, Daddy!" the girl rebuked him. "But I were in jail all the time, don't ye see the difference, brat?... Till 'twere proved Ben Letts done the murder, I were kept in jail, too, an' they'll put Andy back if ye say anythin' to Young 'bout it." "They sure will," came the dwarf's sobbing tones. Tessibel sighed.
The brilliant sun of a hot June morning found no more home-like place than the old Graves house, where Deforrest Young lived with his squatter friends. On the porch stood Tessibel Skinner. The girl's ruddy curls fell in the same profusion as of old and shrouded a smiling, happy face. Professor Young had caught her one day doing up the red hair in a great ball on her head.
"Well," he replied, "that's not quite right, but we hope " he hesitated, swept his flashing eyes to Tessibel and smiled, "we hope to have him back in Auburn soon. I have two good detectives working for me." Taking a deep breath of relief, Tess subsided in her chair, and she was not sorry when the signal was given for the company to leave the table.
Tessibel placed her face down near the big dog and he shoved out his long red tongue, touching her with delight. The girl hugged the large head with an admonishing appeal that Pete must go back to his kennel and stepped again to the track that long, black winding road which she must travel before reaching her destination. It was raining again, the water falling in steady drops upon the bare head.
The next day, while Frederick was studying over the problems relating to his engagement to Madelene Waldstricker, Tessibel Skinner was sitting with Helen Young on the veranda of the latter's home. The young squatter girl was receiving a lesson in sewing. "It air goin' to be pretty, ain't it?" she asked, holding up a blue chambray dress. "Yes, very," replied Helen. "You're doing nicely.
She looked backward at the man on the cot as she asked the last question. "Yep," affirmed Skinner, faintly. "Daddy air sick," she explained. "You'll be excusin' 'im if he don't talk. I'll do all the gabbin' if ye don't mind." Tessibel had regained her self-control. She knew that Waldstricker's presence meant danger to her loved ones, Daddy and Andy Bishop.
She threw back the tangled curls, and leaning forward grasped the hand the speaker thrust out to support her. "Oh, what a good, good man!" she rejoiced. "An' me an' the baby'll love ye forever, me an' the baby will." Tessibel didn't remember she'd made the same promise to another man when she'd begged him in vain to help her.
She could not bear the sight, nor did she turn again until she heard a strange, rather high, girl's voice say, "It was very lovely, Helen! Such a surprise to every one! I'm ever so grateful to you." "Tessibel, this is Miss Waldstricker," introduced Helen. Tess raised a scarlet face at the sound of her name. For one moment the two girls gazed into each other's eyes.
Tess swung her body round upon the shanty floor, turning cloudy, rebuking eyes upon Teola. She, Tessibel Skinner, crouching squatter-like over Dan Jordan's baby, had sworn never to tell Frederick his sister's secret, and no thought of doing so entered her mind. The minister's daughter must speak the truth. The mother of the babe would answer the question put by the student.
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