Then her
lips began to twitch.
"Very clever, Cal," she told him. "Quite clever--for you!"
And she nodded and withdrew to see that the table was laid for three.
Caleb, chuckling, watched her go; then with a nod to the boy, he
started to follow her in. But Steve paused at the threshold, and when
the man stopped and looked back to ascertain the cause of his delay he
found that the boy was depositing the bear trap upon the porch
floor--found him tugging to free the rusty old revolver from his belt.
"I'll leave Samanthy here," the one called Steve stated, and Caleb
understood that he meant the trap. "An' I reckon I'd better not lug my
weapon into the house, neither, hed I? She might----" He nodded in
the direction of Sarah's disappearance--"Old Tom says womin folks
that's gentle born air kind-a skittish about havin' shootin' irons
araound the place. And I don't reckon it's the part of men folks to
pester 'em."
Caleb didn't know just what to say, so he merely nodded approval.
Again he had been made to feel that it was not a boy but some little
old man who was explaining to him. Silently he led the way upstairs,
and after he had seen the blanket pack deposited in one corner of
Sarah's beloved guest-room, after he had seen the rusty coat peeled off
as a preface to removing the dust accumulation of the long hot day from
hands and face, an inspiration came to him.
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