"Oh!" Sally breathed in a gust of despair. Then, stooping swiftly, she snatched up her bundle and began to run down a corn row. She ran with the fleetness of a terror-stricken animal, and David watched her for a long moment, his eyes dark with pity and uncertainty. Then he gave chase, his long legs clearing the distance between them with miraculous speed. He caught up with her just as she was at the edge of the cornfield, recklessly about to plunge into the lane that led to the Carson house.
"Wait, Sally!" he panted, grasping her shoulder. "You can't run away alone like this--Oh Lord!" he groaned suddenly. "There they come! Don't you hear the car turning in from the road? Come back, Sally!"
He did not wait for her to obey, but lifted her into his arms, for she had gone limp with terror, and ran, crouching low so that the cornstalks would hide them.
"Lie flat on the ground," David said sternly, as he set her gently upon her feet. "We can't leave here now. The place will be swarming with people. But when it's dark we'll slip away, across fields. Thank God, there'll be no moon."
He flattened his own body upon the soft earth, close against the thick, sturdy cornstalks. They did not talk much for they were listening, listening for faint sounds coming from the farmhouse which would indicate that the dreadful discovery had been made.
Long minutes passed and nothing had happened. Then the muffled roar of another motor, turning into the lane from the state highway, told them that the doctor to whom David had telephoned was arriving. It seemed hours before a scream floated from the house to the cornfield.
"Pearl!" Sally whispered, shivering. "They hadn't found him. The doctor told them. Oh, David!"
His hand tightened so hard upon hers that she winced. A little later they heard Mrs. Carson's harsh voice calling, calling--"Sally! Sal-lee! Sally Ford!"
Sally bowed her head upon David's hand then, and wept a little, shuddering. "She was--good to me. She--she liked me, David. Oh, I hope she'll know I didn't mean her any harm, ever!"
The next hour, during which the sun set and twilight settled like a soft gray dust upon the cornfield, passed somehow. Several cars arrived; men's voices shouted unintelligible words. Twice Pearl screamed--