"I conscript you!" Mrs. Dana leaned a little further toward Mary-Clare and took her hands. "I was directed to you, Mrs. Rivers. You must help me do away with a wrong impression of the Forest. Together we will tell a story to the outside world that will change a great many things. We will tell the truth and set the Forest free from suspicion."
"Oh! can we? Why, that would be the most splendid thing. We're all so--so frightened."
"Yes. I know. See, I have my credentials"--Mrs. Dana took a notebook from her bag. "The mines--well, all the danger there is destroyed. The mines are cleaned out." She was reading from her notes.
"And there's iron on the Point--we must get at that--you own the Point?"
"No; I gave it to my husband." The words were whispered. "And he sold it to a Mr. Northrup." There was no holding back in King's Forest these days.
"I see. Well, we must get this Mr. Northrup busy, then. Where is he?"
Mrs. Dana tucked the book away and her eyes looked kindly into Mary-Clare's.
"I do not know. He went to his--to the city--New York."
"Well, Mrs. Rivers, I am your friend and the friend of the Forest. Together, we ought to be able to do it a good turn. And now, if you are willing, I would love to borrow your little girl."
On the lake road Noreen, after a few skirmishes, succumbed to one of her sudden likings--she abandoned herself to Mrs. Dana's charm. With her head coquettishly set slantwise she fixed her grave eyes--they were very like her mother's--on Mrs. Dana's face.
"I like the look of you," she confided softly.
"I'm glad. I like the look of you very much, little Noreen."
"Do you know any stories or songs?" Noreen had her private test.
"I used to, but it has been a long while since I thought about them. Do you know any, Noreen?"
"Oh! many. My man taught me. He taught me to be unafraid, too."
"Your man, little girl?" Mrs. Dana turned her eyes away.
"Yes'm. Jan-an, she's a bit queer, you know, Jan-an says the ghost-wind brought him. He only stayed a little while, but things aren't ever going to be the same again. No'm, not ever! He even liked Jan-an, and most folks don't--at first. His name is Mr. Northrup, but Jan-an and I call him The Man."
"Yes'm. We sang together, marching along--this way!" Noreen swung the hand that held hers. "Do you know--'Green jacket, red cap'?" she asked.