Polly flung the door open and Ginger gave a glad cry and leaped out. A soft breath of air touched the two gentle old people in the doorway and a fragrance of young, edgy things thrilled them.
"Peter dear, spring is here!" Polly said this like a prayer.
"Spring!" Peter's voice echoed the sound. Then he turned to the closet for his coat and hat.
The big bulky figure, ready for a new adventure, turned at the door.
"Just going to the Point and stand by! We must take care of the old doc's leavings. The iron, that boy of his, and--the rest. Come on, Ginger."
Polly watched the two pass from sight and then she readjusted her spectacles to the far-off angle.
And while this was occurring at the inn there was a tap on the door of the yellow house, and with its welcoming characteristic in full play, the door swung in, leaving a tall woman on the threshold flushed and apologetic.
"I never saw such a responsive door!" she said. "I really knocked very gently. Please tell me how far it is to the inn?"
Mary-Clare, her little group of children about her, looked up and smiled. The smile and the eyes made the stranger's breath come a bit quicker.
"Just three miles to the south." Mary-Clare came close. "You are walking? I will send my little girl with you. Noreen?"
"She's one of them other children of Eve!" she cautioned. "Don't forget the other one!"
"Thank you so much," the stranger was speaking. "But may I rest here for a moment? These children--is it a school."
"A queer one, I'm afraid. We're all teachers, all pupils--even the dogs."
"One has to do something, you know," she said. "Something to help."
"Yes. And will you send the children away for a moment? I have something to say to you."
Mary-Clare's face went white. Since Maclin's exposure the girl knew a spiritual fear that never before had troubled her. Maclin and Larry! Doubt, uncertainty--they had done their worst for Mary-Clare.
When the children were gone the stranger leaned forward and said quietly:
"I am Mrs. Dana--I am here on government business. There, my dear Mrs. Rivers, please do not be alarmed--I come as your friend; the friend of King's Forest; it is on the map, you know."
The tears stood in Mary-Clare's wide eyes, her lips trembled.