"
The girl shook her head and muttered something Mrs. Floyd could not
understand, so she left her in the hall.
Mrs. Floyd found Harriet in her room. "Hettie Fergerson is down-stairs
and wants to see you," she said. "She still acts very strange. I
asked her to go into the parlor, but she wouldn't."
"How do you do, Hettie?" said Harriet, as she came down the steps.
"Come into the parlor; you look cold."
The girl hesitated, but finally followed Harriet into the warm room.
They sat down before the fire, and there was an awkward silence for
several minutes, then the visitor suddenly pushed back her bonnet and
said, in a hard, desperate tone:
"Where is Toot Wambush, Harriet?"
Harriet looked at her in surprise for an instant, then she answered:
"Why, Hettie, how could I know? Nobody in Cartwright does now, I
reckon."
"I thought _you_ might." Both girls were silent for a moment, then the
visitor looked apprehensively over her shoulder at the door. "Is yore
ma coming in here?"
"No; she's busy in the kitchen; do you want to see her?"
"No." The girl spoke quickly and moved uneasily.
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