"Did you _see_?"
But Minnie had thrown herself into a chair with a laugh of wild relief.
"My darling girl!" she cried. "Not a line of white things--just one--Mr.
Jones's old scarecrow! And we saw it blown down!"
"No, no, no! I saw the others; they were in the field beyond. I saw them!
When I looked the first time they were nearly all on the fence. This time
we saw the last man crossing. Ah! I let him go alone!"
Minnie sprang up and enfolded her. "No; you dear, imagining child, you're
upset and nervous--that's all the matter in the world. Don't worry; don't,
child, it's all right. Mr. Harkless is home and safe in bed long ago. I
know that old scarecrow on the fence like a book; you're so unstrung you
fancied the rest. He's all right; don't you bother, dear."
The big, motherly girl took her companion in her arms and rocked her back
and forth soothingly, and petted and reassured her, and then cried a
little with her, as a good-hearted girl always will with a friend. Then
she left her for the night with many a cheering word and tender caress.
"Get to sleep, dear," she called through the door when she had closed it
behind her. "You must, if you have to go in the morning--it just breaks my
heart. I don't know how we'll bear it without you. Father will miss you
almost as much as I will. Good-night.
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