"She never talks to me of these things, honey." "And you knew nothing about it ?" Cressy shook her head, and then winding one of her long braids around the young man's neck, offered the end of it to his mouth, and on his sternly declining it, took it in her own.
Yet even her ignorance of what had really happened did not account to the master for the indifference of her long silence, and albeit conscious of some inefficiency in his present unheroic attitude, he continued sarcastically, "May I ask WHAT you imagined would happen when you left me ?" "Well," said Cressy confidently, "I reckoned, chile, you could lie as well as the next man, and that, being gifted, you'd sling Maw something new and purty.

Why, I ain't got no fancy, but I fixed up something against Paw's questioning ME.

I made that conceited Masters promise to swear that HE was in the barn with me.

Then I calculated to tell Paw that you came meandering along just before Maw popped in, and that I skedaddled to join Masters.

Of course," she added quickly, tightening her hold of the master as he made a sudden attempt at withdrawal, "I didn't let on to Masters WHY I wanted him to promise, or that you were there." "Cressy," said Ford, irritated beyond measure, "are you mad, or do you think I am ?" The girl's face changed.