If it was a woman I saw walking across the pasture
in the direction of the river, it must have been this girl. Now--one
of two things happened--in case it was the Vick girl. Either she
was up near that old house before I got there, or she saw me when
she was approaching, and turned back. In either case, she had an
object in hanging around that house. Now we come to the object.
Was she going there to meet some one? If so, it would naturally be
a man.
"Now let's get this thing straight. Thane crossed the pasture from
this direction. That's positive,--because I followed him. It is a
dead certainty he did not meet the Vick girl. I would have witnessed
any such meeting. The fact that he lived at her father's house for
several weeks may have something to do with the case,--but that's
guesswork. What we want is facts. This much is certain. I did not
see Miss Crown go into that house,--but I did see her come out.
I never was so paralysed in my life. It is clear, therefore, that
she was in there before either I or Thane came upon the scene. Now
the question is, was she there to meet Thane? I doubt it. Things
begin to look a little clearer to me. Suppose, for instance, he
went out to that big hill to meet some one else,--presumably the
Vick girl, and that they had planned to go to that old deserted
house. He was late. So, thinking she had gone on, he hustled across
the field and received the surprise of his life.
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