Mr. Parcher looked upon her, and he shivered slightly; for he knew her
to be Willie Baxter's sister.

Unaware of the emotion she produced in him, Jane checked her hoop and
halted.

"G'd afternoon, Mister Parcher," she said, gravely.

"Good afternoon," he returned, without much spirit.

Jane looked up at him trustfully and with a strange, unconscious
fondness. "You goin' home now, Mr. Parcher?" she asked, turning to
walk at his side. She had suspended the hoop over her left arm and
transferred the bread-and-butter and apple sauce and sugar to her right,
so that she could eat even more conveniently than before.

"I suppose so," he murmured.

"My brother Willie's been at your house all afternoon," she remarked.

He repeated, "I suppose so," but in a tone which combined the vocal
tokens of misery and of hopeless animosity.

"He just went home," said Jane. "I was 'cross the street from your
house, but I guess he didn't see me. He kept lookin' back at your house.
Miss Pratt was on the porch."

"I suppose so." This time it was a moan.

Jane proceeded to give him some information. "My brother Willie isn't