There was another laugh, followed by a pause of curiosity, during which
Mr. Royall continued to glare at Charity. At length his twitching
lips parted. "I said, 'You--damn--whore!'" he repeated with precision,
steadying himself on Julia's shoulder.

Laughs and jeers were beginning to spring up from the circle of people
beyond their group; and a voice called out from the gangway: "Now,
then, step lively there--all ABOARD!" The pressure of approaching and
departing passengers forced the actors in the rapid scene apart, and
pushed them back into the throng. Charity found herself clinging to
Harney's arm and sobbing desperately. Mr. Royall had disappeared, and in
the distance she heard the receding sound of Julia's laugh.

The boat, laden to the taffrail, was puffing away on her last trip.




XI


AT two o'clock in the morning the freckled boy from Creston stopped his
sleepy horse at the door of the red house, and Charity got out. Harney
had taken leave of her at Creston River, charging the boy to drive her
home. Her mind was still in a fog of misery, and she did not remember
very clearly what had happened, or what they said to each other, during
the interminable interval since their departure from Nettleton; but the
secretive instinct of the animal in pain was so strong in her that she
had a sense of relief when Harney got out and she drove on alone.