"Yes, Bart," she said, with some sudden intuitive sense of agreement.

Then, seeming to be satisfied, he closed his eyes and went back into the
state of drowsiness.




CHAPTER XIV.


Ann went up to the house. It was a great relief to her to remember that
the man for whom she was going to ask help was no criminal. She could
hold up her head and speak boldly.

Another minute and she began to look curiously to see how long the grass
and weeds had grown before the door. It was some months since David
Brown had been here. The doubt which had entered Ann's mind grew
swiftly. She knocked loudly upon the door and upon the wooden shutters
of the windows. The knocks echoed through empty rooms.

She had no hesitation in house-breaking. In a shed at the back she found
a broken spade which formed a sufficiently strong and sharp lever for
her purpose. She pried open a shutter and climbed in. She found only
such furniture as was necessary for a temporary abode. A small iron
stove, a few utensils of tin, a huge sack which had been used for a
straw bed, and a few articles of wooden furniture, were all that was to
be seen.

Upon the canvas sack she seized eagerly. Bart might be dying, or he