"Oh, I hope so--I do--I do!" Still holding his hand, she led him back to the gate, and stood resting her arms on its top, now almost oblivious of his presence. Half an hour dragged by, during which no remark of his could induce her to speak. Presently a low whistle came from the wood across the road.
"That's Tobe now!" she cried. "Oh, I wonder if he was in time!" Then, as she reached for the gate-latch he heard her praying: "God have mercy--oh, Lord pity me--pity me!"
She opened the gate and passed out. He hung back, feeling that she might not desire his presence at the meeting with Barnett, but again she grasped his hand.
"Come on," she said. "Tobe will understand."
Crossing the road and walking along the edge of the wood for about a hundred yards, they were presently checked by another whistle, and the gaunt mountaineer emerged from the dense underbrush. Seeing Mostyn, he paused as if startled, saying nothing, his eyes shifting helplessly.
"It's Mr. Mostyn--he knows everything, Tobe," Dolly threw in quickly. "He's on our side--he's a friend. Now, tell me, what did you do?"
"Got to the still just in the nick o' time," Tobe said, panting, for he had been running. "The gang started to handle me purty rough at first--thought I was a spy--but your pa stepped in an' made 'em have sense. They couldn't move any of their things on such short notice, but the last one escaped just as the officers was ready for the rush."
"But my father?" Dolly inquired, anxiously.
"He's all right--he said he'd be home before morning. He has no idea that you know about it."
"I'm glad of that. Oh, Tobe, you have been good to me to-night!" Dolly took the humble fellow's hands and shook them affectionately.
"Well, if you hain't been good to me an' mine nobody ever was to a soul on this earth," Barnett half sobbed. "Mr. Mostyn, maybe you don't know what Miss Dolly has--"
"Yes, I do, Barnett," Mostyn declared. "I know."
"Now, go back to Annie and Robby, Tobe," Dolly advised. "Poor girl! She will be uneasy about you."
"No, she won't bother," Barnett answered, firmly. "She'd be willing to have me go to jail to help you, Miss Dolly. She is that grateful she'd cut off her hands to oblige you, an' she will be powerful happy when she knows this went through all right. Good night, Miss Dolly; good night, Mr. Mostyn."