She laughed, answering him categorically. "I don't know, for
sure. Yes, at least a great many years. Less than a week."
"But--I don't understand--"
"And won't until you give me a chance to do some of the talking,"
she interrupted dryly.
"That's right. I reckon I am getting off left foot first. It's
your powwow now," he conceded.
"So long as I can remember exactly I have always lived with the
man Hardman and his wife. But before that I can vaguely recall
something different. It has always seemed like a kind of
fairyland, for I was a very little tot then. But one of the
things I seem to remember was a sweet, kind-eyed mother and a
big, laughing father. Then, too, there were horses and lots of
cows. That is about all, except that the chain around my neck
seemed to have some connection with my early life. That's why I
always kept it very carefully, and, after one of the lockets
broke, I still kept it and the funny-looking paper inside of it."
"I don't understand why Hardman didn't take the paper," he
interrupted.
"I suppose he did, and when he discovered that it held only half
the secret of the mine he probably put it back in the locket.
Pages:
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216