Strona 382 z 416

Only in Nat Burns was there a change.

He seemed to have shrunk back into his clothes until he was but a

little, wizened man. His face was ghastly and clammy perspiration

glittered on his forehead in the lamplight.

"Caroline!" he cried in a hoarse voice that did not rise above a

whisper.

"Yes, Caroline," said Elsa, her black eyes flashing fire. "You

had forgotten her, hadn't you? You had forgotten the girl who

loved you, that you drove away from the island! You had forgotten

the girl that gave you everything and got nothing! But that has

come back upon you now, and these people are here to see it. Even

your father, in his log-book, mentioned when my sister left

Grande Mignon, apparently to work in the factory at Lubec. As

though my sister should ever work in a factory!"

"So this explains why she went that time," said Squire Hardy

gently. "We all wondered at it, Elsa--we all wondered at it."