"A general favorite, is she?" Gees encouraged him.
"All of 'em, except that silly young devil," Cotton told him. "In fifty mile round, there ain't a man to touch our parson. If anyone's in trouble—an' Mrs. Amber, too. Salt o' the earth, them three."
"And what do you do?" Gees inquired after another period of silence. "That is, if I'm entitled to ask you such a question."
"Me? Oh, I worked at Bandon's up to midsummer, but then he cut down, times not bein' too good, an' me bein' a single man I had to go. Got a few odd jobs since, enough to keep me an' Effie in grub."
"Effie being your sister, I suppose," Gees suggested.
"Lord, no, sir! This is Effie. All right, old gal," he said as the dog looked up at him, "we're just talkin' about you, that's all. No, Mrs. Nevern's my sister, an' I ai
