III.
The log fire was blazing in her bedroom, and John Abner stood before the window which looked on the gate and the road.
"The panes are so frosted you can't see your hand before you," he said, as she entered.
Standing there beside him, she gazed through the leafless boughs of the lilac bushes. "No, even the moonlight doesn't help you," she answered. "It must be bitterly cold in the road. I hope the mare got warm again."
"Yes, I covered her up. Nimrod had some whiskey and he was going to make a hot toddy." John Abner shivered in the icy draught that crept in through the loose window sashes. "Hadn't you better lie down?" he asked, turning back to the fire. "It won't be long now."
She shook her head. "That coffee will keep me awake. Lie down on the couch, and I'll listen for Elisha. I
