Flukey interrupted her by taking her arm and pushing her back a little.
"I'm a thief by trade," he said; "but my sister ain't. She ain't never stole nothin' in all her life, she ain't. Take me, will ye, Mister?"
"Sister!" murmured the gentleman, turning to Flea.
If nothing else had been said, the question would have been answered in the affirmative by the vivid blush that dyed Flea's dark skin. Her embarrassment brought another exclamation from Flukey.
"She's a girl, all right! She's only tryin' to save me. She put on my pants jest to get away from Pappy Lon. I'll go to jail; but don't send her!"
He swayed blindly, closing his eyes with a moan.
"The child is sick, Horace," said Ann. "I think he is very sick."
"Where did you sleep last night?" Shellington asked this of Flea.
"Out there," answered the girl, pointing over her shoulder, "down by a big monument."
"Horace Shellington," gasped Ann, "they slept in the cemetery!"
The sharp tone of the girl's voice brought Flukey back to the present.
"We run away 'cause Pappy Lon were a makin' me steal when I didn't want to," he explained, clearing his throat, "and he was goin' to make Flea be Lem's woman. And that's the truth, Mister, and Lem wasn't goin' to marry her, nuther!"
He rambled on in a monotone as if too sick for inflection. Flea placed one arm about his neck.
"I'm a girl! I'm Flea Cronk!" she confessed brokenly. "And Flukey's doin' all this for me! And he's so sick! I stealed from yer table--he didn't! Will ye let him lay in yer barn tonight, if I go up for the stealin'?"
Never had Horace Shellington felt so keenly the sorrows of other human beings as when this girl, in her crude boy clothes, lifted her agonized, tearless eyes to his. His throat filled. Somehow, his whole soul went out to her, his being stirred to its depths. He put out one hand to touch Flea--when voices from the inner room stopped further speech. A light step, accompanied by a heavier one, approaching the dining-hall, brought his thoughts together.
"Ann," he appealed, stepping to his sister's side, "you're always wanting to do something for me--do it now. Let me settle this!"
Speaking to Flukey, he said, "Pick up your dog, Boy!"
"And the pig from the table!" groaned Ann distractedly.