He saw the blank look on her face. "We
ain't tryin' to pry into none of your private affairs," he
explained; "but my daughter saw you and that there feller a
makin' up to each other. If you're calculatin' to run away with
him, you'll save a heap of trouble for the parson by doin' it
quick."
"The parson!"
"YOU can't blame the congregation for not wantin' him to keep you
here. You got sense enough to see how it looks. HE'D see it,
too, if he wasn't just plain, bull-headed. Well he'd better get
over his stubbornness right now, if he don't we'll get another
minister, that's all."
"Another minister? You don't mean--?" It was clear enough now.
She recalled Douglas's troubled look of an hour ago. She
remembered how he had asked if she couldn't go away. It was this
that he meant when he promised not to give her up, no matter what
happened. In an instant she was at the deacon's side pleading
and terrified. "You wouldn't get another minister! Oh, please,
Deacon Strong, listen to me, listen! You were right about Jim, he
DID come to get me and I am going back to the circus--only you
won't send Mr. Douglas away, you won't! Say you won't!" She was
searching his eyes for mercy. "It wasn't HIS fault that I kept
staying on. He didn't know how to get rid of me.
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