at-grandmothers called them puppets.

A shadow of self-accusing pain crossed Blossom's face. "Turney whittled
that poppet fer me outen hickory wood when I was a jest a leetle gal,"
she whispered remorsefully, then added: "Turney 'lowed ter wed me some
day."

Henderson reassured her with irrefutable logic.

"Turner wouldn't have you disobey your heart, Blossom. Only you must be
sure what your heart commands."

"I _am_ sure. I'm plumb dead-sartain sure!" she vehemently responded,
though still in a suppressed voice.

They sat before the fire, alertly wakeful, in the shadow of impending
danger until the first pale hint of dawn. Then Blossom went out with
water pails, ostensibly busied about her early tasks but really on a
journey of investigation.

Returning, satisfied of temporary safety, she said briefly and
authoritatively: "Come on, hit won't do fer ye ter tarry hyar. They'll
come back, sartain sure. Thar's a leetle cave back thar in ther rocks
that's beknownst only to Turner an' me. Hit's dry an' clean an' thar's
sweet water runnin' through hit. I'll fotch ye yore victuals every
day--an' when the s'arch fer ye lets up a leetle, I'll guide ye acrost
inter Virginny whar ye kin strike the railroad without goin' back to
Marlin Town."

"If I were you, Blossom," suggested the man as they slipped out of the
house before full daylight, "I wouldn't tell Brother Fulkerson anything
about my hiding place. These men who seek my life are probably
influential. If your father can truthfully deny any knowledge of my
being near, it will save him embarrassment. I don't want to make
enemies for him--and you."

The girl pondered this phase of the situation judicially for a moment,
then nodded gravely: "I reckon thet's ther wisest way," she agreed.

For three days Blossom carried food across the steeps to the hidden
man, then late one cold night, when again her father was away on some
mission of kindness which would keep him from home for twenty-four
hours or more, she appeared at the mouth of the cave and signaled to
the refugee.

She had decided that the moment had arrived for making the dash with
him across the Virginia border, and since she knew every foot of the
way, it would be better to travel in the cover of darkness.

It was a long and tedious journey, and the girl led the way tirelessly
through frost-rimed thickets with a resilient endurance that seemed
incompatible with her slenderness.

When the rising sun was a