, snatched from the
shadow of an ignominious death, through some miracle of God's goodness.

"It air over to-morry?" she stammered, holding no grudge against Ezra
Longman for his untimely joke.

"Yep."

"Then he air comin' home to-morry night?" she said almost in a whisper.

Ben Letts, looking at Ezra, closed one red lid, letting it fall slowly
over the blurred blind eye. Neither he nor the boy spoke.

Letts brought his squint gaze back to Tess.

"He air comin' home to-morry night?" she repeated questioningly, raising
her voice a little with an insistent glance at each fisherman. This time
Tess read denial in their faces, but smiled radiantly. What did they
knew about it? What did fishermen understand of the student's God ... of
the faith that would bring Daddy home to her in spite of the twelve grim
men, and all her father's enemies in Ithaca. Hadn't she consigned the
beloved humpbacked father to Him who held the worlds in the hollow of
His hand.

Ben Letts still gazed steadily at Tess, the red eyelids opening wider
and wider. She had never been so beautiful before. During the past two
months the girl had grown into a woman, into a soulful creature whom the
squatter Ben ardently desired for his wife. Ah, he would see to that!

He shoved his great legs up and down before him tumbling these things
over in his mind. The taming of such a girl would be his vicious
delight. The first thing to do would be to ply the scissors to the red
curls. Ben could see that the hair was clean, each curl clinging
lovingly to its mate, yet living apart--so different from the matted
locks of the Tess he had always known.

"Yer Daddy got good and mad to-day," remarked Jake Brewer abruptly, the
deadly silence grating upon his nerves.

"What about?" said Tess sharply.

"Dominie Graves were in the witness-box, and said as how yer pap were a
wicked daddy of a wickeder gal, and the jedge made him tell as how ye
was so cussed, and yer daddy's humps riz up like a cat's back wet with
cold tea."

Tess waited expectantly.

"And the Dominie said as how ye twiggled yer fingers to yer nose at
him," continued Jake. "Did ye?"

The pale face went to a deep crimson--she remembered the day well. The
Dominie had caught her stealing berries and like all the weaker ones in
a strife Tess had used her tongue bitterly--and had twiggled her
fingers.

The squatters went away, leaving Tessibel with a new feeling of shame.
Ben Letts went with relucta