in my
Father's name, and ye--'"

Ezra interrupted the unfinished verse.

"Tessibel, will ye go to the meetin' at Haytes'? The man says as how the
squatters air welcome."

"Nope.... 'receive me not,'" read Tess. "'If another shall come--'"

Ben burst forth with an eager invitation:

"Will ye come to Glenwood for some ice-cream, Tessie? It air gooder'n
pie on hot nights; and ye like my fiddlin', don't ye, Tess?"

"Nope.... 'In His own name, ye will--'"

"Ye don't like no ice-cream, do ye, Tessie?" put in Ezra Longman.

"And ye don't like no meetin's on the hill, eh, Brat?" chuckled Ben.

Suddenly the Bible flew into the corner, and the girl, with an oath,
jumped to her feet. Neither man had ever seen her in such a temper. She
grasped the broom.

"Get out of here!" she screamed. "I don't want nothin' but to be let
alone! See? Scoot! Or I'll bang hell out'n both of ye."

She virtually swept her callers into the sun, and slammed the door in
their faces. With remorse in her heart, she sought the place where she
had thrown the beloved Bible. One page was quite torn, across--the back
badly bent.

"It do beat the devil how I could be such a bad brat as to hurt ye like
that," she cogitated, smoothing out the crumpled pages with loving
fingers. "That damn Ezy and Ben air worser than fleas. But I air
a-believin' that they won't be comin' back just yet."

CHAPTER XXX

Tess closed the door of her shanty, looked about to see if anyone were
watching her movements, then she, too, broke into the high weeds that
surrounded the running brook under the mud cellar. Her little ruse in
giving the child to its mother delighted her. She would find Teola, and
bring her and the babe back to the shanty. Softly she parted the
branches that hid the spot where she had first seen the Dominie's
daughter. Through the maze of brambles she saw the girl, with the child
clasped closely in her arms. The cloth in which Tess had wrapped it had
fallen from the little shoulders, leaving them white, save for the
blood-red mark of fire. Teola lifted the infant, and kissed it
passionately, bending her head over it, praying. Tess could not enter
upon such a holy scene. She sank down upon the turf. The basket yawned
upon a bed of moss, its flannel rags hanging over the edge. Teola was
making the babe ready to return to its bed, when Tess slipped under the
branches of the short sumac trees, and entered the clearing.

"Come back to the shanty,