ighbors are all talking about it," said Eperson, laboriously, his
face now grim and fixed. "I went to Todd Williams and asked him about
it. All he could tell me was that he saw a man in New York that looked
like John Trott, but he said it might have been only a fancy. Of course,
I've kept the talk from Tilly as much as possible. I asked our neighbors
not to mention it to her and they promised, but--but--"

"You think she has heard it?" Cavanaugh submitted, gravely.

Eperson nodded. A grim expression twisted his lips awry and left them
quivering as he spoke. "Yes, I think some part of it, at least, has
reached her. I saw a change in her last night when she came back from a
visit to the Creswells. She didn't mention it to me, but I was watching
her and I saw a change. She was excited. I think I might call it
excitement, Mr. Cavanaugh, and she didn't sleep well last night. She got
up several times, and it seemed to me once that she was about to speak
to me about it, but still she didn't."

"I see, I see," said Cavanaugh, slowly. "Well, Joel, I hardly know what
is right to do in a matter as delicate as this is, but still right is
right, and if there is anybody in the world that ought to know the truth
about this, why, it is you and Tilly. Joel, the truth is, John Trott and
Dora are both still alive."

"Then, then, _it is true_?"

"Yes, Joel; I've just had a letter from John and he wants the facts
known. But I don't see that there is any reason for you to be disturbed.
You see, the law parted John and Tilly years ago, and even if it hadn't,
his long desertion (we'll call it that) would have amounted to the same
in any court."

Like an automaton which all but creaked in its joints, Joel took up his
reins. Tapping his thin horse with his whip and making a clucking sound
between his teeth, he turned his wagon around.

"Wait! You haven't been paid yet," Cavanaugh cried, holding out a bill.

Pausing, a flurried, far-away look in his eyes, Joel took the money.

"Thank you--thank you," he ejaculated. "So there's no doubt about it?
Did you actually see him, Mr. Cavanaugh--with your own eyes, I mean? I
don't want any hearsay or second-hand report. I want the truth--the
facts."

"I spent a week with him, Joel."

Eperson wound the lines around his left hand and brought his desperate
eyes back to Cavanaugh's face. "There is one thing more," he gulped, his
hand at his throat. "Is he--is John Trott a--a married man?"

"No, J