I remember that her shoulders were wet when
she came in from the lane."
"No, she had no protection but her blouse, black like her dress. I
presume that her hot blood resented every kind of wrap."
Again that sidelong glance from his keen eye. "She wore a checked silk
handkerchief about her neck--the one she afterwards put over her head."
"You were on the same train with my wife and sister-in-law," Ransom now
said. "Did you sit near them? Converse with them, that is, with Mrs.
Ransom?"
"I have no reason for deceiving you in that regard," replied Mr. Harper.
"I did not come up from New York on the same train they did. They must
have come up in the morning, for when I arrived at the place they call
the Ferry, I saw them standing on the hotel steps ready to step into the
coach. I spoke to Mrs. Ransom then, but only a word. My grip-sack had
been put under the driver's seat, and I saw that I was expected to ride
with him, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather. Mrs. Ransom saw
it too and possibly my natural hesitation, for she turned to me after she
had seen her sister safely ensconced inside, and said something about her
regret at having subjected me to such inconvenience, but did not offer to
make room for me in the body of the coach, though there was room enough
if the other had been the quiet lady she was herself.
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