“You got to tote these things”—­Marg held forth the basket—­“down to the Centre for trade, and you can fetch back the lil’ things like pepper, salt, and sugar.  Tell Cal Merrivale to fetch the rest and bargain for what I’ve got ready here, when he drives by.  If you start now you can be back by sundown.”

To Marg’s surprise, Nella-Rose offered no protest to the seven-mile walk, nor to the heavy load.  She promptly pulled her sunbonnet to the proper angle on her head and gripped the basket.

“Ain’t you goin’ to eat first?” asked Marg.

“No.  Put in a bite; I’ll eat it by the way.”

As the Centre was in the opposite direction from the Hollow, as seven miles going and seven miles coming would subdue the spirits and energy even of Nella-Rose, Marg was perplexed.  However, she prepared food, tucked it in the basket, and even went so far as to pin her sister’s shawl closely under her chin.  Then she watched the slim, straight figure depart—­still puzzled but at peace for the day, at least.

Nella-Rose, however, was plotting an attack upon Truedale quite out of the common.  By unspoken consent he and she had agreed that their meetings should be in the open.  Jim White might return at anytime and neither of them wanted at first to include him in the bewildering drama of their lives.  For different reasons they knew that Jim’s cold understanding of duty would shatter the sacred security that was all theirs.  Truedale meant to confide everything to White upon his return—­meant to rely upon him in the reconstruction of his life; but he knew nothing could be so fatal to the future as any conflict at the present with the sheriff’s strict ideas of conduct.  As for Nella-Rose, she had reason to fear White’s power as woman-hater and upholder of law and order.  She simply eliminated Jim and, in order to do this, she must keep him in the dark.

Early that morning she had looked, as she did every day, from the hill behind the house and she had seen but one thin curl of smoke from the clearing!  If White had not returned the night before the chances were that he would make another day of it!  Nella-Rose often wondered why others did not note the tell-tale smoke—­a clue which often played a vital part in the news of the hills.  Only because thoughts were focussed on the Hollow and on White’s absence, was Truedale secure in his privacy.

“I’ll hurry mighty fast to the Centre,” Nella-Rose concluded, after escaping from Marg’s disturbed gaze, “then I’ll hide the things by the big road and I’ll—­go to his cabin.  I’ll—­I’ll surprise him!”

Truedale had told her the day before, in a moment of caution, that he would have to work hard for a time in order to make ready for White’s return.  The fact was he had now got to that point in his story when he longed for Jim as he might have longed for safety on a troubled sea.  With Jim back and fully informed—­everything on ahead would be safe.