THE STEADFAST HEART
forcing his presence upon the creature belligerently. “Say, you,” he said, “I used to know you. The name of Burke don’t fit you no more’n a size eleven hat would…. Your name wa’n’t Burke then. What was it, eh? Remember me, do ye?”
Titus snarled, “Naw, I hain’t never seen ye before, and I don’t want to see ye ag’in.”
“Feller,” said Jake, “you’re goin’ to see me frequent, and some day, when I hain’t feelin’ cheerful, I’m a-goin’ to give ye a choice betwixt tellin’ who ye be and gittin’ your turkey’s neck twisted.”
It was now two months since Lydia Canfield had fled from Rainbow—and still Rainbow did not know where she had gone. Not even her most intimate friends had received a line from her…. Angus was no wiser. He had not lifted his hand to follow her, nor his voice to remonstrate with her. From that night he never mentioned her name.
The only visible change in him was a drawing into himself. He worked, worked, worked…. Though often invited, he declined all invitations, and from the day of Lydia’s departure Rainbow did not see him socially. It seemed as though she had taken with her in her baggage Angus’s gregariousness. His nature, which had been unfolding so rapidly in the sunshine of his re-
326
