Frantically the boy clung to his father, pleading pitifully, while
Grace Trowbridge with all her strength pushed Mr. Polk back among a
quickly gathering crowd. Others joined her, and in the excitement of
the moment, both she and Mr. Polk were hurried into safety within one
of the school buildings and the door locked upon them.

The town constable was on the ground, for his services were quite
likely to be needed in any public gathering, and before Jim Langly
realized what was happening, being wholly unfamiliar with the ways of
law and order, his pistol had been wrenched from his hand (something
unheard of in mountain ethics), and he was hurried from the scene like
an infuriated lion made captive.

Breathless and spent, Grace Trowbridge found herself looking into the
face of her old lover when the door was locked upon them. She stood an
instant like a frightened bird driven to cover, her eyes gazing into
his, anxiety, relief, tragic intensity born of but one emotion in her
white quivering face,--and then the warm blood surged up with
returning realization of the years of estrangement between them, and
she wheeled for instant flight.

But the door was locked, and baffled she faced him again, crying, "Oh,
Sam, let me out!"

For answer he caught her in his arms and said, "Let you out, and away
from me? Never! I shall hold you fast instead. I love you, love
you, love you," he cried vehemently, "and what is more, you love
me!" He crushed her to him and the tense, spent figure relaxed in
his arms while love in full tide swept over them, after six weary
years of longing and restraint. Their separation had followed a
misunderstanding which now did not even seem to need explanation.

"Sam," she cried at last, moving energetically away from him, "I can
never give up these blessed mountain children. You'll have to adopt
every one of them if you take me!"

"All right," he said happily, "just as many of them as you please."

Instantly both remembered Steve.

"Oh, Sam, where is Steve? Do you suppose his father has carried him
off, and that we will never see him again?" she exclaimed in distress,
and a few moments later, when release came to them, their first
anxious inquiry was for the boy.

No one had seen or thought of him in the excitement, and when the
story of Jim Langly's arrest had been told them, they searched the
grounds and buildings in great anxiety before they finally found Steve
in his room.

When Mr. Polk