It was Warren who heard her and reached her first. He had been working in the tomato field which was near the orchard and he had no horse to consider--Richard could not abandon Solomon in the middle of the cornfield. Warren ran in the direction of the cries and, leaping the dividing fence, came to the rescue. The ram stopped short as soon as he saw him and Sarah fled straight into Warren's protecting arms. "There, there, you're all right--you couldn't run like that if you were hurt," he soothed her. "Don't cry, Sarah--see, here comes your Mother; you've frightened her. And Winnie, too! Look up and smile and wave your hand--don't let your mother be frightened, Sarah." Mrs. Willis had heard Sarah's shrieks and now she was running across the field, Winnie imploring her to walk at every step. "She isn't hurt!" called Warren, trying to relieve the mother's anxiety at once. "She's all right, Mrs. Willis." And then Sarah gained her vocal powers of which, till this minute, she had been deprived. Fright and running had taken her breath and she almost choked with the effort to articulate. Lifted high in Warren's arms, the tears running down her face, Sarah managed to put her chief sorrow into words that reached her mother and Winnie half way across the pasture and Richard just breathlessly rounding the orchard. "I lost my horse hairs!" screamed Sarah. CHAPTER VIII STORM SIGNALS Rosemary, seated on the lowest porch step, was outwardly "cool and calm and collected," to borrow one of Winnie's favorite phrases. She was dressed all in white and Doctor Hugh, coming from the shed where he had put his car, noted appreciatively what a lovely dash of color the blue wool she was knitting made in the picture. It just matched her eyes, he thought. "Hello, sweetheart!" he greeted her, and then, as she raised her face to kiss him, "why, what's the matter?" For the blue eyes were mutinous and stormy and it was easy to see that Rosemary was unhappy. "Oh, Hugh! Don't go in right away--I never get a chance to talk to you," she said, moving over to give him room to sit on the step. "Everyone will have a thousand things to tell you--it was that way last Sunday. I suppose if we see you only once a week, or every other week, it's natural, but I wish I could ever talk to you without Shirley or Sarah asking you questions at the same time." Doctor Hugh laughed as he took off his hat and dropped down beside his sister. "Seems to me you have a good deal of energy for such a warm day," he commented, running his fingers through his thick dark hair. "Doesn't that breeze feel good, though! Eastshore has been becalmed this week and the dust from the plastering has settled on everything in the house--I'm glad Mother can't see it. And where is Mother, Rosemary?"