"Aaron Menning." "No. I just saw him go into the store." She spoke with a studied indifference that put me on the alert. Instantly I was sure that he had spoken. "Why do you ask?" I set my teeth. "Because if he had," I answered rashly, "I'd take the occasion to break his neck next time we meet." Mary gave a soft little laugh. "Really, Doctor Haverill, I didn't know you were so violent." "I'm not," I retorted, "at least, not as a rule. But the sight of that man always rouses in me a peculiar and earnest desire to kick him." "I dare say he's really quite a simple and kind-hearted man," said Mary, with no other purpose, I felt sure, than to irritate me. "The rugged exterior that hides a beautiful soul," I suggested, remembering that sinister farmyard beyond the Bend. "That's as it may be. The exterior is good enough for me, or bad enough, as you choose to put it. If I get the report of a S.P.C.A. inspector on that farm of his, as I intend to do one of these days, we'll see how Aaron's simple kind-heartedness stands out." The words slipped out almost without my knowledge. Mary looked at me quickly. "What's wrong at the place?" "Merely that the condition of it isn't particularly pretty. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Only a man that keeps animals in the filth and neglect that he does ought to be made an example of in any civilized community. I don't know that there's anything to be gained by interfering at the present moment, but I've seen enough to make me keep an eye on him." For a little time we drove in silence. Mary's face was grave and troubled. I was angry with myself. I was a fool to mention Menning or his place at all. Presently I turned to her. "Look here, you're not upset by what I said just now? Because you've no need to think twice about it. I said it because ... well, because I hated to hear you speak about him that way, even for a minute." "No. I wasn't thinking about Aaron just then." She gave me a queer little smile. "Doctor Haverill, I guess I've behaved pretty abominably this afternoon." I flicked the mare with the whip. "Shall we say we both did, and call it quits? I suppose it was in the air, somehow." "In the air," she repeated, smiling again, then shivered suddenly. "Things are in the air ... that's just it. I had a dream last night. I suppose you'll call it silly nonsense, but it's made me queer and restless all day. Doctor Haverill, has Herrick said anything to you about my brother yet?" "We talked one evening." "Well?" "We ... didn't get to any conclusions, that's all. He has some theory. He hasn't told me yet what it is." She looked at me steadily. "If he said that, it is because he knows something. I am absolutely certain of that. And if he knows ... Doctor Haverill, you are keeping something back from me, you and Herrick together!" "I am not. I wouldn't do it." I looked at the girl beside me. "If you want me to swear."