"No, no," she gasped. "I--I'm all right. I'm all right. Or I guess I
shall be when you get--off of me."
"Judas priest!" cried Winnie S., and sprang to the scene. It was the
younger woman, Emily, whom he rescued first. She, being on the upper
side of the tilted wagon, had slid pell-mell along the seat down upon
the body of her companion. Mrs. Barnes was beneath and getting her out
was a harder task. However, it was accomplished at last.
"Mercy on us!" exclaimed the lady, as her companions assisted her to
rise. "Mercy on us! I feel like a pancake. I never knew you weighed so
much, Emily Howes. Well, that's all right and no bones broke. Where
are we now? Why--why, that's a house, I do believe! We're in somebody's
yard."
They were, that was plain even on a night as dark as this. Behind them,
bordering the stretch of mud and puddles which they had just left, was
the silhouette of a dilapidated picket fence; and in front loomed the
shadowy shapes of buildings.
"We're in somebody's yard," repeated Thankful. "And there's a house,
as sure as I live! Well, I never thought I'd be so grateful just at the
bare sight of one. I'd begun to think I never would see a house again.
If we'd run afoul of a ship I shouldn't have been so surprised. Come on,
Emily!"
She seized her companion by the hand and led the way toward the nearest
and largest building. Winnie S., having retrieved and relighted the
overturned lantern, was inspecting the wreck of the depot-wagon.
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