Persons can not defend themselves against anonymous
letters; they can only ignore them.
She touched her horse again. She was now in feverish haste to get
home. She took the turn of the road which presently brought her in the
vicinity of the shops. It was practically in ruins. The courtyard
walls were all down, the building itself was totally empty of ore or
machinery. Bennington had disposed of these to Pennsylvanian concerns.
Patty rode up in time to see half a dozen urchins throwing stones at
the few window-panes that were still unbroken. She dispersed them
angrily, and they gathered at the side of the road, open-mouthed and
wide-eyed at the picture of this avenging angel.
"How dare you throw stones at those windows? How dare you?" she cried
passionately.
After a while one of the lads found his voice.
"Why, nobody's in it. The man what owns it tored the insides outen it.
'Tain't no harm what we're doin'. Hey, fellers?"
"Naw. The cops don't say nothin'. An' my old man used to work there."
She saw that they were no more than ordinary boys to whom the panes of
glass in a deserted building were legitimate prey.
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