ng on
the branches of trees!' said Mr. Falkirk, in a great state of
disgust. 'But I have no idea I should have gone to that
woman's if I had been free. More comes of it than I reckoned
upon, or than six weeks will see me through. Well, you got rid
of him at last, I suppose; and walked all the way to Dr.
Maryland's in your slippers!'

'My dear Mr. Falkirk!--slippers at an out-door party! Yes, I
"got rid of him," as you say, when we reached the turning to
Morton Hollow,' Hazel went on, rather slowly, the shadow
coming into her tone again. 'And then, after that, I found out
why my other companion had been so silent.'

'Found out! He had not been taking too much?'

'I told you the supper tables stood ready all the evening,'
said the girl, sinking her voice; 'and--it was plain--now--what
he had found there.'

The silence now, rather than any words, bade her go on. She
caught her breath a little, mastering her excitement.

'I knew, presently, what I must do. And when. You have told
me, sir, sometimes, that I was too hasty to resolve and to
do,--I had to be both now.'

'What did you do?' said her guardian.

'I must get away. And on the instant. For, just beyond, the
woods ceased, and there was a long stretch of open road. I
thought, in that second, that my cloak might be caught. So,
with my free hand I unfastened it--I don't know how I ever did
it!' said the girl, excitedly, 'unless, as Byo says, mamma's
prayers were round me!--but I slipped the cloak from my
shoulders and tore away my other hand, and sprang into the
woods.'

They could almost hear her heart beat, as she sat there.

'Into the woods alone!' cried Mr. Falkirk. 'Then--Go on, my
dear,' he said, his voice falling into great gentleness.

'Things came so fast upon me then!' she said with a shiver. 'I
had said, in that moment, "I can but try,"--and now I felt that
if you try--some things--you must succeed. To fail, then, would
be just a game of hide-and-seek. That was the first thought. I
must keep ahead, if it killed me. And then--instantly--I knew
that to do that I must not run!'--

'What _did_ you do?' said Mr. Falkirk.

'I might not be the fastest; and, if I ran, I should maybe not
know just where--he--was,--nor when the pursuit was given up. I
must pass from shadow to shadow; moving only when he moved;
keeping close watch; until he got tired and went back.'

Hazel leaned her head on her hands, as if the mere
recollection were all she could be