ye. I'll tell him."

"Now be quick about it," cried Harry. "I'm in a great hurry." And off he
started again.

But as he hurried along, his legs began to feel stiff and his feet were
sore. He had walked very fast, so far, but now he was obliged to slacken
his pace.

And it grew darker and darker. Harry thought he had never seen night
come on so fast. It was certainly a long distance from Charity's cabin
to Aunt Judy's.

At last he reached the well-known woods near the bridge, and off in a
little opening he saw Aunt Judy's cabin. It was so dark now that he
would not have known it was a cabin, had he not been so familiar with
it.

Curiously enough, there was no light to be seen in the house. Harry
hurried to the door and found it shut. He tried to open it, and it was
locked. Had Aunt Judy gone away? She never went away; it was foolish to
suppose such a thing.

He knocked upon the door, and receiving no answer, he knocked louder,
and then he kicked. In a minute or two, during which he kept up a
continual banging and calling on the old woman, he heard a slight
movement inside. Then he knocked and shouted, "Aunt Judy!"

"Who dar!" said a voice within.

"It's me! Harry Loudon!" cried Harry. "Let me in!"

"What ye want dar?" said Aunt Judy. "Go 'way from dar."

"I want to come in. Open the door."

"Can't come in hyar. Ise gone to bed."

"But I must come in," cried Harry, in desperation; "I've got to work the
line. They're waiting for me. Open the door, do you hear Aunt Judy?"

"Go 'way wid yer line," said Aunt Judy, crossly. "Ise abed. Come in der
mornin'. Time enough in de day-time to work lines."

Harry now began to get angry. He found a stone and he banged the door.
He threatened Aunt Judy with the law. He told her she had no right to go
to bed and keep the company out of their station, when the creek was up;
but, from her testy answers, his threats seemed to have made but little
impression upon her. She didn't care if they stopped her pay, or fined
her, or sent her to prison. She never heard of "sich bisness, a-wakin'
people out of their beds in the middle o' the night fur dem foolin'
merchines."

But Harry's racket had a good effect, after all. It woke Aunt Judy, and
after a time she got out of bed, uncovered the fire, blew up a little
blaze, lighted a candle, and putting on some clothes, came and opened
the door, grumbling all the time.

"Now den," said she, holding the candle over her head, and look