nd
the creek. Bring this piece of paper with you, as it has Aunt
Matilda's expenses on the outside.

Kate.

This note she pinned up against the pine tree, where Harry could not
fail to see it. Then she hid her brother's sumac-bag in the bushes and,
shouldering her own bag, which, by-the-way, did not weigh so many pounds
as she thought it did, set out for home.

CHAPTER IV.

KATE, VERY NATURALLY, IS ANXIOUS.

Kate hurried through the woods, for she was afraid she would not reach
home until after dark, and indeed it was then quite like twilight in the
shade of the great trees around her. The road on which she was walking
was, however, clear and open, and she was certain she knew the way. As
she hastened on, she could not help feeling that she was wasting this
delightful walk through the woods. Her old friends were around her, and
though she knew them all so well, she could not stop to spend any time
with them. There were the oaks--the black-oak with its shining
many-pointed leaves, the white-oak with its lighter green though
duller-hued foliage, and the chestnut-oak with its long and thickly
clustered leaves. Then there were the sweet-gums, fragrant and
star-leaved, and the black-gum, tough, dark, and unpretending. No little
girl in the county knew more about the trees of her native place than
Kate; for she had made good use of her long rides through the country
with her father. Here were the chincapin-bushes, like miniature
chestnut-trees, and here were the beautiful poplars. She knew them by
their bright leaves, which looked as though they had been snipped off at
the top with a pair of scissors. And here, right in front of her, was
Uncle Braddock. She knew him by his many-colored dressing-gown, without
which he never appeared in public. It was one of the most curious
dressing-gowns ever seen, as Uncle Braddock was one of the most curious
old colored men ever seen. The gown was not really as old as its wearer,
but it looked older. It was composed of about a hundred pieces of
different colors and patterns--red, green, blue, yellow, and brown;
striped, spotted, plain, and figured with flowers and vines. These
pieces, from year to year, had been put on as patches, and some of them
were quilted on, and some were sewed, and some were pinned. The gown was
very long and came down to Uncle Braddock's heels, which were also very
long and bobb