hite as the cloth she held in her hand.

"'It does not matter,' said the woman; 'we have other business here
besides satisfying our thirst; it was you, was it not, that told the
hostess of the inn below that your uncle found a purse of gold and put
it by? The purse is ours, we lost it near this place; we are come to
claim it.'

"'Yes,' said the man, advancing a step or two towards Meeta; 'it is
ours, and we must have it.'

"'My uncle,' answered the trembling girl, 'is not at home; I cannot
give you the purse.'

"'You can't?' replied the man; 'we will see to that, young mistress; we
knew your uncle was out when we came here, else we had not come; but we
heard you say that you could tell, as well as he could, where he put
the purse; if you do not do it willingly, we will make you.'

"Meeta began to declare and profess most solemnly that she did not know
where the keys were kept; indeed, she believed that her grandmother had
taken them away in her pocket.

"The fierce man used such language as Meeta had never heard before; and
the woman, laying her heavy hand on her shoulder, gave her a terrible
shake.

"'Tell us,' said she, 'where is the chest into which the purse was
put, or I will throw you on the ground and trample you under my feet.'

"Meeta, in her excessive terror, uttered two or three fearful shrieks;
and would, no doubt, have gone on shrieking, if the horrible people had
not threatened to silence her voice for ever.

"Little Margot, from behind her tree, heard those cries; and it is
marvellous how the wits of a little child are sometimes sharpened, in
cases of great trial; she thought, and thought truly, that she could do
Meeta no good by running to her, but that she might help her by flying,
as fast as her young feet could carry her, to the village. It was down
hill all the way, and it was all straight running, if she could get
unseen into the path on the other side of the hedge. So she threw
herself on her hands and feet, and crept on all fours to where the
hedge was thinnest, and, neither minding tears nor scratches, the hardy
child came tumbling out on the path on the side of the village, jumping
up on her feet; and no little lapwing could have flown the path more
swiftly than she did."

* * * * *

"Well done, Margot!" cried Henry; but Emily did not stop to answer him.

* * * * *

"Jacques, at the very time in which Margot had begun