step over to the old place. I'll take my time and be back
soon enough to make 'em that pan o' my hot gingerbread they'll be
counting on for supper."

Half an hour later one might have seen a bent figure lock the side
door of the large farmhouse carefully, trying the latch again and
again to see if it were fast, putting the key into a safe hiding-place
by the door, and then stepping away up the road with eager
determination. "I ain't felt so like a jaunt this five year," said
Mercy to herself, "an' if Tobias was here an' Ann, they'd take all the
fun out fussin' and talkin', an' bein' afeard I'd tire myself, or
wantin' me to ride over. I do like to be my own master once in a
while."

The autumn day was glorious, with a fine flavor of fruit and ripeness
in the air. The sun was warm, there was a cool breeze from the great
hills, and far off across the wide valley the old woman could see her
little gray house on its pleasant eastern slope; she could even trace
the outline of the two small fields and large pasture. "I done well
with it, if I wasn't nothin' but a woman with four dependin' on me an'
no means," said Mercy proudly as she came in full sight of the old
place. It was a long drive from one farm to the other by roundabout
highways, but there was a footpath known to the wayfarer which took a
good piece off the distance. "Now, ain't this a sight better than them
hustlin' fairs?" Mercy asked gleefully as she felt herself free and
alone in the wide meadow-land. She had long been promising little
Johnny to take him over to Gran'ma's house, as she loved to call it
still. She could not help thinking longingly how much he would enjoy
this escapade. "Why, I'm running away just like a young-one, that's
what I be," she exclaimed, and then laughed aloud for very pleasure.

The weather-beaten farmhouse was deserted that day, as its former
owner suspected. She boldly gathered some of her valued spice-apples,
with an assuring sense of proprietorship as she crossed the last
narrow field. The Browns, man and wife and little boy and baby, had
hied them early to the fair with nearly the whole population of the
countryside. The house and yard and out-buildings never had worn such
an aspect of appealing pleasantness as when Mercy Bascom came near.
She felt as if she were going to cry for a minute, and then hurried to
get inside the gate. She saw the outgoing track of horses' feet with
delight, but went discreetly to the door and knocke